North Bay Region – Local Food Access

1. North Bay Region – Local Food Access Isabelle F Legault Active member of the Near North Locavores Co-owner of Field Good Farms / Fermej’me champ bien

2. Obstacles to local food access • Limited abattoirs for chickens, turkeys, etc. • Challenges of getting local produce into local grocery stores • Difficulties of getting local produce into the North Bay Market • Restrictions on transforming local produce • Barriers to selling local meats in local grocery stores • How do we get consumers to think about buying local food?

3. Limited abattoirs • The nearest place to slaughter birds for those in the North Bay area is Sprucedale. • Some farmers who sell in North Bay live a reasonable distance from Sprucedale. However, many farmers have to drive quite far to have their birds slaughtered.

4. Limited abattoirs (ctd) • What this looks like for a West Nipissing farmer: • 2 hours one way to drop off + 2 hours to drive back home + 2 hours to go pick up + 2 more hours to deliver said frozen birds to a central drop-off location = 8 hours!

5. How to overcome limited abattoirs • Creative Meats is a success story born out of farmer demand, cattle and pork farmers now need to drive far less. For North Bay farmers, Trout Creek is still a viable option. • We could also benefit from a poultry processing facility. Another way to get around this is to address regulations head on so that it becomes scale-specific, for instance: • Some US states already allow a large number of chickens to be slaughtered at the farm. Regulations for Northern Ontario could be set for 2,000-3,000 birds / year. Small producers could then share infrastructure.

6. Challenges of getting local produce into local grocery stores • In 2011 a local farmer wished to sell his lettuce at a grocery store near Lavigne, and although he did have his wish granted (approved by head office), his produce didn’t sell quite as well as he had wished… • Those fortunate enough to get approved may note that customers will not necessarily buy the produce. Why? • Because it is set beside another less expensive head of lettuce which was sold through the Ontario Food Terminal • But the produce manager doesn’t have the time to set up extra signs about the local product and why it is better

7. Getting local farmer’s produce into local grocery stores (ctd) • In 2010 a local farmer who wanted to sell storage cabbage thought he would do wonderfully because his prices were competitive. The store put his produce on display and although everything seemed fine with the product and its sales, the produce manager never called the farmer back. • The farmer came to understand that his one order takes much more time than one large order. This is what produce managers have grown accustomed to. • Similar to the signage issue, the produce manager simply doesn’t have the time to coordinate more than one or two orders.

8. How to overcome issues related to grocery stores • Additional employment for someone in charge of co-ordinating all the separate orders for local small farms • This person could also be in charge of promoting local foods with adequate signs and explanations • The hired individual would have to be well-vested in food security issues and a good idea of the hard work that goes into food production

9. How to overcome issues related to grocery stores • When all else fails… • Joel Salatin, a celebrity farmer from the US, correctly states that our current food system, a centralized distribution model, has not been around for very long. The time we spend trying to get into the current model may as well be spend figuring out a new model instead • For instance, small farms can adopt a CSA model which uses less packaging, wastes less foods, and requires less travelling than conventional models

10. Difficulties of getting local produce into the North Bay Market • The North Bay Market, the frontrunner for local food access: • Is always full capacity • There is a waiting list to get in, some farmers give up • Doesn’t allow for growth or off-season sales • No permanent and/or covered location • Isn’t connected to any sort of power supply and has no storage for farmers

11. How to overcome issues related to North Bay Market • The Near North Locavoresshare their Market booth with any local producer that follow basic sustainable practices • Moving the market to a permanent location with a roof and make it available year-round • New location would allow the market to accept more producers as well! It could also attract more people, depending on the chosen location (i.e. Waterfront)

12. Restrictions on transforming local produce • Regulations concerning the transformation of goods require a large investment in infrastructure • Imagine the cost of building a new structure on your property equipped with a few sinks, its own stainless steel refrigerator, freezer, oven • Producers don’t usually have the time to transform their goods if they have to drive far away to do so

13. How to overcome issues related to the transformation of local produce • The North Bay area would benefit from having processing facilities • Should be: licensed, easily to rent, accessible and scalable, fit for small to medium-sized producers • Should not be: run entirely on grant money nor should it be focused entirely on the bottom line

14. Barriers to selling local meats in local grocery stores • Any farmer who has had to have his animals butchered knows that there are strict provincial inspections • Grocery stores require farmers to go the extra mile and meet federal inspection levels • Some inspections border on the ridicule and forget the real reason behind inspections

15. How to overcome issues related to local meat distribution • Allowing farmers to abide by provincial inspections that are based on scale-specific regulationsrooted in common sense • Farmer Joe shouldn’t have to follow the same type of rules as Maple Leaf but he does have to ensure that he is offering safe foods

16. Getting consumers to purchaselocal foods • Producers are sometimes confronted with individuals who think that it is atrocious that local produce is sometimes sold for double the price (i.e. a bag of 4 garlic bulbs for .99 cents grown in China) • If we don’t explain to consumers key concepts like food security and the importance of supporting local producers, they are unlikely to purchase local foods • We need to make sure consumers know that local foods cost more because they are different in so many ways!

17. How to win consumers over • Statistics show that the majority of consumers are looking for local produce • 57.7% as per An Overview of the Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food System 2011 • According to this document, the main reason behind this consumer choice is to support the local economy • Also, more than half of respondents said that they were willing to pay more for local foods • Although these statistics are pan-Canadian, one can assume that these trends will continue to evolve in regions like Northern Ontario

18. How to win consumers over (ctd) • Given that a large number of individuals are already interested in local foods, how do we make sure that these individuals purchase local foods? • Marketing is necessary, and knowing our target market is crucial • We need to advertize said foods by using signage for products, campaigns, etc.

19. How to win consumers over (ctd) • For those who are not yet initiated to concepts of local food, the traditional methods of discussing items such as: • Seasonability(including health benefits, better quality and taste) • How to preserve bounty, and other ways to move forward with food security • The positive effects of eating local food on the community • Teaching can also be done through workshops, which is exactly what the Near North Locavoresdoes

20. How to win consumers over (ctd) • It is our duty to teach consumers to ask the important questions: • Where is this produce from? • Can I trust that it’s organically grown if it comes from so far away? • Can I find this particular item locally? • How local is local?

21. How to win consumers over (ctd) • Resources must also be put in place so that these consumers know where to find local foods! • Transition Town North Bay has a Food Map but is it everyone that will visit their site? • We may wish to have something in print done with vegetable-based inks and forest free paper

22. Thank you! For more information please visit the Near North Locavoresfacebook group You can also check out Field Good Farms at www.fieldgoodfarms.ca