Local Flavour Plus

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Building Local Sustainable Food Systems the LFP
Approach Presented by Mike Schreiner Vice
President, Local Food Plus May 2008
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A Financially Unsustainable Food System
Market Net Income for Canadian Farmers 1956 -
2005
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A Financially Unsustainable Food System
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An Environmentally Unsustainable Food System

• Water pollution
• Soil degradation
• Loss of biodiversity

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Climate Change and the Food System
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Climate Change and the Food System
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Urban Sprawl
½ of Canadas prime farmland is in Southern
Ontario Almost all of it is under threat from
urban sprawl
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Does a Cheap Food System Make Us Healthier?
Table 1. Percentage of Canadians adults (20-64
years old) who are overweight or obese,
1985-2000/01                                    
                              Data Sources
Canadian Community Health Survey, Statistics
Canada National Population Health Safety The
Canadian Obesity Epidemic, 1985-1998.
(Katzmarzyk, 2002).
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Local Food Has Gone Mainstream
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Market Research Local is an Emerging Trend
Which of the following statements do you agree
with most?
79 of Central Ontarians prefer to buy locally
grown food
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Market Research Local is an Emerging Trend
How often do you check food labels that describe
where fruits, vegetables and meats are grown or
sourced from?
54 of Ontarians always check to see where food
is grown 34 occasionally check (88)
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Market Research Local is an Emerging Trend
How often do you buy locally grown fruits,
vegetables, or meats? Do you buy them
55 of Ontarians seek out and buy local food at
least once a week
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Local Food Needs to be Easy to Get
Please indicate whether you with each of the
following
91 of Ontarians would buy more local food if
their supermarket offered it
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Consumers Seem Willing to Pay More for Local
I would be willing to pay more forthat were
locally grown or raised
72 of Ontarians would be willing to pay more for
local food
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Whats Driving the Interest in Local Food?
Please indicate how strongly you agree or
disagree that locally grown food?
Support for local farmers, the local economy and
for fresh food
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Market TrendsSustainable Food

• 92 of consumers identify sustainability as an
  issue
• 16 are core consumers
• 60 are mid-level consumers
• 16 are periphery consumers
• Only 8 are not interested in sustainability
  issues

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Market TrendsSustainable Food

• 20 annual growth in organics in the past decade
• 20 annual growth in fair trade products over the
  past 5 years
• Locavore is the Oxford English Dictionary word of
  the year in 2007
• Eco-labels cover a growing range of products from
  forestry to food

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What about Sustainable Food Drives Consumer
Interest?

• Hartman Consumer Survey on Sustainability
• Local as a component of sustainability
• Pesticide Reduction
• Treatment of farm workers
• Animal welfare
• Efficient use of energy
• Waste Reduction
• Greenhouse gas reduction
• Health and nutrition
• Freshness and flavour

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Whats Driving Consumer Interest in Local
Sustainable Food?

• The Anxieties
• Concern about global warming
• Fear of bio-terrorism
• Food safety scares
• Concern about food security
• Urban Sprawl

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Whats Driving Consumer Interest in Local
Sustainable Food?

• The Desires
• Authentic food experiences
• Good Food Stories
• Freshness and Flavour
• Voting with Ones Dollars to support the local
  economy and local farmers
• Memory, Romance and Trust
• Food is a Value Driven Market

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The LFP Approach
Putting the Plus in Local Food
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The LFP Mission

• To foster local sustainable food systems by
  linking farmers and processors with local
  purchasers, especially institutional purchasers.

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A Sustainable Food System

• Primarily local
• Financially viable for all stakeholders
• Operates with ecological integrity
• Socially responsible
• Respectful of other species

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LFP Certification Standards

• Employ sustainable production systems
• Provide safe and fair working conditions
• Provide healthy and humane care for livestock
• Protect and enhance wildlife and biodiversity
• Reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases

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LFP Certification Flow Chart
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The Middle Market Development and Supply Chain
Linkages

• Linking Farmers

To Eaters
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University of Toronto/LFP Partnership Launch,
September 2006
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Il Fornello/LFP Partnership Launch, June 2007
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LFP participates in the Taste of Lawrence, July
2007
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Fermentations/LFP Partnership Launch, October 2007
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Fiesta Farms/LFP Partnership Launch, October 2007
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City of Toronto/LFP Partnership2008
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Education, Marketing and Public Relations
The LFP Campaign Theme
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LFP Case Study Kerr Farms

• Home farm near Chatham 1700 acres of mixed
  cropping produce, grains, beef organic and
  conventional IPM
• Canned tomato program organic and conventional
  IPM
• Vertically integrated beef program

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LFP Case Study Kerr Farms

• 96 acres of organic and conventional IPM tomatoes
• Canned at Thomas Canning (Maidstone, ON) and sold
  under the Ontario Natural, Utopia and Kerr Farms
  label
• LFP certified product in institutional,
  restaurant and retail sectors

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LFP Case Study Kerr Farms

• Raises LFP certified Angus beef without using
  hormones, antibiotics or animal by-products
• Formed partnership with sales and distribution
  company
• Aggregates supply from 32 farmers
• Institutional, restaurant and retail trade

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LFP Case Study Norfolk Fruit Growers Association

• Producer marketing co-op incorporated under the
  Cold Storage Associations Act
• Founded in 1906
• 18 farmer members 5 serve on the board
• Top-of-the-line storage and handling facilities

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LFP Case Study Norfolk Fruit Growers Association

• 750,000 bushels apples sold per year
• About 300,000 bushels for juice and cider
• 780,000 lbs of apples in CA storage
• Pack line 3,500 bushel per day

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LFP Case Study Norfolk Fruit Growers Association

• 40 of apples to Ontario supermarkets
• Export to US, Mexico, other parts of Canada, esp.
  UK
• Wants to increase local market share, especially
  access to food service
• Grows and markets under many certification
  systems LFP, EuroGap, Natures Best, WWF

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LFP Case Study YU Ranch

• Former tobacco farm in Norfolk county
• Converted to ranch for Texas longhorns
• Utilized ALUS program to assist in transition
  sustainable farming practices

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LFP Case Study YU Ranch
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LFP Case Study YU Ranch

• Two revenue streams environmental goods and
  services Local Food Plus
• Direct farm gate sales and restaurant sales
• LFP provides third verification of production
  practices

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The LFP ApproachWhats in it for Farmers?

• Leverages consumer values to open new and higher
  value markets
• Provides recognition for efforts to increase
  on-farm environmental and social sustainability
  and helps to identify practices that could be
  rewarded through environmental service payments
• Creates consistent multi-year demand for local
  sustainable food
• Gives farmers more power in the market place
  through product differentiation, segmentation and
  branding

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The LFP Approach Whats in it for Institutions,
Restaurants and Retailers?

• Positions an institution, restaurant or retailer
  at the forefront of emerging market trends
• Responds to client concerns
• Demonstrates the institution/retailers
  responsibility to the larger community and the
  environment
• Creates a market advantage

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The LFP Approach Whats in it for Consumers?

• Offers an easy way to identify products that
  reflect their values and desires
• Offers a simple way to support local farmers and
  processors who produce food in environmentally
  and socially responsible ways
• Offers a way for customers/clients to reduce
  their greenhouse gas emissions by buying local
  sustainable food

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Barriers to Local Sustainable Food Systems

• Corporate consolidation
• Infrastructure, logistics and processing capacity
• Government policies and regulations
• Money private and public
• Bridging rural and urban values

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Local Food Chain Destruction in the Era of
Globalization

• 1960s, 70 of grocery store food sourced within
  150 km
• Around WWII, Canada largely self-reliant in basic
  fruits, now only supplies 19 of demand around
  60 of food consumed grown locally today less
  than 40
• 70/80s, ON had 15 large tomato processors, now
  only a few (1 main one)
• No small dairy processors between Huntsville, ON
  and Fraser Valley, BC
• Niagara fruit sold to Toronto Food Terminal and
  then Niagara buyers go there to purchase the
  last tender fruit processor east of the
  Mississippi closed last week
• ON has 3-4 billion annual food deficit the last
  decade

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Overcoming Barriers to Local Sustainable Food
Systems

• Leverage consumer desires through branding,
  differentiation and segmentation
• Restore the market power of farmers with
  investments in supply aggregation and coops
• Invest in rural infrastructure for small scale
  processing, post-harvest handling and storage
• Regulatory review to support family farmers and
  small business
• Ecological Goods and Services
• Public procurement

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Building Local Sustainable Food Systems the LFP
Approach Presented by Mike Schreiner Vice
President, Local Food Plus May 2008