In early 2020 BlogTO visited Kendal Hills Farm, where the warehouse for the Virtual Farmers Market is located to learn how the Market came to be. We've made several changes since then, but if you want to learn about the origins of the Virtual Farmer Market Food, you can view the video here.
Additionally, Virtual Farmers Market was featured on a BlogTO podcast in March 2020. You can listen to episode on Spotify, iTunes, or Stitcher. If you are only interested in our interview, skip ahead to 3:15 to hear Dave Kranenburg share how the Virtual Farmers Market came to be, and his hopes for the future of the online Market.
The Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario (EFAO) supports farmers to build resilient ecological farms and grow a strong, knowledge-sharing community. EFAO visited the farm in 2020 to chat with Dave and Emily and share a tour of the farm.
The Financial Post shared an article describing how farmers markets are looking for ways to stay afloat throughout the pandemic by adapting and modernizing the field for the future.
Global News Durham shared a video on how our online market worked to help small farmers and producers throughout COVID-19 challenges, giving consumers a place to shop for their favourite local goods despite ongoing challenges.
Jim Carroll is a futurist, keynote speaker, and business trends & leadership expert. Writing about the Virtual Farmers Market, he says: "What was particularly fun for me was that my online broadcast had me talking about a local farmer – Kendal Hills Farms – and the story of how they were moving extremely quickly to align to this new reality. I came across his story while doing my research for my Thursday show...the entire thing also fits within one of my long standing beliefs – farmers are some of the most innovative people I know!"
The National Film Board shares about how Dave Kranenburg of Kendal Hills Farm seized an opportunity created by the pandemic to help improve the local food system - by creating a virtual farmers market.
Nick Appleton is a local filmmaker at Apple Orchard Productions. In early 2020, shortly after we launched as the Virtual Farmers Market, Nick visited the farm to record the story of how the online Market came to be. This video provides a look into how the Market works.
The Walrus shared an article in July 2020, describing the difficulties of sustainable farming. The article shares "the hard truth is that food produced in a sustainable way is expensive, and we as consumers need to come to terms with this. Small-scale, sustainable farmers do not use chemical sprays to augment nutrients. They build whole integrated systems using organic and biodynamic techniques that are more labour-intensive, that use less fossil fuel–dependent machinery, and that rely on heritage seeds (and collecting them, as well). They also do this on a more human and humane scale." You can read the rest of the article here.
In November 2020 the Toronto Star shared a piece on the farmers who are raising the pigs and chickens that Toronto chefs and butchers covet. Dave Kranenburg and Kendal Hills Farm, the founder of the Virtual Farmers Market, are featured throughout this article sharing how his heritage chickens are raised.