A recent trip to the
Elmira area made me aware of The Elmira Produce Auction Co-operative,
an auction center for local produce that has met with enormous
success and has spawned an increase in market garden operations in
the area as well as providing existing farmers with an outlet for
their produce. It seem like we have a lot to learn from this
Mennonite community, this is a model that should be followed across
the country to provide LOCAL fresh food in large quantities to local
retailers as well as supporting our struggling produce growers.
Below are a couple of
clips from an information PDF, for more Google
“mennonite+produce+auction “
The Elmira Produce
Auction Co-operative is Canada’s first wholesale produce
auction and it is an important part of the closely-knit Mennonite
community north of Kitchener-Waterloo. As a result of the BSE crisis
Mennonite beef farmers began to explore other avenues of agricultural
production. They started growing more vegetables and fruits but
needed a way to sell their products if they chose not to market
directly to the public. ......
The auction occurs
three times a week during the summer season and once a week in the
spring and fall in the co-op’s 8,000 square foot building in
Elmira. Preference is given to produce grown within a 75 kilometre
radius; however, if there is space the management will give the
approval for producers that have traveled greater distances to sell
at the auction..........
Both small- scale and
larger producer members sell at the produce auction. This creates a
variety of different vegetables and fruits as well as varying
quantities of pro- duce which helps the buyers who come from a range
of backgrounds. The largest group of buyers tend to be farmers’
market vendors or farmers with farm gate businesses. Grocery stores
and universities also regularly partake in the auction to source the
locally-grown produce. The co-operative has experienced a 600
percent increase in sales since it began in 2004. The auction doubled
in sales every year for the first three years of operation and
increased 30 percent in 2008. Because the auction is gaining in
popularity, the co-operative decided to expand the building and
parking lot for the 2009 season.............
In 2008, the auction
sold 210,000 pounds of tomatoes, 160,000 pounds of potatoes, 14,000
cases of lettuce, 4,100 bins of watermelons, 100,000 pounds of
carrots, 269 boxes of asparagus and a long list of other products.
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