Explore local with the Waterloo Region Food Directory: Jasmine Mangalaseril
Eat, grow, give and support the community with 80 different food businesses around the region
From community gardens to award-winning cheese makers to restaurants and organizations focusing on food waste reduction or distributing food hampers, the Waterloo region food scene is vast.
And now, there's a new local food resource that aims to capture that breadth.
The Waterloo Region Food Directory, at waterlooregionfood.ca, is a project by The Food System Roundtable of Waterloo Region with Open Food Network Canada.
"The directory has local businesses, local organizations and local initiatives connecting people to their food system, letting people know how they can eat local and grow local and give local," explained Steffanie Scott, the Roundtable's chair.
The easy-to-use online resource launched in early October with 80 listings so far. It's free to use and free to submit a listing.
It has more than a dozen categories, including farms, restaurants, community kitchens and pay-what-you-can all grouped under three headings: eat local, grow local and give local.
"I think that really reflects the values of the Food Systems Roundtable, of being very much about community engagement, and food justice and food access," said Scott.
Below are examples of the types of businesses you can find under each heading.
Eat Local
While emergency food hampers are often what comes to mind when it comes to food banks, the Cambridge Food Bank has opportunities to give Cambridge residents access to affordable, fresh, healthy produce.
From Tuesday through Saturday, their mobile food market operates on a pay-what-you-can model as it rolls into more than a dozen stops around town.
"We're really striving for equity in the way that we run this program," said market coordinator Patrick Doyle. "We want everyone to be able to come and whether you can only afford to pay a few dollars or where you can pay $20 or $30 or $50, whatever you're comfortable with. You're going to get a wonderful basket of fresh food."
On average, the mobile food market sells between 1,000 to 1,500 kilograms of fresh food every week.
It purchases produce from local farmers and suppliers, except in the winter when they purchase from the Ontario Food Terminal. The Food Bank's garden also supplies the market, harvesting roughly 4,500 kg of light greens, like kale and chard.
Grow Local
Many new Canadians come from cultures where growing food is a normal practice and they often can't continue that here. The Petersburg Community Garden provides access to land with an opportunity to retain that part of their food culture.
"Equity is really about opportunities," said Doug Jones, chair of the Waterloo Region Community Garden Network. "We're creating an opportunity for people to grow the foods that are culturally appropriate. Grow them in the way that they want to grow them. And be able to grow food for their families and their communities, which is really important to them."
The eight hectare garden was inspired by KIVA, a microloan program, as a hand-up model establishing dignity and equality. Daryl Dore and Nicole Dore-Strickler rent the land to the organization who then rent sections to participants.
This year 33 family groups participated. Together they have created a community, which includes seed and knowledge sharing. Their potlucks are so successful they're now considering hosting cooking classes.
Give Local
The Anishnabeg Outreach Spirit Bundle Program provides essentials like food, clothing, household items and baby supplies to about 400 Indigenous families or 1,500 individuals. Some of the food distributed is grown on their four hectare farm in Breslau.
The farm does more than provide nutritional sustenance, it's part of healing through reconciliation.
"If we can help people heal, then we can also help them with the rest. Which would be really the food security piece of it," explained Executive Director Stephen Jackson. "The farm is really just a giant place where people come. They work together to create an outcome, to educate themselves on the reconciliation piece of it and to help Indigenous people."
Last year, roughly 4,000 corporate volunteers worked at the farm.
When corporate supporters and non-Indigenous people come to the property, they contribute to Anishnabeg Outreach mission as they work together. As a result, relationships and partnerships deepen, allowing the organization to develop new programs and provide additional community supports.
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