Pandemic closures show the value of local farmers, says Wooden Monkey owner

The owner of two popular Halifax restaurants says the COVID-19 pandemic is showing the importance of buying local and investing in the Nova Scotia food supply chain.

Lil MacPerson said she and her co-owner, Christine Bower, decided they had no choice but to close both locations of the Wooden Monkey this week out of concern for safety for their nearly 80 employees. She said they had hoped to continue a takeout service, but quickly changed their minds.

"We just thought it would be best just to shut it down as well and hunker down ourselves," she said. "It's been very emotional." 

While she's worried about the future of her business, she's now focused on making sure farmers can adjust in this new market. The Wooden Monkey was created with a food-security philosophy and bought food from as many as 17 farmers at a time.

One of them is Owen Roberts, who owns Four Seasons Farm in Maitland, N.S., a medium-sized organic vegetable farm just outside of Truro.

'Up in the air'

Typically, at this time of year, his employees are setting up greenhouses and starting to plant seeds. Now, instead of worrying about farming conditions, he's wondering how to sell his produce.

"Everything is kind of up in the air," he said. "Restaurants represent the majority of our clients, we also supply small stores and farmers markets in the Halifax area. So we don't know what's going to happen." 

Roberts said he has four staff working now, and was just about to hire a few more. Now, he faces financial insecurity.

"I'm very concerned. I have a number of mortgages, we owe a lot of money," Roberts said.

He recently took out a new loan for another project, but he's been told by the Nova Scotia Farm Loan Board that the payments can be pushed back.

"Farming is not a very lucrative business, it's always very tight, it makes me pretty anxious at the moment."

'Taste of climate change'

The Canada-U.S. border is being shut down to all non-essential travel. While major Canadian grocers have said there is enough food to stock shelves, MacPherson said there should be more emphasis that ever on local food.

"This is a taste of climate change," she said. "This is a small taste of what our children will go through in the future."

She's working with her partners, including Roberts, to set up new initiatives to get food to families. Both say it's too soon to say exactly what that will look like.

"Hopefully Nova Scotians can support farmers as much as possible, especially local farmers because we know where it's coming from and it's employing local people," said Roberts.

MacPherson said she doesn't know what the future will hold for her beloved restaurants. Unless there's financial support, the future of the Wooden Monkey is uncertain.

The Halifax location has already been through its share of struggles, having survived during long construction delays with the Nova Centre.

"We don't plan on going down, but we don't know the future, nobody does. So it's a little scary."