CELEBRATING 133 YEARS AS CANADA’S PREMIER HORTICULTURAL PUBLICATION
JULY 2013
VOLUME 63 NUMBER 07
URBAN SHADOW
Ditch the miles – it’s minutes to market that count KAREN DAVIDSON A 100-mile diet doesn’t easily translate into a 60-minute highway to market within the Greater Toronto Area. Increasingly, this is the challenge as growers navigate stop-and-go traffic to compete with air cargo delivering imported produce onto the tarmac, minutes from cold storage near Toronto’s international airport. The last mile is the longest mile for perishables. Ironically though, consumers right outside the front door are a conundrum. Just ask strawberry growers John and Laura Hughes who can see Toronto’s CN tower on a clear day from their farm on the Niagara escarpment. One million customers live within 30 minutes of their gate at Springridge Farm west of Milton, Ontario, but they say that such a mind-boggling number is both opportunity and threat. Population density has changed how the farm operates. In the last five years, the Hughes’ noticed decreasing strawberry volumes picked from the field in favour of more robust ready-pick sales. The decision? Last year, they closed their 12 pick-yourown acres for the first time in 30 years and just maintained 6.5 acres for fresh sales through their retail outlet. The change was communicated through social media and their website, and
INSIDE N.S. strawberry fields under virus alert Page 4 Global competition challenges greenhouse industry Page 6
Beware potato psyllids
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www.thegrower.org P.M. 40012319 $3.00 CDN
Increasing urban pressures on horticultural land will be unrelenting in the years to come, raising questions about how to square local-food policies with transit plans that reward commuters in the suburbs. In this photo of Springridge Farm, it’s clear to see the encroachment of the town of Milton at the base of the Niagara escarpment. The burgeoning population of 100,000 is only a fraction of what can be seen on a clear day looking toward the skyline of Toronto. Owners John and Laura Hughes estimate that one million people are within a 30-minute drive of their strawberry farm. Photos by Glenn Lowson. although customer volume plunged by 40 per cent, with their bakery, gift and play areas taking a huge hit, they had read the market correctly. By the end of last July, Springridge Farms’s bottom line had gone up. “Right sizing the farm was the right move,” says John Hughes. “It took a huge number of staff to manage the pick-your-own operation from tractor drivers to field monitors. We may have less revenue, but we also have fewer expenses.” Preserving strawberries is a lot easier than preserving the farm under an urban shadow. In Ontario, horticulture is particularly at risk with tender fruit, grapes, apples and market vegetables all within miles of the metropolis. As Springridge Farm shows, local food can be a stone’s throw away, but that doesn’t mean it’s available in a way that engages today’s convenience-driven consumer. The province’s proposed Local
“
We need long-term
planning with regional councils and
municipalities, with infill first, growing up and not out. The Greenbelt is doing what it’s supposed to – protecting against sprawl. We need infrastructure to get in and out of the Greater Toronto Area.” ~ Keith Currie
Food Act promises added moral support for local produce in institutions, yet the concrete task of transporting produce to either the Ontario Food Terminal or Toronto-area grocery warehouses becomes onerous with increasingly clogged highway arteries. While high-occupancy transit lanes reward commuters, the concept of high-value commerce lanes might prove a better stimulus for Ontario’s economy. There’s a disconnect between provincial plans for more population growth – up to two million more people in the Greater Toronto Area by 2030 – and the loss of 100,000 farm acres producing local foods. How will premier Kathleen Wynne reconcile her ambitious transit plans for commuters – reinforcing urban sprawl – with the need to grow and transport local food to market? In a media scrum at a recent agriculture event, she told The Grower that the province needs to encourage growth while
balancing competing needs. With the premier personally taking responsibility for the agriculture and food portfolio as well, there’s a sense that urban and rural issues may not be treated as silos, but rather interconnected to the overall economy. These thorny issues will soon be debated as part of the Greenbelt Review slated for 2015. Stakeholders are already gearing up according to Keith Currie, Ontario Federation of Agriculture. “We need long-term planning with regional councils and municipalities,” says Currie, “with infill first - growing up and not out. The Greenbelt is doing what it’s supposed to – protecting against sprawl. We need infrastructure to get in and out of the Greater Toronto Area. Agriculture has remained a strong economic driver throughout the recession. It’s the connector to jobs and that’s what perks up the ears of politicians.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 3