{"id":165605,"date":"2024-09-27T08:00:46","date_gmt":"2024-09-27T12:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/?p=165605"},"modified":"2024-10-21T13:53:19","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T17:53:19","slug":"grocery-store-farms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2024\/09\/grocery-store-farms\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Ground With Grocery Stores Redefining How Local Food is Produced"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the produce section of the<\/span> IGA grocery store in Saint-Laurent, Quebec<\/span><\/a>, a TV monitor shows customers, in real time, the roof of the store and farmers harvesting cucumbers that within an hour will be on store shelves.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Food Industry Association asked Americans to list reasons why they buy local produce, <\/span>82 percent <\/span><\/a>of those surveyed cited a desire for freshness. Finding fresh local produce in conventional grocery stores, especially in urban settings, is not always easy. Retail distribution systems are designed to deliver products in as few trips as possible. <\/span>Breaking this down into numerous shorter trips can be time-consuming and expensive. Large grocery store chains often have long-term contracts in place with out-of-state suppliers that are difficult to breach and, therefore, don\u2019t have store capacity for local produce.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
IGA’s rooftop garden. Photo courtesy of Voir Vert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fresh from the parking lot<\/b><\/h2>\n

Despite these drawbacks, across <\/span>North America, a handful of grocery stores<\/span> are pioneering a new way of growing that puts hyper-local food at the forefront of the supply chain. For those operating these farms, such as Kelli Ebbs, store manager of <\/span>Muskoka North Good Food Co-op in Huntsville, Ontario<\/span><\/a>, the two large shipping-like containers in the store\u2019s parking lot have filled a much-needed gap in the supply chain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cDuring the growing season, we don\u2019t have a problem procuring fresh greens from local farms,\u201d says Ebbs. In north-central Ontario, however, the growing season is short and, for six to seven months of the year, the store was ordering organic produce from aggregates sourcing produce, sometimes as far away as Mexico. For Ebbs, this was undependable and problematic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n