September 15, 2015 – A groups of residents from the City of Thunder Bay’s three Homes for the Aged visited Belluz Farms today to learn more about the fresh local vegetables which will now be appearing on their menus. 

“Thanks in part to the Greenbelt Fund and the Ontario Government, we’ve been able to purchase equipment that facilitates the harvest and handling of high-demand crops,” said Kevin Belluz, Farmer and owner of Belluz Farms. 

The upgrades provide near-ideal conditions for long-term storage at Belluz for things like carrots, beets, cabbages and onions,

Belluz Farms is now able to provide the City of Thunder Bay with carrots on the scale needed without any significant cost increase over last year.

“The City of Thunder Bay assessed its use of these four fresh vegetables and made an agreement to purchase them from Belluz for the next year at a set price,” said Kendal Donahue, Coordinator of the Thunder Bay & Area Food Strategy.

“This guarantees the City the supply they need at a price that won’t fluctuate as the supply of stored vegetables diminishes through the winter months.  At the same time, Belluz Farms is guaranteed that market for their fresh produce, contributing to their stability and bottom line.”

A series of two Greenbelt Fund grants have made it possible to build relationships between growers, distributors, and food service staff. All of the education accomplished to date and innovative things the City institutions have been testing are meant to make it easier for public sector institutions to buy local within budget, contract, and other constraints.

“We’ve done the research and built a functioning model for buying local food at the institutional level that demonstrates that price and logistics aren’t the obstacles people think,” Donahue says.  “We’ve paved the way for buying local and now people will be looking to the other institutions in the city to climb aboard.”

“At first the vegetables will be substituted for non-local product in existing menu items; then, as the staff develops new recipes, residents will be served dishes like Roasted Root Vegetables and Blueberry Beet Muffins,” said from Chris Borutski, Pioneer Ridge Food & Nutrition Services.

“New signage in the dining rooms will tell residents where to find local food products in their meals.  Residents finished up their tour with a picnic in the greenhouse before returning to Dawson Court, Grandview Lodge and Pioneer Ridge Homes for the Aged.

The partnership is the latest step in the Food Strategy’s local food procurement initiative. For more information, visit: www.tbfoodstrategy.ca

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Contact:       Kendal Donahue, Coordinator – Thunder Bay & Area Food Strategy, 624-2143