THUNDER BAY – The city is facing a substantial local food deficit, but knowing where the shortfalls are could lead to more opportunities for local farmers.
Figures released on Thursday show more than 530 tonnes of potatoes are outsourced from areas outside of the Thunder Bay district.
In addition the city consumes 175 more tonnes of carrots than it produces, 110 tonnes of tomatoes, eight tonnes of dry onions, 72 tonnes of cabbage, six tonnes of apples, three tonnes of blueberries, five tonnes of ground beef, 23 tonnes of pork sausage and more than 40,000 dozen eggs.
The good news is there is plenty of room to increase food production capacity, according to the recently released Thunder Bay and Area Food and Agricultural market study.
“We actually have a lot of land you can use for agriculture in Thunder Bay and some of it is currently not being used,” said Amy Bumbacco, the food strategy co-ordinator with Eco Superior’s environmental programs.
“The ability to expand is there. There are also farmers who are interested in expanding, growing their operations or starting new operations, but first we need to understand the demand for food in Thunder Bay.”
Bumbacco said the 106-page market study is an opportunity for food producers to learn where they can fill some of the gaps.
“It will also help banks to issue loans, hopefully, and economic development organizations to evaluate business proposals, target funding.
A total of six recommendations arose in the report. In addition to sharing the information with lenders and economic development agencies, it called for an annual food procurement forum to share success stories and brainstorm. It also suggests looking into the feasibility of a local food hub or innovation centre to facilitate centralized food distribution.
Other goals include partnering with grocery stores to promote the use of locally-produced food, enhancements to the Thunder Bay Country Market and looking into the possibility of other avenues to sell local goods, including pop-up or mobile food markets.
“Farmers were interested in expanding their businesses, but they needed more information and unfortunately information about a detailed picture about our local food economy, as it relates to demand, is just not there.”
Henriet Debruin, president of the Thunder Bay Federation of Agriculture, said the numbers uncovered in the market study come as no surprise to area farmers.
The demand is there and people have realized for some time that the closer food is produced to home, the healthier and fresher it is when it hits the plate.
But, Debruin said, the study’s value lies in its ability to paint a clearer picture to bankers for farmers looking to expand.
“This is the proof that we need to expand so we have more product to sell to more businesses,” she said.
