As part of an effort to pass a Local Food Act in Ontario, Premier Dalton McGuinty asked families to support local food during the annual Premier’s Summit on Agri-Food Innovation on Oct. 4.
The challenge involves asking Ontario families to shift $10 of their weekly grocery budgets toward purchasing local products.
“It would be good to not only to have people consume fresh healthy nutritious Ontario food but do it in a way that would benefit us all economically at the same time,” said Ted McMeekin, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Tuesday.
The proposed Local Food Act has been introduced into the Legislative Assembly and has undergone its first reading, according McMeekin.
Officials took interest in the $10 challenge after last year’s release of the Ontario Table cookbook authored by food writer Lynn Ogrizlo who issued the challenge to her readers.
The Ontario Table was released last June. Ogrizlo turned to Toronto based think-tank Martin Prosperity Institute (MPI) for specific studies to support her idea.
“I went to the Martin Prosperity Institute … if every household in Ontario spent $10 on local food what would that do? They put that together for me,” she said, adding that she is happy her work has captured the attention of government officials.
According to figures compiled by Dr. Kevin Stolerick of MPI at the University of Toronto, and Doug Vallery of Experience Renewal Solutions in Toronto, a $10 shift in spending could generate an extra $2.4 billion for Ontario’s economy and creates 10,000 new jobs.
The challenge reflects some of the developments the Local Food Act will support should the bill get passed.
“Of course it’s all supply and demand, if people are buying into the idea of purchasing local product then the markets will grow and people in our agri-food business will do better and as a result everybody in Ontario will do better,” McMeekin said adding that the agricultural industry is the leading economic driver in Ontario.
“It produces more direct economic benefits than any other sector,” he said while discussing the bill and an opportunity to work with post-secondary institutions, hospitals and municipalities, hoping to entice institutions to invest in more local produce.
The proposed act includes the creation of programs geared towards educating youth on health and nutrition as well as the benefits of local produce. Should the act be passed it will also include collaborating with retailers to provide more local produce in stores.
