A website launched June 18 at Canada’s Farm Progress Show aims to connect consumers with producers of locally grown food.
SaskFoodFind.com is a creation of Simply Agriculture Solutions Inc.
The idea, said executive director Tamara Weir-Shields, is to act as a hub where producers can register as suppliers.
The only requirement is that the food is produced in Saskatchewan.
“It’s not limited to organic,” Weir-Shields explained. “It can be CSA (community supported agriculture) or someone who realizes in September they have 300 extra pounds of potatoes.”
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Until Sept. 1, it’s free for producers to list on the site. After that there is a fee, depending on how long the seller wants to sign up. It will range from one month at $50 to one year at $360.
“We recognize that not everyone needs a full-year subscription,” she said.
Smaller producers might not have the resources to put into marketing but are putting a lot of effort into growing produce or making food products that contain the local food consumers want.
Weir-Shields said there have been other attempts to create local food lists, but often they use government program funding and when the program ends there is no one to update the site.
“It’s a pretty simple concept,” she added. “We hope it catches on.”
Phase two of the project will be to include restaurants that use local food.
