Best Practices in Local Food:

A Guide for MunicipalitiesKawartha Lakes Local Food Forum

June 1, 2015

Presentation by OMAFRA1

Presentation Objectives

• To provide an overview of the:• Government of Ontario’s Local Food Strategy; and• Ontario Municipal Knowledge Network’s Best Practices in

Local Food – A Guide for Municipalities.

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Ontario : A Champion of Local Food

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$160M+

Invested

Since 2003/04

Business Advisory Services

Marketing and

Promotion

Funding Programs

Research/ Knowledge Transfer

Industry Capacity Building

Value Chain Developme

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Ontario’s Local Food Strategy

• VISION: Ontario consumers enjoy local food more often – and in more places.

• MISSION: Increasing the consumption of local food in Ontario.

• GOALS:• Ontario consumers are aware of, value and

choose more local foods.• Local food is identifiable and widely available

through a range of distribution channels.• Ontario’s agri-food sector is competitive,

productive and responsive to consumer demand.

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Local Food Act, 2013

• Defines local food as food produced or harvested in Ontario, including forest and freshwater food, and food and beverages made in Ontario if they include ingredients produced or harvested in Ontario.

• Requires the Minister to set voluntary/aspirational goals and targets around food literacy, access to local food and increased use of local food by public sector organizations – in consultation with stakeholders;

• Requires the province to consult with public sector organizations on goals and targets, and share information on progress and results;

• Requires the government to produce an annual local food report;

• Proclaims a “Local Food Week”, beginning the first Monday in June;

• Creates a tax credit of 25 per cent for farmers for donations of agricultural products to eligible community food programs.

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Background: Best Practices Guide for Municipalities

• Building resilient local food systems requires local leadership, and many municipalities are doing exciting things.

• Municipalities are well positioned to understand the capacity, challenges and opportunities of their local food economies.

• In 2013, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and the Ontario Municipal Knowledge Network (OMKN) supported by the Ontario government, hired Deloitte to develop a guide to support municipalities in adopting best practices related to local food initiatives.

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Key Barriers and Challenges

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Limited economies of scale

Limited coordination

Prov. Regs. Limited funding

Lack of expertise

Lack of support from staff & council

Fed. Regs.

These barriers and challenges make it more difficult for municipalities to maximize their support for local food.

Overarching Success Factors

• In looking across jurisdictions, several key success factors were identified for municipal local food initiatives:

• understanding what activities are available to municipal council;

• understanding the challenges facing the local food industry (considering the whole supply chain from farm to fork);

• understanding the unique situation of the municipality;

• finding a municipal champion; and

• engaging key stakeholders.

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Local Food Tools and Tactics

Strategy and Macro-Policy

Food Charter and/or Strategy to confirm municipal priorities, objectives and goals

Official Plan to guide zoning by-laws

Policies Planning policies and zoning by-laws to protect agricultural land

Planning policies and zoning bylaws to support value-added processing on ag. land

Procurement policy to encourage local food purchases

Permitting process for farmers’ markets

Signage for markets/on-farm sales

Disposal rules and guidelines

Programs Community Gardens

Incubator kitchens

Food hubs Mobile vendors

Regional branding and agri-tourism

Composting

Partnerships and Governance

Regional partnerships between municipalities to achieve economies of scale

Partnerships with non-governmental organizations to organize and deliver community programming

Food Policy Council

ProducingProcessin

g/Preparing

Distributing

RetailingConsumpti

on

Waste Manageme

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• Municipalities have a number of policy and program tools at their disposal to support local food activities across the agri-food supply chain. This table provides a few examples.

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Choosing the Best Tools

• The Guide provides guidance on how to identify the right tools for your municipality based on your unique opportunities and challenges.

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Size & type of municipality- small/large- rural/urban

Municipal resources- funding- staff

Agriculture base- strong/weak- diverse/

homogenous

Proximity to urban centres- close- distance

Agri-food sector- # of

businesses- active/inactive

Five Criteria to Assist with Selecting the Best Tools

*Note: all activities would need to comply with applicable legal and trade obligations

Measuring Success

• Measurement is critical to assess progress and impacts, and to justify investments of staff time and resources.

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High value useful as a measure of local food sector health

Low complexity easy to collect and low cost of collecting the data

High level of municipal control municipality has a high level of influence in the outcomes

Sweet spot

Looking for performance measures or indicators that

provide:

Thank You!

• The Guide is available on the Ontario Municipal Knowledge Network website: www.omkn.ca/Best-Practices/Beneficial-Reports.aspx.

• Jaya James, Policy AdvisorEconomic Development Policy BranchMinistry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairsjaya.james@ontario.ca

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