Eating Local Year Round [General]
2012 Nov 23
It is important to me to buy some products locally, but not at the expensive of driving out of town.
I wouldn't drive out of Ottawa to buy only Ontario goods. From May/November there are local farmers markets in town - the list is growing all the time. There is a year round organic market that sells meat & eggs as well as other organic foods. I can get a nice range of products from stores near me - Herb & Spice on Wellington, Nicastro's in the Glebe, local butchers.
Even if your store was only 10 minutes out of town that would still make it a special trip. I'd make the effort maybe once a month in the colder months, but definitely not weekly.
There is a new store in Chinatown called Urban Market that is carrying Ontario milk, butter, cheese and produce. They are brand new, so not many products yet. Why not look at partnering with places like that and bringing in Ontario goods, rather than opening up a store?
And don't ignore Quebec, there are some great products available across the river. That is much closer than West Ontario or North Ontario...
I wouldn't drive out of Ottawa to buy only Ontario goods. From May/November there are local farmers markets in town - the list is growing all the time. There is a year round organic market that sells meat & eggs as well as other organic foods. I can get a nice range of products from stores near me - Herb & Spice on Wellington, Nicastro's in the Glebe, local butchers.
Even if your store was only 10 minutes out of town that would still make it a special trip. I'd make the effort maybe once a month in the colder months, but definitely not weekly.
There is a new store in Chinatown called Urban Market that is carrying Ontario milk, butter, cheese and produce. They are brand new, so not many products yet. Why not look at partnering with places like that and bringing in Ontario goods, rather than opening up a store?
And don't ignore Quebec, there are some great products available across the river. That is much closer than West Ontario or North Ontario...
2012 Nov 23
I'm a lazy shopper, and I suspect I'm not alone in that. I check packaging and if there's a local option available to me next to the imported product I'll happily pay a premium for the local food, but I'm not going to make a special trip for it because to be honest, when I'm out shopping for food I also want to buy dish soap and tin foil and orange juice and all sorts of other products that you're not likely to carry. I'd be very careful investing in a retail outlet for this sort of business, especially out of town.
2012 Nov 29
I love the concept but if it's substantially farther than the nearest Farm Boy, odds are i won't make a special trip for it.
Put a different way, i'm unlikely to travel farther to shop local(er).
BUT, for what it's worth, i would travel to a restaurant that served killer food from local sources, and if there was such a store connected to it, i would shop there.
Put a different way, i'm unlikely to travel farther to shop local(er).
BUT, for what it's worth, i would travel to a restaurant that served killer food from local sources, and if there was such a store connected to it, i would shop there.
2012 Nov 30
I am of two minds on this topic. First, and particularly with respect to vegetables, the discipline to eat 'local' (however one defines it) through the winter months is tougher than actually sourcing local vegetables. I was at Byward recently and the winter vegetables, including broccoli, were absolutely beautiful and cheaper and better quality than you could ever find at any supermarket in the city.
However, winter just started. Am I going to eat nothing but apples, beets, cabbages, potatoes, turnips, onions etc. etc. for the next 5 months? Almost impossible, it would take a remarkable amount of dedication that frankly doesn't make a lot of sense unless you are an ideologue who derives pleasure from adhering steadfastly to your principles - not that this doesn't occasionally describe me.
It's great to celebrate seasonal vegetables as much as possible, but there are limits, particularly if you pursue a particularly balanced and varied diet. But it can be done rather easily, at least on the Ontario/Quebec level, and it actually isn't cost prohibitive. i.e. you can buy Quebec beets and Ontario Apples at Food Basics.
Now on the other hand, meat is an entirely different story. For a variety of unrelated reasons, I have been greatly reducing my meat consumption over the last few years - and it's not because I don't like it or I think there is anything morally wrong with consuming animals. Nothing could be further from the truth - but I rarely buy it.
In my opinion, the price and quality of meat in most "high end" butcher shops in the city core are frankly, second rate across the board. Most of the beef (Alberta) and pork (Ontario) in the city is the same no matter where you buy it - No Frills or XYZ fancy butcher. XYZ (hopefully) just cuts it later, and stores it better and presents it more beautifully. For this service, the prices at XYZ are hilarious. It is amazing what you learn if you politely and cleverly ask a lot of questions.
Direct sources of locally farmed meat that I have come across are rarely better - I'm not paying a premium for anything that has been frozen or worse, frozen and slightly thawed and frozen again. I can tell. Vac-packing is another common practice that breaks my heart.
I realize why this is the case. We don't really care or frankly know the difference, and accordingly retailers have to vac-pack and freeze things because they don't move enough of the product to keep it fresh. This particularly is exacerbated for to me because I am an annoying snob that thinks high volume items like chicken breasts, pork tenderloin and and filet mignon are mind-numbingly boring and comically overpriced.
All that to say, I would definitely frequent a place that had high quality, locally farmed meat that wasn't frozen, vac-packed and offered a degree of variety. I have my doubts whether there are enough people in the city who would support that kind of business.
However, winter just started. Am I going to eat nothing but apples, beets, cabbages, potatoes, turnips, onions etc. etc. for the next 5 months? Almost impossible, it would take a remarkable amount of dedication that frankly doesn't make a lot of sense unless you are an ideologue who derives pleasure from adhering steadfastly to your principles - not that this doesn't occasionally describe me.
It's great to celebrate seasonal vegetables as much as possible, but there are limits, particularly if you pursue a particularly balanced and varied diet. But it can be done rather easily, at least on the Ontario/Quebec level, and it actually isn't cost prohibitive. i.e. you can buy Quebec beets and Ontario Apples at Food Basics.
Now on the other hand, meat is an entirely different story. For a variety of unrelated reasons, I have been greatly reducing my meat consumption over the last few years - and it's not because I don't like it or I think there is anything morally wrong with consuming animals. Nothing could be further from the truth - but I rarely buy it.
In my opinion, the price and quality of meat in most "high end" butcher shops in the city core are frankly, second rate across the board. Most of the beef (Alberta) and pork (Ontario) in the city is the same no matter where you buy it - No Frills or XYZ fancy butcher. XYZ (hopefully) just cuts it later, and stores it better and presents it more beautifully. For this service, the prices at XYZ are hilarious. It is amazing what you learn if you politely and cleverly ask a lot of questions.
Direct sources of locally farmed meat that I have come across are rarely better - I'm not paying a premium for anything that has been frozen or worse, frozen and slightly thawed and frozen again. I can tell. Vac-packing is another common practice that breaks my heart.
I realize why this is the case. We don't really care or frankly know the difference, and accordingly retailers have to vac-pack and freeze things because they don't move enough of the product to keep it fresh. This particularly is exacerbated for to me because I am an annoying snob that thinks high volume items like chicken breasts, pork tenderloin and and filet mignon are mind-numbingly boring and comically overpriced.
All that to say, I would definitely frequent a place that had high quality, locally farmed meat that wasn't frozen, vac-packed and offered a degree of variety. I have my doubts whether there are enough people in the city who would support that kind of business.
2012 Nov 30
I have a great source of local beef that is hanging and waiting for me to come ask the butcher which piece to cut off for me. But it's one of those situations where I like it so much on the one hand I want to scream it from the rooftops, but on the other hand I want to keep it secret so as not to ruin a good thing.
Guess which route I've chosen to go on that one? :-)
Guess which route I've chosen to go on that one? :-)
2012 Dec 4
I'm curious about that Chinatown store too. I think the poster might have gotten the name wrong, since I haven't seen it and can't find it mentioned via Google.
Per the original question, I do care about eating local and would support such a store if it's not too far away. But if you want to have products from small farms, isn't the quota issue a problem? My sense is that you can't get real small-farm pasture-raised poultry or eggs or dairy if you don't buy on the farm.
To whoever said all local meat is the same, that isn't actually true. Whether meat was sent to a feed lot at the end of its life or it was raised fully on grass/hay/alfalfa/etc makes a huge difference environmentally and nutritionally. I'll pay more for meat raised sustainably, even if it means buying much less meat or paying less for other things.
Per the original question, I do care about eating local and would support such a store if it's not too far away. But if you want to have products from small farms, isn't the quota issue a problem? My sense is that you can't get real small-farm pasture-raised poultry or eggs or dairy if you don't buy on the farm.
To whoever said all local meat is the same, that isn't actually true. Whether meat was sent to a feed lot at the end of its life or it was raised fully on grass/hay/alfalfa/etc makes a huge difference environmentally and nutritionally. I'll pay more for meat raised sustainably, even if it means buying much less meat or paying less for other things.
2012 Dec 4
Debs I headed off to Chinatown last Sunday and managed to find the store Urban Market. It's a brand new store on the north side of Somerset east of Preston about half way between Preston and Rochester. The store has an interesting concept - lots of locally grown vegetables, bread from The Portuguese Bakery and Bread and Roses, and Michaels Dolce jams. They seem to emphasize locally sourced products although they do have items from elsewhere. The retail space is quite big and not much in it right now but I expect it's because they are very new and are getting settled in their new digs. They might do well since their products don't overlap with what the other Chinatown stores offer but I'm not sure if the Chinatown clientele would shop there.
2012 Dec 4
Sorry Debs, Google doesn't know everything ;)
Urban Market exists and is on Somerset, near Booth/Rochester. The front window is wide and has a giant painting of vegetables on it, there is a wooden sign. It is a few steps up, so not right on street level.
I found a great variety of Canadian (not sure if only Ontario) butter at Nicastro's in the Glebe.
Urban Market exists and is on Somerset, near Booth/Rochester. The front window is wide and has a giant painting of vegetables on it, there is a wooden sign. It is a few steps up, so not right on street level.
I found a great variety of Canadian (not sure if only Ontario) butter at Nicastro's in the Glebe.
2012 Dec 5
This winter, Roots and Shoots will be starting to grow lettuces, greens, spinach, etc. in greenhouses. Probably more varied stuff as time goes by.
As the buy local mindset gets entrenched in peoples minds, and there are more places year round to sell fresh produce, more farmers will be putting in the required effort and revenue to supply produce. Like any commodity....there needs a market to sell that commodity. It will come!
Another question would be how local is local?
Are we not missing out on exciting different produce from other parts of this province or country, because we are looking to inwardly?
As the buy local mindset gets entrenched in peoples minds, and there are more places year round to sell fresh produce, more farmers will be putting in the required effort and revenue to supply produce. Like any commodity....there needs a market to sell that commodity. It will come!
Another question would be how local is local?
Are we not missing out on exciting different produce from other parts of this province or country, because we are looking to inwardly?
ELEO
It appears that in the Eastern Ontario region the greatest chance we have to eat local most of the time is during the summer when farmers markets are hopping. We can source meat and eggs from the farm gate all year, but that can entail a whole lot of driving around to different farmers. We have local companies that package and produce from imported goods and market them as local, but the fine print suggests otherwise.
I am toying with the idea of opening a retail outlet that sells nothing but Ontario grown and raised food. It would offer everything from meat, chicken, and freshwater fish to flours, oats, grains and herbs, to cheese and milk, and to fruit, berries vegetables and preserves. We have SO MUCH in Ontario, but nowhere that I know if to one-stop-shop for it.
This store would operate year round. It would focus on local, small scale farms. If a product is not available locally it would be sourced elsewhere within Ontario. The plan is to make eating local at a reasonable cost accessible all year round.
Rent costs in Ottawa would make such a location impossible. As such, I'm looking to locations south of the city.
So my questions to you are:
How important is it to you to buy local and support local all year round?
What prevents you currently from buying local all year round?
How important is the location of such a store?
How far would you drive? (15 min (Manotick)? 30 min (Kemptville)? 60 (Brockville)?)
Looking forward to your feedback.