buy local :) [General]

2007 Sep 11
well, i have been found out! i have recently been accused of having an agenda, and it is true! my agenda is to encourage people to buy local produce and support ottawa family farms whenever they can. i know it is hard to know where to find what, who sells what, ect.

the city of ottawa and the trillium foundation have put together a great map of ottawa farms and markets. you can pick up hard copies at the library, city hall and many restaurants that are promoting buy local.

there is also an online version
www.spcottawa.on.ca

a few people have noted that landsdowne farmer's market seems to have fewer stalls this year. i wonder why? has anyone heard if the market rent has gone up? is it just an off year this year? i know that a splinter group has started a market around st. paul's university off main street (well in that vicinity at least). i only use this market in the spring and fall, during the summer i buy directly from a farmer near the cottage and a farmer in kanata.

come the fall, i love driving to directly to the farms themselves on the weekend. acorn creek is great.

does anyone else have some good local links or suggestions to share?

2007 Sep 11
I have been reading about the Parkdale market debate with some interest and this is my two cents. Although I have only been to the Parkdale market occasionally I have not been there often enough to comment one way or the other. But I used to shop at the Byward market frequently but only as a last resort over the last couple of years and this is why. When I first moved to Ottawa I was eager to shop there to buy what I thought was local produce - as in veggies that the farmers had grown themselves. However after three or four years of shopping there I noticed some of the vendors starting to sell bananas and pineapples and such - hardly fare that is native to the Ottawa Valley. Some of the fruits and veggies still had the Dole stickers on them. A couple of years ago one of my colleagues at work told me about the organic farmers market in Ottawa South. It is considerably smaller than the Byward market (and probably Parkdale too) but the veggies are all grown by the farmer that is serving me. There were definite adjustments to make - I would get a hankering for asparagus in March or so although it wasn't quite asparagus season - I just had to wait a little longer til the local produce was available. I could have gone to Loblaws or I could have gone to the Byward market to buy Dole veggies but I would rather wait - in my humble opinion organic veggies taste much better and I would much rather support a local business. And if they can't get organic produce locally they will bring organics in from Southern Ontario and they will definitely tell you if asked. I have also noticed alot of stands popping up - I just like to think that other Ottawans are cluing in and supporting local farmers. There are some things that are impossible to buy local like lemons, limes, olive oil and such so I do break my own rules but if I have a choice I would rather buy my tomatoes from a farmer the Valley than the grocery store... As for the Lansdowne market I definitely get the feeling like they are bringing in more and more crafty stuff. I realize we haven't had much rain this year so perhaps it has affected the growing season. Or perhaps their 100 mile rule is making it difficult to focus on produce. But I can still get many more veggies at the other organic market I shop at and will continue to do so.

2007 Sep 11
Oh, I'm a huge fan of buying local. Or as close as possible at very least. I used to be with the Bryson Farms CSA www.brysonfarms.ca/ but for various reasons left them (mainly cost, and the strange veggies you've never heard of and they never told you what they were or how to cook them). Now I am with the Saffire Farms CSA www.saffirefarms.ca/. This is owned and run by a buddy of mine and his wife (and kids) - I've known him about 6 years now. He's been farming for about 2 decades but this is his first year at the CSA thing. There have been some bumps as a result, but we'll be back next year. He also sells really awesome grass-fed beef. Though I've been with another beef farmer for about 8 years now and have been getting all my beef from him since that time. And more recently pork. Incidentally, there is an order up right now so I'll post his info as soon as I dig it up.

And as for local produce out of season, this is why my wife and I spend a great deal of time every fall canning and freezing stuff. In fact we were just chatting about this a few moments ago, and this year our goal is to put down enough tomato sauce to last the whole year. It's actually cheaper than buying good sauce, so that's a good incentive too. We've already put down a huge batch of chow, dill pickles (still fermenting - to be canned in 2 weeks), and when the 3x10lb bags of veggies are out at the market in a few weeks, we'll put down a huge batch of pickles beets and pickled onions. We still have enough carrots left from last year's canning, but will likely put down some green beans this year. Still have lots of frozen broccoli from last year as well - it was cheap as hell at one point at Parkdale (and local within a few 100 km) so we went nuts blanching and freezing it. One advantage of living so close is that we can check every day and wait for the real deals, then pounce on them.

Our goal is to get to a point in the next few years where the vast majority of our stuff is local.

BTW, good source of local staples : www.mountainpath.com/

As far as "organic" is concerned, I personally prefer to by as local as possible vs as organic as possible. Though I do agree that organic tends to taste better and is without question better for you.

As for how to get more local produce - don't worry, peak oil will take care of that. Soon it will be too expensive to transport and the city of Ottawa will be kicking itself in the arse for paving over so much prime farmland.

Oh, and while I was typing that I found my beef contact. If you tell him Alan sent you I'll probably get some free sausage on my next order. So don't tell him if you dont' want me to get free sausage :

FFTELECOM@ncf.ca

Frank

Beef (90-100 lb) @ $3.25/lb
Pork (90 lb ave) @ $2.40/lb , butcher will substitute smoked bacon for the pork strips, add $12.00 for this option.

Free range chickens and turkeys are available from the butcher. If ordering beef, will purchase and deliver at same time with beef.

Chicken (3-4 lb) @ $2.09/lb
Chicken (7-9 lb) @ $2.79/lb
Turkey (all weights) @ $2.79/lb

2007 Sep 11
I just went to Aljazeera ( Al Jazeerah ) for the first time this evening, after our discussion of buying locally. I can definitely see me going back to their (Halal) butcher shop often because the meat looked really good, and it was priced on par with regular supermarkets. That was quite unexpected because all of the Kosher meat I've ever seen was twice regular prices at least. Not sure if this is typical of Halal or not. In any case I plan to try some chicken and sausage on the smoker this weekend.

I definitely prefer buying from the little guy around the corner than from supermarkets, and it's especially easy to do when things are priced as well as they are here.

2007 Sep 11
i am going to check out the saffire farms, it sounds really interesting.

one cheaper option i have heard of in ottawa, is the good food box. i know a lot of students have started getting it because of the lower price. they try their best to get ontario grown when possible.

www.foodshare.net

2007 Sep 12
You probably won't be able to get veggies from them until next year as they are already fully subscribed for this year. But you may be able to get some beef if interested.

2007 Sep 12
zymurgist thanks for the tips about your favourite vendors. But it looks like Frank sells huge quantities of beef - is that 90 to 100 lbs. per order?... Or can one buy smaller quantities? Since you shop at the Parkdale market regularly did you notice if Bryson farms still has a stand there? I have been looking for them at Lansdowne but they don't seem to be there this year...

2007 Sep 12
Yes, with Frank you have to buy a 1/4 side at a time. That's about 2.5 to 3.0 milk crates of beef depending on the size of the animal. But it freezes extremely well. All that will take up maybe 1/3 of a tiny 7 CF deep freeze. Or it will all fit in the freezer compartment of a regular 17CF fridge (but will take up all the space)

I think Bryson seems to have their regular stall at Parkdale (the one on Armstrong), but they are rarely actually there. I've never seen it open, and I know that last year they kept very odd hours. I'll try to pop over this evening to see if there is a sign with their hours.

2007 Sep 12
BTW, here are details on a couple of our previous orders.

www.alanmckay.com
www.alanmckay.com

Note in the 2nd one the sausage at the bottom was not part of the regular order, it was some freebies for referrals. Also note the packages do not have their weight on them - we weighed it all ourselves just out of curiousity.

2007 Sep 12
Oh, and one final comment, you have some control over how you want your order. You can get more or less ground vs stewing. More or less steaks vs roasts, and so on. In these examples we chose to get a lot of ground. More recently we get more stewing than ground.

2007 Sep 12
I was just about to walk over when my wife pointed out the obvious :-)

www.brysonfarms.ca

2007 Sep 12
I know last year Bryson had moved their stall to the Lansdowne Park farmers' market. This year I didn't see them there and figured their home delivery service must be doing so well they don't need to have a stall!

We were with Bryson a couple of years ago and enjoyed it (especially the heirloom tomatoes in August). They deliver all year round, but you get sick of turnips and microgreens very quickly! Anyway, Bryson stopped delivering to our neighbourhood so we had to look elsewhere.

Luckily, we found Ottawa Organics (Ottawa Organics) and Life Organic (Life Organic). Ottawa Organics was brand new this year and the owner, Matt, polled members of this site for input while planning the business last winter. Life Organic has been around for a few years. For variety, we signed up for *both* of them, on alternating weeks. We pay $45 each week and get a large box of excellent organic produce delivered right to our door on Friday evenings.

They both try to provide as much local produce as possible. Pretty much everything is local these days (except oranges when they have them). The variety is perfect -- much better than Bryson ever was. Ottawa Organics will also deliver Art-Is-In bread with your basket if you like. Both allow you to customize your delivery weekly and add in extras like milk, Equator Coffee, and Bread and Sons bread.

Prices seem relatively high compared to non-organic supermarket fare, but if you work out how much you'd pay for all that organic produce (assuming you could even *find* it in the first place, which I know I couldn't), then it isn't bad at all. And it makes grocery store trips really fun when you don't have to waste time sorting through the nasty looking veggies.

I recommend both of these businesses!

2007 Sep 12
Hmmm, I'm going to add Saffire Farms to vendors, but first can you add a CSA tag if you think that makes sense?

2007 Sep 12
There's a "Farm" tag already that I'd prefer you to use. Everyone knows what a farm is -- not everyone knows what CSA is. Any farm that sells products locally is CSA, right?

2007 Sep 13
Aha, wasn't seeing the forest through the trees!

2007 Sep 17
Thanks for the info on Frank's beef zymurgist. I was afraid he might be selling only in larger quantities but alas I don't have the freezer space. My one bedroom apartment looked HUGE! when I first moved into it but the space is filling up fast. I still dream of getting a chest freezer - will have to work on making space for one... It seems like most farmers sell their meats in large quantities so you have to buy 1/4 of the cow or 1/2 the pig or whatever. I found a stand at the organic farmers market in Ottawa South that sells smaller quantities so I will just have to stick with them for now. I will keep Frank in mind though and if circumstances change I will make sure you get some of those free sausages... And I just thought I'd let everyone know I sent off an email Bryson Farms and they no longer have a stall at Lansdowne. Apparently they are still in their usual spot at the Parkdale market on the Armstrong side of the market until October 28. Apparently they open at 8:30am on Saturdays and 9:00am on Sundays and are only there until they sell out of produce which can be as early as 1:30pm. They sent me the following link: (www.brysonfarms.com). They are still doing home delivery of course.

2007 Sep 20
Fresh Foodie asks, "Any farm that sells products locally is CSA, right?". Actually, no.

Here's the definition from JustFood Ottawa (www.spcottawa.on.ca/ofsc):

In a CSA, the farmer grows food for a predetermined group of consumers. The consumer enters into an agreement of purchase with the grower prior to the start of the season. The farmer gains a guaranteed market; the consumer gains high quality, fresh food, as it becomes available. CSA farms usually offer weekly delivery or pick-up of vegetables. Sometimes also flowers, fruits, herbs and meat products. The consumer-producer relationship is strengthened through the increased involvement of the consumers on the farm and with the farmer.

2007 Sep 20
Thanks Kombu, that's good to know. Do you know if that differs from a Co-op?

I still think there's enough overlap with the existing Farm tag but I'm open to opinions. If a number of people want a CSA tag I'll create one. :)

2007 Sep 21
CSAs are not a Co-op, though they are very cooperative in spirit.

2007 Sep 21
I think co-ops are generally owned by their members. With a CSA, the farmer continues to own the farm and the consumer agrees in advance to buy a share of that year's crop. That gives the farmer some income-stability and gives the consumer a source of beautiful, local produce throughout the summer.