How To Tell Where The Food On Your Plate Is Sourced From
The journey from farm to plate is often shrouded in mystery, leaving customers looking for transparency in food sourcing. As food sourcing is often hidden from public view, the best way to have full transparency on how your food gets to your plate is to harvest it yourself. While not everyone can be a farmer, modern conveniences like meal kits, butcher subscription boxes, and personal chefs allow us to get a taste for it.
Typical meal kit supply chain:
Produce sourced from producer/farm.
Sent to the processing facility for separation and packaging.
Bulk delivery in trucks after a few days to a week.
Sits on your doorstep for a few hours until you unpack it and put it in the fridge.
Chef-sourced supply chain:
Harvest ingredients from garden/source from local producer.
Cooked the same day.
If purchasing your own ingredients from the grocery store, it’s important to know that some items spend up to three weeks within the supply chain. Here’s a look at some sourcing facts for major grocery chains:
Costco:
Carries Canadian beef.
Loblaws:
In 2022, purchased three million pounds of beef certified by the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef.
In 2022, purchased over $1 billion in produce from Canadian-owned and/or -operated businesses.
Sobeys:
Partners with local suppliers.
In fiscal 2023, purchased 6,768,378 kgs of bananas, generating $373,119 of Fairtrade premium funds.
Sources Canadian-raised Nagano pork.
Sources Canadian aged beef.
When you’re looking for the right place to buy specific products, there are an overwhelming number of factors to consider. Local and homegrown options are often going to come out on top in terms of freshness, quality, transportation time and sustainability.
Investigating the intricate paths of food sourcing provides consumers with the knowledge to make informed choices that align with their values. To ensure top-quality protein, explore the option of a personal chef who can source fresh ingredients that will be cooked the same day.