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Vision:

A city with equitable access to healthy foods for everyone.

A city with an adequate supply of local[1] food, the infrastructure to distribute it, and equitable sale points for providing it to consumers.

Policy Recommendations:

In order to increase the supply of locally produced foods and to make the distribution of fresh and healthy foods more equitable in Ottawa, it is recommended that:

1)    The City of Ottawa conduct a review of food-relevant zoning by-laws and implement necessary revisions in order to address existing inequities in food distribution and to limit ‘food deserts’, which are low income neighbourhoods with only limited access to fresh, healthy food[2]:

• Ensure that zoning regulations include grocery stores and other food retail outlets and that these are established on the basis of neighbourhood need; and
• Remove zoning by-law barriers to the establishment of farmers’ markets (satellite and/or permanent) and farm stands in ‘hub areas’ such as community centres, schools, parks, churches, etc.

 

2)    The City of Ottawa include a guiding principle of ‘equitable access to fresh and healthy food (locally produced as available)’ in all relevant growth, environment, and development plans with the objective of explicitly including the consideration of neighbourhood access to food in all new development applications, zoning and by-law amendments, and community planning.

• The City of Ottawa may also consider establishing incentives for the development of fresh, locally-sourced food vendors.

 

3)    Support the development of local food supply and infrastructure for local and regional food processing, storage, warehousing and distribution by:

• Reviewing public institution food procurement policies with a view to encouraging and removing barriers to purchasing local products where possible to support the local food economy;
• Providing expertise and assistance with business planning and feasibility studies for food and farming enterprises; and
• Participating in advocacy efforts to the Province to encourage greater allocation of dollars directed to municipalities for the development of local and regional infrastructure for food processing, storage, warehousing and distribution.
• Participating in advocacy efforts to the Federal government regarding the potential consequences for local food procurement of the proposed the Canada-Europe Trade Agreement CETA.

 

Recognizing that all public institutions have a role to play in building a local food system, it is further recommended that:

4)    All public institutions, including the NCC, school boards, educational institutions, hospitals, and provincial and federal government buildings in Ottawa review their institutional food procurement policies and 1) increase buying local food incrementally as supply increases to support the local food economy, and 2) include fair trade purchasing policies on items that cannot be sourced locally.

• Example: University of Victoria’s (UVIC) Green Purchasing Policy, which aims to support locally-made, environmentally responsible products, including locally-produced foods.

Pertains To:

This policy pertains to urban planners overseeing the ongoing development and redevelopment of the City of Ottawa. It includes, but is not limited to, planning, zoning, and building permits. That said, there is a role for everyone in realizing greater access to (local) food including policymakers, government agencies, elected officials, financial institutions, economic and community development partners, grocery industry members, social service agencies, community organizations, educational institutions, provincial & federal government agencies, hospitals and health-care facilities, and residents.

Rationale:

A recent review by Sustain Ontario of Ontario provincial food policies concluded that investing in local food infrastructure must become a priority if we are to increase the market share for local food and revitalize agricultural communities.[3]

“While many provinces have established programs to market local food…Few provinces have invested in the infrastructure necessary for local food production and consumption such as storage and distribution…There remains opportunity for governments to promote the development of local agri-food industries, a process that would result in local job creation and rural development” ~ Manitoba Food Charter 2009, p 53

The City of Ottawa stands to be a national municipal leader in the support and development of local/regional food infrastructure.

Regarding overall zoning review

Local zoning regulations are a mechanism for changing people’s eating habits and overall health because local governments have a degree of control in this area.  The studies cited here demonstrate that people’s consumption habits are influenced by the availability and accessibility (or lack thereof) of fresh and healthy foods. Increasing the overall consumption of healthy foods could be achieved through zoning amendments that allow for the retail of healthy foods in more public places.

Regarding greater access to fresh foods

The second guiding principle in the Ottawa 20/20 Official Plan of 2001 is “Access to the Basics,” in which food is included (although not explicitly fresh, local food). This means that access to food must always be a consideration by the City of Ottawa.

The rationale behind Detroit’s Fresh Food Access Initiative (2008) is clear – greater food access results in healthier, more vibrant communities. Additionally, there are health implications associated with poor fresh food access[4].  For example, In the United States, the presence of supermarkets was associated with higher consumption of fruits and vegetables among adults[5] and closer proximity to supermarkets was related to better diet quality during pregnancy[6].  An analysis in Detroit revealed that people wanted to eat healthier diets, but a lack of nutritious options hampered these efforts[7].

Food deserts also decrease the value of neighbourhoods, making it difficult to attract new residents and developers and lowering the resale value of homes. Market research has also shown that food deserts hinder the marketability of residential projects[8].

The Ottawa Neighbourhoods Study provides data that allows for the identification of ‘food deserts’ in Ottawa.  As mentioned above, food deserts are low-income neighbourhoods or communities that have only limited access to fresh, healthy food[9]. Currently, in Ottawa, there are fourteen lower SES neighbourhoods[10] with limited access to a grocery store (here defined as no grocery store in neighbourhood and a distance of more than a kilometer to the closest grocery store)[11].  This is particularly problematic, as people living in poorer neighbourhoods may lack access to private transportation and thus face hardships getting to and from the grocery store. People living in rural neighbourhoods also face difficulties accessing grocery stores; in five rural Ottawa neighbourhoods, the population centre of the neighbourhood is more than 10 kilometers away from the nearest grocery store. Even though the rural neighbourhoods and communities around Ottawa tend to be classified as higher income, there are many people living in such neighbourhoods who are living on lower income and thus face hardship accessing food.

Appendix C1: Background

Barriers / Gaps:

Municipalities have been slow to take on an active role in developing local food infrastructure, which has typically been left to the NGOs and private sector[12]. However, many municipalities are now starting to realize the connection between healthy environments, food access, and consumer health. Municipalities are now adopting food policies that work to improve local food infrastructure in a move towards greater food security.

Supply

Most of the food that we consume is imported, making Ottawa’s food security susceptible to climate disasters, rising fuel and transport prices, and political instability abroad. By establishing and strengthening a local food supply, the National Capital region becomes more resilient to global fluctuations and interruptions in the current global food supply. Additionally, locally-sourced food is thought to be fresher and healthier as a result of reduced need for chemical treatments used to lengthen shelf life when distance between producer and consumer is considerable.

Distribution

The Ontario Food Terminal Board owns and operates the largest wholesale fruit and distribution centre in Canada, located in Toronto. Other jurisdictions, such as Niagara and Etobicoke also have the infrastructure in place to support food terminals. Despite the agricultural productivity of the Ottawa-Gatineau region, there is no food terminal for the national capital.

Not only does a local food terminal reduce the transport distances of food (currently, a percentage of the produce from the Ottawa region travels to Toronto, to then be bought by a Ottawa-based food supplier and transported back), but it also creates significant employment and volunteer opportunities for the local economy and more effective coordination of the distribution of locally-produced food.

While supply and distribution barriers are a confluence of federal, provincial and municipal policies, there are concrete actions that the City of Ottawa can take to increase the supply of locally-produced food in Ottawa, and thus improve local food security. Too many people lack access to healthy food and, despite growing demand for local food, our centralized, large-scale food processors, distributors, and retailers are unable to provide it[13].

The chapter on Food and Agriculture in Choosing our Future: From Vision to Action lays out a food system as one that involves farming, transporting, processing, distributing, celebrating and recovering food waste in the context of natural, economic, social, and political driving forces.[14]

As the Food and Agriculture chapter in the Choosing our Future report goes on to state:

Much of the agricultural products that are grown in the National Capital Region (and elsewhere in Canada, for that matter) are exported for processing to foreign markets. In this way, most of the value of existing major crops in the region – corn, soybeans, and cereals – is lost to an export-based agricultural economy that has less to do with a local people and bioregions, and more to do with single-bottom line economics. Processing, selling and celebrating that food locally can create a powerful economic multiplier effect for the local economy.

Precedence:

Ottawa

• The Savour Ottawa network links local farmers with retailers and restaurants. The verification process guarantees that agricultural products are produced locally, and posters, labels, and other materials help business owners to promote locally produced products in their store. A number of small grocers and specialty shops are Savour Ottawa members. The City of Ottawa Rural Affairs and Markets Management Offices play key roles in supporting the work of Savour Ottawa.
• Currently the City of Ottawa supports two permanent farmers’ markets year-round, the Ottawa Parkdale Market and the Byward Market, through the City of Ottawa Markets Management. Both markets offer locally-produced food, fresh foods that are not locally produced and handicrafts produced both locally and sourced from abroad.
• The establishment of new farmers’ markets and farm stands in urban areas and underserved areas are examples of community-based initiatives to increase access to fresh and local food and to provide multiple outlets for local farmers to sell their produce.
  • The Main Farmers’ market in Old Ottawa East is located on the grounds of St. Paul’s university. It began as a community initiative in 2007 and now operates with the support of St Paul’s, numerous volunteers, and a rural partnerships grant from the City of Ottawa.
  • The Quartier Vanier Merchants Association established a small outdoor market in 2008 along Montreal Road with the express objective of creating a destination where people could purchase fresh food directly from the growers[15]. The BIA membership of 350 merchants is the sole funder of this neighbourhood-level initiative.
  • The Little Italy (Preston Street) Business Improvement Association has established a new farmers’ market in the parking lot of the adult high school on the corner of Preston and Gladstone. The market runs from 9am to 2pm on Saturdays from May 7 through until Thanksgiving weekend. Vendors are required to bring their own tables and tents; the cost to vendors is $30 per day for a 10×10 space.

Canada

• One of the key objectives of the Ontario Food Terminal is “to provide a central marketplace for Ontario growers and produce wholesalers to sell their produce directly to the wholesale and retail trade.”[16] In 2009 the Ontario Food Terminal recorded over 25,000 vehicles delivering produce to wholesalers. The farmers’ market component of the terminal recorded 2,000 daily paid entries to connect with 33,000 stall tenants[17].  The Ontario Food Terminal is a key component of food and agricultural infrastructure in southern Ontario.
• The City of Vancouver is currently in the process of establishing a ‘food hub’ for greater municipal-level food distribution. Called the New City Market, the development will aim to serve three main functions for Vancouver’s burgeoning local food scene: 1) as a processing facility with certified kitchens for canning and other value-added food preparation; 2) as a permanent market space where farmers can store and sell produce wholesale or retail; and 3) as an aggregator of services such as education, community outreach and marketing[18].
• Zoning laws can be, and have been, amended under the justification of public health. The most widely cited example of this is when neighbourhood zoning is altered to restrict fast-food outlets from establishing themselves in close proximity to schools, under the justification that youth are unable to differentiate healthy from unhealthy eating choices. Research by economists at the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University, provides scientific evidence that fast food near schools results in greater student obesity[19].
• Under their Green Purchasing policy, the University of Victoria (UVIC) has decentralized its food budget allowing more chefs to make smaller purchases that aren’t regulated by trade regulations in an effort to localize the campus food supply. They have recently passed a regulation that requires food distributors to provide locally-sourced foods. Additionally, where food products are unable to be sourced locally (as is the case with sugar, coffee, tea, etc), fair trade certified products must be offered at all food retail outlets on campus.
• FarmStart is a not-for-profit organization based out of Guelph, ON that supports the upcoming generation of farmers to develop locally-based, ecologically-sound, and economically-viable small farm enterprises. FarmStart works with the FarmON Alliance, a provincially coordinated alliance of organizations with a mandate to encourage the development of local food systems through the support of emerging, ecologically-oriented farmers. 

International

• New York City council recognized that zoning bylaws were a major impediment to the establishment of more fresh-food retailers in lower-income neighbourhoods[20]. As a result, zoning amendments were a key component to the F*R*E*S*H* program, which was designed to create greater access to healthy foods in underserved neighbourhoods. Land-use regulations regarding supermarkets have since been modified, rezoning according to grocer needs have been implemented, and city-owned property has been discussed for future food-retailer sites[21].
• In the last ten years, several older cities, such as Baltimore, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Pittsburgh, have streamlined their development processes, rewritten their zoning codes, and otherwise eased food-related development. Most notable of these is the comprehen­sive set of recommendations by the Building Industry Alliance Association of Phila­delphia (BIA) issued in 2004. These 10 reforms addressed the need for increased transparency in the development process, improved user-friendly services, timely inspections, and zoning code reforms that reflected the city’s current vision for its neighborhoods and attracted needed funding. The recommendations also called for the establishment of a land bank; the creation of an all-inclusive, publicly-accessible electronic zoning map; the distribution of a step-by-step guide to Philadelphia’s development review pro­cess; and the creation of a Construction Permit Centre to allow representatives from all of the City’s approving agencies to issue permits in a centralized location[22].