The Resiliency of the Local Food System

The Resiliency of the Local Food System

March 17th, 2020:

This is our 4th season of reviving the farm that Emily grew up on.

We entered 2020 feeling that we had really hit our stride as farmers.  Growing beautiful food that enough people at markets and enough chefs respected that we could make a living out of this.  Along the way, we’ve become friends with our neighbours at farmers’ markets and consider ourselves lucky to enjoy their products which is some of the best food that’s being grown in Ontario.
 
However, our dependency on farmers markets and restaurants, and the same dependency of our farmer and artisan friends, is exposing the potential fragility of our local food system.  Without these, how do small farms get their food to people?
 
Just as farmers market emerged from farmers working together, we're all figuring out new ways of working together so that the food we all work so hard in growing can find its way to you.  And so the seeds of ideas from brief conversations at markets and conferences are being sown.
 
One idea that we'll be bringing to life is that we’re expanding our online store to include products from our farmer and artisan friends...turning it into a sort of virtual farmers market with FREE, no-contact home delivery.
We’ll be adding cheese from Monforte Dairy, coffee from Happenstance Bakery & Roastery, maple syrup & preserves from Spade & Spoon, root vegetables from Wheelbarrow Farm, micro-greens from the Little Farm that Could, and much more as we hear back from our friends.
 
Our first delivery to Toronto is this Thursday and locally it's this Sunday.  If you'd like to order for Toronto delivery, please do so by noon on Wednesday.  Please know that not all items the I just mentioned are listed yet and we ask that you be patient with us as all of a sudden we are running a grocery store?  Dave works fast, but he needs a little bit of time to get everything setup properly.  :)
 
Farmers that are dedicated to working with nature have had the best teacher when it comes to resiliency.
 
Thank you for supporting small, local farms during this time.
Stay healthy & stay positive,
 
Dave & Emily

    • Related Articles

    • Made with Local

      Made with Local started as a simple farmer's market table, and is now a B-Corp certified food provider, available across Canada! Everything is still baked at home, in Dartmouth, NS, by locals with local ingredients.  The B-Corp Certification is the ...

    • National Film Board: PIVOT

      By PIVOT Article shared from Medium. 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. Kendal Hills is a 70-acre farm outside of Orono, ...

    • Evelyn's Crackers

      Imagine if you will, 13 years ago, a chef and a baker stood on the edge of a giant ship...for this exercise, the giant ship represents our broken food system. They were both wearing life-jackets and holding their one year old daughter, Evelyn, and a ...

    • Our Mission & Vision

      At Graze & Gather our mission is to create a community of local farmers and food lovers for the future well being of people and the planet.  Our vision is to be the best food experience for the planet.

    • Move fast and MAKE things

      March 19th, 2020: It’s time to move fast and make things As the reality of our pandemic predicament settles in, I’m calling on my fellow entrepreneurs and innovators to get creative. The local food system that supports small farms has been stuck in a ...