Assessment and planning of the Toronto City Region Food System - Synthesis report

More than 80 percent Canadians live in cities with almost one-quarter of country’s total population living in the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) area. The GGH stretches in a curve around the western side of Lake Ontario with the City of Toronto occupying the northern side of the horseshoe. The GGH is an area of high potential food production as well as rapid population growth creating a mix of difficult to reconcile, opposing demands. For example, the need for housing and residential infrastructure conflicts directly with the need to preserve prime agricultural lands. Food insecurity is another significant challenge for Toronto and its surrounding areas as underscored in recent initiatives. The City of Toronto’s ‘Neighbourhood Equity Index’ shows some communities facing difficulties accessing healthy food. In considering the links between rural and urban areas, the ‘Cultivating Food Connections’ study determined that expenditures are not going to local farmers or local economies with the average journey for food from farm to table in 2015 estimated at 4 497 kilometres. It was in this context that the vision for a sustainable city region food system in Toronto was defined as: Healthy food for all, sourced as regionally as possible, and as sustainably produced, processed, packaged, and distributed as possible.