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GreenbeltFresh.ca responds to the growing interest in local food.
The Online Marketplace quickly and easily connects producers, consumers and institutional and commercial buyers. Free and accessible, the Marketplace supports Greenbelt agriculture and farmers and contributes to building a regional food network in the Greater Golden Horseshoe.
Farmers (over 400 and growing) use the Marketplace to display their products and help buyers order what they need. Consumers and bulk buyers use the Marketplace to find fresh food from local sources. No matter the size of your farm, family or food service, the Online Marketplace works for all shapes and sizes.
The Fresh Food Finder contains an incredibly diverse range of products on offer from Ontario's Greenbelt - for both simple and adventurous tastes, search for locally-grown and raised staples, specialties, and ethno-cultural varieties. Find what you need or explore what's on offer from Niagara's tender fruit orchards and vineyards, the Holland Marsh salad bowl, Durham's green pastures, farmers' markets and on-farm markets, Community Shared Agriculture partnerships , and many other Greenbelt farms. Actual financial transactions are not made online, however, information is provided to make this an easy and efficient step.
Using GreenbeltFresh.ca makes buying local food something you can do every day and through all seasons.
Searching the Marketplace is a simple and straightforward action, but so much more is actually happening when farmers, consumers and bulk buyers connect. Once engaged, new relationships evolve to meet opportunities and fill gaps - moving towards making a regional food network a reality.
The Greater Golden Horseshoe Region is lucky to have all the ingredients needed to sustain a local food network - protected farmland; a tremendous diversity of farm products grown and raised in the area; a large population; and, a concentration of food service industries such as restaurants, schools, colleges and universities, hospitals, daycares, and grocery stores. Regionally, buying local has a lasting impact on sustaining family farms, supporting our local rural and urban economies, encouraging agricultural diversity, and promoting sustainable environmental practices. It also secures a predictable and more stable food source for the future and provides a cushion against a vulnerable global food system.
Buying locally-grown and raised food is good for our region. This new tool can help make it possible for everyone to start buying local food - more of it, and more often.
