Wendell Berry will tell you that food systems are closely connected with culture. If there are problems with the food system, there are problems with the culture - our culture. A healthy community culture derives from a healthy farm culture - THIS is where it all begins.
“Soil is the source of life. Soil quality and balance are essential to the long-term future of agriculture. Healthy plants, animals and humans result from balanced, biologically-active soil.” according to Report and Recommendations on Organic Agriculture. Healthy farm cultures emerge with a familiarity of the land and the multiple intersecting ecosystems found above and below the earth.
How, as Northerners, do we want to feed ourselves? This is an important question. Corporations are asking how agriculture can be the most efficient, profit making system for their own financial benefit. These companies aren’t asking themselves what is best for you, your family, your community or your region - none of that factors into their bottom line.
If you are looking for a fair system that is transparent, produces the most nutritious, the most accessible, the most affordable (not cheap - affordable), the most appropriate for you and your family’s needs, then stop looking at the current conventional system to provide the answer. What you are searching for won’t be found because it is a ‘fast food culture system’ based on fast food culture values. Alice Waters will tell you that the cultural values that are pervasive in this system dictate: uniformity, conformity, speed, availability, cheapness, deception, consumption.
The conventional food system is joined to the hip of fast food culture and so shares the same values. Alice Waters lectures, in Edible Education 101 at Berkeley, that these systems, with their values, have brought to Ontario: obesity, diabetes, addictions, depression, pesticide use, GMO’s, climate change, water violations, soil contamination and degradation. It is a system that uses agriculture, food marketing, and food production, to make a lot of money for just a small handful of companies.
Industrial agriculture was birthed in a boardroom, not on pasture and like most other industrial systems, has a very short term outlook for its goals. These systems are essentially designed to pull out the most money in the shortest period of time. These systems have left a huge wake of destruction behind in the process. These systems were never designed as long term solutions for any social need or problem. Why feed these systems with your money when they aren’t interested in properly feeding you?
Where are chickens being raised with values that are intrinsic to most people - values like: transparency, integrity, honesty, excellence, interconnectedness, community, compassion?
The answer surprisingly, isn’t readily accessible, despite having over 15 000 farmers registered with the Chicken Farmer’s of Ontario (CFO) Family Food Program and the Artisanal Chicken Program. Their database is private - I asked in a very polite Canadian way for access and was turned down. They were however, very cheerful, informative and helpful in other ways.
Before 2016, Ontario chicken farmers had to choose between raising fewer than 300 birds per year under the Family Food Program or upwards of 100,000 under the quota system; there was no middle ground. Whether it’s free range, free run, pastured, organic or raised without antibiotics, different kinds of chickens are being demanded from producers in a way that values the environment, is compassionate to the animal, and results in a more nutritious product. CFO took notice and began an Artisanal Chicken Program with 80 farms.
Under this new program farmers commit to raising anywhere from 600 - 3000 birds a year. Many will still choose to raise standard breeds to the usual 4 pound size, but the program could open the possibility to heritage breeds like Barred Rock, Buff Orpington and Rhode Island Red, free-range flocks or, should there be a demand, bigger birds.
ONE
To find locally raised chicken, start online. Yes, most of these sites are better suited to southern Ontario markets, however, data from northern Ontario is beginning to be included as more farmers purchase memberships.
Good Food Ontario has a map: https://sustainontario.com/initiatives/ontarios-good-food-ideas/ontario-good-food-map Also on Facebook.
Membership for farms to be included ranges from $100 - $1000 depending on gross revenue
Ontario Farm Fresh www.ontariofarmfresh.com Also on Facebook.
Membership for farms to be included is $225 annually
MyPick Verified www.farmersmarketsontario.com Also on Facebook
Membership $100 for first year and $50 renewal afterwards
Taste of Timmins www.tasteoftimmins.com Also on Facebook. No membership fee
TWO
Check with independent grocery retailers in your area. They will be able to provide the source and contact information of the chicken that they have chosen to retail.
Bio Restorations www.biorestorations.ca Also on Facebook
Trussler’s Pantry www.trusslerspantry.ca Also on Facebook
Coffee Warehouse/Vicky D’Amours Bakery www.coffeewarehouse.ca Also on Facebook
Radical Gardens www.radicalgardens.com Also on Facebook
THREE
Not all farmers are social media savvy - or ever want to be. It’s enough work to keep a farm going from day to day without having to keep current on multiple social media platforms. These farmers are usually found at Farmer’s Markets. Artisanal Chicken farmers can sell at this location. Family Food Program farmers (aka farm gate) may not sell at market, but they often sell vegetables so it is best to just go and ask vendors if they also have chickens.
Cochrane Farmer’s Market contact information and directions found on Facebook
Mill Market Iroquois Falls, contact information and directions found on Facebook
The Mountjoy Independent Farmer’s Market, www.mountjoyfarmersmarket.com, contact information and directions found on Facebook
Urban Park Market, www.urbanparkmarket.com, contact information and directions found on Facebook
FOUR
Do a Shout OUT. Who do you know that might know someone who might know someone??Sharing is caring. When you find an artisanal chicken farmer or farm gate farmer - tag them and spread the love. Let others know what is available in our community. According to CFO, online marketing is permitted for both artisanal and farm gate farmers.
Acres of Dreams, Patsy and Harold Schmidt, found on Facebook. Artisanal chicken farmer. Sales must be local and can include farm gate sales, local farmers markets, local retail stores, local foodservice outlets and local restaurants. All meat is government inspected.
Hawk Feather Farm, Lois and John Caron, found on Facebook. Farm gate farmer. Chicken can only be sold to customers who attend the farm and purchase the chicken. All chicken is government inspected. Online marketing is permitted.
Graham Acres, Nicole and Allen Graham, found on Facebook. Farm gate farmer. Chicken can only be sold to customers who attend the farm and purchase the chicken, or it can be purchased at Coffee Warehouse/Vicki D’Amour Bakery. All chicken is government inspected. Online marketing is permitted.
Squirrell Mills Farms, located in Cochrane, found on Facebook. Farm gate farmer. Chicken can only be sold to customers who attend the farm and purchase the chicken. This farm does attend various farmer markets in the region. All chicken is government inspected. Online marketing is permitted.
Food systems can be made better than how we found them. Collectively through our choices impact is made when all the parts of the ecosystem work together. Part of the culture of food is shared values.
Share your food discoveries, share what matters to you and your family. Share your stories. David Mas Masumoto, a peach farmer and author, will tell you that stories which aren’t shared are secrets. The food system we want involves having unquestionable transparency not secrets. Today’s conventional food system revolves around secrets (sugar industry paying scientists at Harvard University to blame fat for America’s growing obesity epidemic, altered chicken products, Monsanto ghost writing safety studies for the EPA, dairy and wheat boards influencing food guides, etc). This can end.
These stories capture the life and convey how culture evolves and grows. What is your story and what is the story of your farmer? How are the values in each story the same? Stories rise above fast food culture perspectives. LIKE CULTURE, STORIES GROW ON YOU, the power of a story lies in its ability to symbolize and manifest the work that is done on a farm. Food, like stories have always meant to be shared.