What is local food?
In very simple terms, it's food grown and produced (and processed) in an area near you. That can be defined narrowly, such as what is within your municipality, or more broadly, such as within a few hundred kilometers of your house.
What are some reasons for preferring local food?
- Depending on local food security laws can help avoid the incredible problems which have come out of places like China, for instance, or the more recent Listeriosis contaminated salads from the U.S.
- Keeping money in your local economy is good for everyone.
- Buying food from closer to home reduces your 'carbon footprint'. By burning less gas to get your food you put less CO2 into the atmosphere. Carbon footprint calculator
The closest you can get to home is to grow it yourself, which is great for veggies, but if you don't live on a farm the growth in urban agriculture can provide you with quite a few other products from a very local area. Some municipalities prohibit people from raising chickens or bees within the city limits, but in some places you can raise pigs and goats as well.
The Incredible Edible project in Todmorden, UK is a great example of what urban agriculture can achieve.
One couple in British Columbia committed to eating food only found within 100 miles of their house. They wrote a series of columns for The Tyee. It was such a successful series that they made it into a book, which stayed on the Canadian bestseller list for quite a while. You can read their original articles here.
http://www.foodlink.ca/
A listing of farms in the Region of Waterloo that offers a variety of food.
Foodland Ontario
To see what's in season and get recipes for in-season produce.
Information on funding sources and local food initiatives in Ontario-
http://www.greenbeltfund.ca/
Direct Farm Marketing in Ontario- a primer
Urban Agriculture Business Information Bundle
Growing Ontario's Floriculture Industry
Fresh From the Farm- Ontario school fundraising with local farmers
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