Local Food
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Food production and transportation account for about 20% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. In Ontario, food typically travels about 5,000 km from farm to plate, and sometimes, as with lamb chops, more than 13,000 km. We can all reduce our carbon footprint if we buy food made closer to home.
Buying local also fosters a sense of community, helps people to get back in touch with where their food comes from (especially important for children), and protects farmland from urban development.
Several excellent options are available to Kanata residents for buying delicious local fruit, vegetables, and meat. Some of these include:
- Acorn Creek Garden Farm on Oak Road, offering seasonal produce;
- Alpenblick Farm, Ashton, 613-253-2640 or alpenblickfarm@sympatico.ca, offering beef, lamb, mutton, and cheese;
- The Carp Farmers' Market at the Carp fairgrounds, offering meat and seasonal produce;
- Dekok Family Berry Farm on March Road, offering seasonal produce;
- The Fitzroy Beef Farmers Co-operative in Fitzroy Harbour, offering beef; and
- Riverside Garden Organic Fruits and Vegetables, Almonte, 613-256-9699 or mccreery@magma.ca, offering seasonal produce.
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Another way to buy local food is to join a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group, where you buy a share in a farmer’s harvest before the growing season begins. This gives CSA farmers a dependable source of income, even during poor growing seasons, and allows them to compete more effectively with industrial farms. CSA supporters, meanwhile, gain access to the freshest, most nutritious food available.
A typical CSA share for a family of four costs $600. Half shares can also be purchased. The supporter receives a box of good tasting, fresh, organic produce each week from May to October. The vegetables can be picked up at the farm or delivered to a central pick-up location. Most CSA farmers also allow supporters to help out with farm tasks, if they are so inclined.
CSAs often have a community newsletter with nutrition information on the week’s produce and recipes and input from members. Some CSAs also offer their members organic, grass-fed local meat, eggs, and honey.
Some KEN members are CSA supporters. If you want feedback on the experience, send us an email.
For a list of Ottawa-area CSAs and food box programs, visit the Canadian Organic Growers or Just Food (Ottawa). Another good website for information about sustainable food choices is Sustainable Table.