When SCOR EDC first took over the FoodHub project in 2014, the goal was to bring together small to mid-sized producers, increasing market access and ensuring that local product was enjoyed in the community it was produced in. SCOR EDC has been privileged to work alongside many passionate and enthusiastic individuals who believed in the FoodHub’s vision, and were instrumental in helping the project succeed.
Over the past three years, our producer’s product has made it into the hands of over 90,000 school children across Middlesex, Elgin, and Oxford County, as well as supplying the Tastebuds program in Hamilton. Long-term care residents and hospital patients in Norfolk County were able to enjoy fresh summer produce, from sweet corn to juicy watermelon. Students at Huron College and Saugeen Maitland Hall enjoyed farm tours and meals grown close to home. From Student Nutrition coordinators to professional chefs, your advocacy and effort to incorporate local food into tightly budgeted programs has been inspiring. Thank you for being a voice for positive change, allowing consumers to put a face and name to where their food came from.
Of course, none of this would have been possible without the dedication and effort put in by you, our producers. Your willingness to participate and work together has been inspiring, with new partnerships and connections being forged through FoodHub involvement. To our hubsites- thank you for opening your doors and providing a place to store and move product. To our producers- thank you for accepting orders both large and small, and giving your time so that the reach of local food might be furthered.
From all of us here at SCOR, the FoodHub has been an encouraging and rewarding experience. Thank you for your continued support.
FreshSpoke
SCOR EDC has collaborated with FreshSpoke through the SCOR FoodHub project in an effort to provide more opportunities for Ontarians to have the option of choosing fresh, local food. The demand for local food has never been stronger, with consumers applying pressure on retail, institutional, and foodservice operators to have an increase of local options available. In order to meet this demand at a competitive price, we need to work collaboratively all along the value chain and embrace innovative means for consumers and purchasers to access local food options.
The FreshSpoke platform provides producers with alternative means to access markets through marketing, selling, packaging and delivering of their products. FreshSpoke’s innovative and collaborative platform has already begun to address the challenges local food producers encounter when accessing the wholesale market. By seamlessly addressing distribution and traceability, FreshSpoke relieves producers of both burdens while driving an ever-increasing demand for local food products. The producer is therefore able to dedicate more time and resources to expanding production, which translates to economic prosperity for the producer and jobs for rural communities.
The impact of FreshSpoke will be far reaching, benefiting local food producers, wholesale buyers as well as Ontario consumers, contributing to building a strong, vibrant and traceable food system. Therefore, we support their continued efforts to simplify and streamline local food distribution and integrate a system of traceability.
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