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Section E: Growing Local Sustainable Food
Systems—The LFP Approach
Lori Stahlbrand
Local Food Plus
The Bounty of the Harvest
Photo by Jeff Goldman. Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.
3
A Financially Unsustainable Food System
Net farm income for Canadian farmers: 1956–2001

Only 7,000 farmers in Ontario are under age 35 (out of more than
82,000)
4
An Environmentally Unsustainable Food System
Photo by Alan Taylor. Creative Commons BY.

Water pollution

Soil degradation

Loss of
biodiversity

Climate change
5
Urban Sprawl

Half of Canada’s class 1 farmland is in Southern Ontario

Almost all of it is under threat from urban sprawl
Photo by Rebecca Wilson. Creative Commons BY.
6
A Sustainable Food System

Primarily local

Financially viable for all stakeholders

Operates with ecological integrity

Socially responsible

Respectful of other species
7
The LFP Approach
8
The LFP Mission

To scale up local sustainable food systems by linking farmers and
processors with local purchasers, especially institutional purchasers
9
LFP Certification Standards

Employ sustainable production systems

Provide healthy and humane care for
livestock

Provide safe and fair working conditions

Protect and enhance wildlife and
biodiversity

Reduce energy consumption and
greenhouse gases
10
LFP Certification Standards

Employ sustainable production systems

Provide healthy and humane care for
livestock

Provide safe and fair working conditions

Protect and enhance wildlife and
biodiversity

Reduce energy consumption and
greenhouse gases
11
LFP Certification Flow Chart
12
University of Toronto/LFP Partnership, September 2006
13
University of Toronto/LFP Partnership, September 2006
14
Il Fornello/LFP Partnership, June 2007
15
Fiesta Farms/LFP Partnership, October 2007
16
City of Markham/LFP Partnership, June 2008
17
Peel District School Board/LFP Partnership, 2009
18