Thanks to community support, Eat Local Grey Bruce breaks even in year 3!

In its third year of operation, Eat Local Grey Bruce President Greg Stewart and Treasurer Katherine Ngui presented a break-even financial report for 2018 at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Owen Sound, April 7th. This achievement is primarily due to the dedicated staff, board, and community support including many generous volunteers. In addition reliance on external grant support, essential during the start-up process. was significantly scaled back.

Greg Stewart: “Eat Local would like to thank all of our supporters, volunteers, and customers for making this coop one of the most innovative food distribution systems in Ontario.”

Close to 1,200 volunteer hours have made a huge contribution to Eat Local’s progress. The farmer-driven coop has surpassed many obstacles while trying to create a viable distribution system in our vast rural area and to aggregate a wealthy supply of quality local food products. One of the most challenging aspects of growing Eat Local Grey Bruce has been trying to engage the community in the local food movement. Still, the coop has created jobs and helped over 30 local businesses expand their customer base with the convenient one-stop-shop online farmers market.

At the event a gracious donation of $10,000 was presented by Alan Cowan of the recently disbanded Grey-Bruce Agricultural and Culinary Association. The money came from the proceeds of their Grey-Bruce Culinary Map. Cowan was pleased to be able to pass these funds on to an organization with a similar mandate to that of the GBACA.

Stewart made special thanks to ELGB instigator Thorsten Arnold who spoke of his original vision and design and reminded attendants to value cooperation above competition because growing the local food pie provides a larger serving for everyone involved. He thanked his wife Kristine (Persephone Market Garden), who encouraged her CSA members to join Eat Local in the initial stages. Others whom have made great contributions to the success of Eat Local include former President Jennifer Seilern (Seilern Farm), former Treasurer Gerald te Velde (Twin Creeks Farm), president Greg Stewart (Stewart’s Fresh Produce). The AGM ended with a important reminder by guest speaker Victoria Serda, who opened up participant’s minds to opportunities for citizen engagement in education, farm experiences, and fun food events.

If you want to be involved in our food community, please contact the coop through [email protected] or visit www.eatlocalgreybruce.ca

source: media release, Eat Local Grey Bruce