Basic HTML Version
individual trends will endure is a matter of instinct, he believes
these macro-trends, which are explicitly linked to the Canadian
farm economy, have permanence.
“Eating local and healthy-living choices: those types
of trends are here to stay. If you look at heirloom fruit and
vegetables, that’s local—it has to be,” he emphasized.
Restaurants are farmers’ R&D department, Whyte says,
creating both the recipes and cachet necessary to sell the
product, whether it’s Saskatoon berries, grass-fed beef, lentils,
or hops used by beer producers. Naturally, the restaurant
industry maintains a close relationship with the agri-food sector.
“There’s such a win-win that we need to be in lockstep with
each other to find new opportunities,” he said.
SEVEN ACRES
It’s hard work, but the restaurant industry is doing a good job
capitalizing on food trends, said Gilchrist. He grew up on a
mixed farm near Wetaskiwin, and speaks to producers on the
connection between farm and table.
The key for restaurants is being aware of trends and selective
in following them, he said.
“Hotels especially—you’ll see so many labels down at the
bottom of their menus it gets kind of funny. ‘Here are our
Ocean Wise, heart-smart and gluten-free choices.’ Half the
menu is these specialties,” he said. “So, you have to pick the
labels that make sense.”
His advice to farmers mirrors this approach: go very big,
or stay small and focused. Statistics Canada’s 2011 Census of
Agriculture observed that farm size is increasingly skewing
to extremes to magnify bulk production margins or to grow
lucrative specialty crops.
“The concept of the mixed farm is really passing away,” said
Gilchrist. “Commit to something and go for it.”
While the big producers take on the expanding global
marketplace, the opportunity for small producers is
predominantly in the regional specialty marketplace driven by
ever-growing demand for locally grown products. Participating
in this realmmay facilitate an escape from the pitfalls of
commoditization, but it requires a mind shift, said Gilchrist.
“Their big concerns are import-export, country-of-origin
labeling, feed protocols,” Gilchrist said of the average small
producer. “They’re tied up with the mega picture, and the idea
that the consumer wants this and not that—it’s too much for
them.” Those demands may include ethically and sustainably
raised products, grass-fed meats or ancient grains, but largely
fall under the über trend of healthy eating.
Gilchrist cites Lund’s Organic Farm of Innisfail, a seven-
acre produce operation specializing in carrots, as a typical
specialized operation. Given the province’s enormous
agricultural land base and that it was built on large tracts of
agricultural land for grains and feedlots, boutique farming is not
for everyone, he said.
“But, what we can incorporate within that is the seven acres.
Anyone can carve out seven acres from a quarter-section of land
and build something.”
Specialty meat producers such as Broek Pork Acres near
Coalhurst and Spragg’s Meat Shop of Rosemary have done
so by maintaining their own processing houses and dealing
directly with restaurants and markets.
“It’s a matter of finding your niche,” said Gilchrist.
Mary Bailey, culinary commentator, editor of Edmonton
food magazine
The Tomato Food & Drink
and co-chair of the
Edmonton Food Council, is a booster of farmers markets and
locally grown food, but warned they’re not a panacea. Some
farmers markets have become little more than neighbourhood
coffee klatches, she said.
“It is a trend, and people want to be part of that. But they
also have to realize these are stores, and they’re trying to make
a living.”
The Food Issue
2014
Grains
West
24
Feature