{"id":6747,"date":"2012-03-13T12:00:56","date_gmt":"2012-03-13T19:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingvancouver.ca\/?p=6747"},"modified":"2013-01-21T07:10:40","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T15:10:40","slug":"hubbub-about-a-food-hub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/03\/13\/hubbub-about-a-food-hub\/","title":{"rendered":"Hubbub about a Food Hub"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
One possible concept for the New City Market. Designed by citylab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

[Editor’s Note: A warm thanks to Jeff Nield, citylab<\/a> and the fine folks at Edible\u00a0 Vancouver Magazine<\/a> who gave us permission to cross-post this great piece, originally published in the most recent edition of Edible Vancouver that you can access online here<\/a>.]<\/em><\/p>\n

VANCOUVER\u2019S FIRST MARKET HALL WAS A BRICK building on Westminster Avenue (today\u2019s Main Street) between Hastings and Pender. A two-storey turret anchored the centre of the grand brick building, with two smaller turrets on either side. Beside the market was a large open shed where farmers sold their livestock at auction. he building was remodelled in 1897 and became the new city hall, leaving Vancouver without a public market.<\/p>\n

Feeling the loss, farmers and the general public lobbied to build another market at a new location, complete with its own wharf that would allow a small steamer to deliver farmers and their goods from communities up the Fraser River. Despite community support and an endorsement from the board of trade, the city passed up the preferred site between Westminster and Gore Avenue, but okayed construction on cheaper land just south of False Creek. he building, which advertised wholesale and retail \u201cfarm products\u201d and a restaurant that o\ufb00ered \u201cmeals at all hours,\u201d opened to much fanfareon August 15, 1908. The Mt. Pleasant Marching Band greeted customers, and a Mrs. Allen was awarded a hindquarter of mutton for being \ufb01rst through the doors. However, this less accessible location failed by the early 1920s, and once again Vancouver lost the permanent market that is key to a local food system. We have been without one ever since.<\/p>\n

A food system is how food gets from the farm to the dinner plate. It includes processes as simple as removing dirt from root crops, and as complex as the industrial hocus-pocus that turns soybeans into everything from \ufb02our to \ufb01ller to baby formula. he industrial system that provides most of our food is unimaginably complex, with many ingredients practically untraceable back to an actual farm.<\/p>\n

Local food hubs, being developed across North America, can give us a degree of control over our own personal food systems. A hub\u2019s strength comes from its design as a multi-use space. he farmer still grows food at the farm, but the hub provides the infrastructure and services needed to get those products to the consumer as directly as possible. Halifax anchored its hub with a farmers\u2019 market, Sacramento with an aggregation service for small farmers, and Toronto with a wholesale-only market.<\/p>\n

Vancouver\u2019s food hub is being realized in the form of New City Market, an indoor space with a year-round weekly farmers\u2019 market, a chefs\u2019 market, and a commercial kitchen. A farmer will be able to bring her truckload of produce from the Fraser Valley or beyond, sell wholesale to stores and restaurants in the morning and directly to the public later in the day, and then sell any surplus for on-site processing, returning to the farm with an empty truck.<\/p>\n

Putting so much under one roof will provide multiple sales avenues for producers, thus reducing waste and saving time. \u201cAnd at the end of the day, this puts more money in the pockets of BC\u2019s small farmers,\u201d says Tara McDonald, NCM project lead. Loren Taves, who grows a variety of crops on his 40-acre family farm in Abbotsford, agrees. \u201cI think they\u2019ve got the right concept,\u201d he says. \u201cI can grow one crop for Costco as all we do, but we\u2019ve elected to stay selling into the farmers\u2019 markets and doing a variety of di\ufb00erent products.\u201d Taves thinks it makes smart business sense to pay attention to what the local market asks for, and to prepare for a future that is less reliant on the global food system. \u201cI think as time goes on, we as a people will start to look at what we have locally at our disposal\u2014and those things need to be developed and nurtured today.\u201d For Taves, that includes facilities like New City Market.<\/p>\n

As a medium-scale operation with four million dollars in annual sales, he Applebarn Taves Family Farm, is a perfect \ufb01t for NCM. Loren understands the advantages of connecting directly with customers, and sees potential bene\ufb01t in the combined markets and processing facilities. Currently, he runs a truck once a week from his farm to chefs and retailers. \u201cI\u2019d rather have them come to me,\u201d he says with a laugh.<\/p>\n

McDonald points to an aggregation service as another area that would be unique to Vancouver, allowing smaller-scale farmers without much supply volume to \ufb01ll large orders as a group. \u201chere\u2019s less waste of perfectly good produce that wouldn\u2019t otherwise suit a wholesale packing-house\u2019s packaging needs,\u201d she says. Reducing waste while helping small-scale growers to increase their sales facilitates the production of more food. The concept of a local food hub for Vancouver has been discussed for many years\u2014Vancouver\u2019s deputy city manager, Sadhu Johnston, has said that the facility could be the \u201ccrown jewel\u201d of the local food system. Both the physical and functional designs are modular and \ufb02exible, \ufb01lling the most urgent food-system gaps \ufb01rst, with the potential for modi\ufb01cations as new requirements and opportunities evolve.<\/p>\n

The planning team has spent the winter organizing workshops in Vancouver and Abbotsford, involving key stakeholders to ensure that the needs of the local food system are being met. Farmers, chefs, food producers, and the general public are giving input into how the market would best meet their needs. Construction is proposed to begin in 2013, and once complete, New City Market will help bring supply levels closer to the growing demand, and support the local farm community\u2019s e\ufb00orts in providing for our dinner tables. It\u2019s a win, win, and win situation for farmers, chefs, and eaters. A food hub works best when it is developed with transparent public input, so say your piece: newcitymarket.org<\/a><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Jeff Nield<\/strong> spent 15 years writing, cooking, and eating in Vancouver. He recently relocated to Nelson, where he continues his exploration of BC\u2019s food systems. His article is part of Vancouver Farmers Markets\u2019 \u201cLocal Food Connections\u201d project, funded by Vancity\u2019s enviroFund.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  [Editor’s Note: A warm thanks to Jeff Nield, citylab and the fine folks at Edible\u00a0 Vancouver Magazine who gave us permission to cross-post this great piece, originally published in the most recent edition of Edible Vancouver that you can access online here.] VANCOUVER\u2019S FIRST MARKET HALL WAS A BRICK building on Westminster Avenue (today\u2019sContinue reading “Hubbub about a Food Hub”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6054,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11232],"tags":[4971,7268,6768,7254,814,519,7259,5720,11611,7255,7257,7258,7262,6042,1599,1716,778,398,7265,7261,7260,7264,7266,1106,7256,7267,7253,6756,5653,137,7263,1210,214],"class_list":["post-6747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-abbotsford","tag-costco","tag-deputy-city-manager","tag-dierent-products","tag-editor","tag-false-creek","tag-farm-products","tag-farmer","tag-food","tag-food-hub","tag-food-hub-works","tag-food-producers","tag-food-system","tag-food-systems","tag-fraser-river","tag-fraser-valley","tag-halifax","tag-indepth-features","tag-jeff-nield","tag-local-food-hub","tag-local-food-hubs","tag-local-food-system","tag-loren-taves","tag-north-america","tag-personal-food-systems","tag-s-first-market-hall-was-a-brick-building","tag-sacramento","tag-sadhu-johnston","tag-tara-mcdonald","tag-toronto","tag-urgent-food-system-gaps","tag-usd","tag-vancouver-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHubbub about a Food Hub - 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