Liberals reintroducing Local Food Act

Van Raay Farms Ltd. in is seen in Dashwood, Ont. on Monday, March 25, 2013. (Scott Miller / CTV News)

Most people still get all their food from the grocery store, but the local food movement is gaining traction in Ontario, and it just got a boost from the Liberal government.

The Local Food Act was reintroduced on Monday, which the province says would help make more local food available in markets, schools, cafeterias, grocery stores and restaurants.

Teresa and Martin Van Raay have been selling pork right from their farm for the past three years, but getting ‘The Whole Pig’ from Huron County onto dinner tables has been a challenge.

“People try the product and they enjoy the product…but it’s getting them out of their habit of going to the grocery store and finding a new way to make purchases,” Martin says.

The legislation would require at least 25 per cent of food served in 1,500 government buildings like hospitals to be local.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says “We need you to be shining a light on Ontario food. That’s why the Foodland Ontario brand has been so strongly promoted. We’re building on that work that we’ve done for the last nine years and the Local Food Act is really the next step in that.”

Agriculture is one of the few sectors of Ontario’s economy that is growing, worth about $50 billiion a year and buying local helps put money back into the local economy.

Teresa says “We are the best-kept secret in Ontario, how much economic value agriculture adds to the bottom line of our government. And our small communities out there that keep things moving, it’s a really big deal.”