[getsmart-l] Fw: [Discover Local Food] Carving out a spot for small farmers

[John O'Gorman]

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From: Discover Local Food 
To: Discover Local Food 
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2007 7:36 AM
Subject: [Discover Local Food] Carving out a spot for small farmers


Carving out a spot for small farmers

OWEN ROBERTS, Guelph Mercury, Ontario

October 01, 2007 

When accomplished chef and restaurateur Yasser Qahawish of Guelph finally found a reliable and fairly local white asparagus supplier, his clientele was ecstatic.

He had developed a simple signature dish with this unique Ontario food variety, and customers were getting attached to it. But when word got out about the white asparagus supplier's bountiful harvest, Qahawish braced for some competition. And he got it -- one of the province's major supermarket chains cleaned his supplier out.

Everyone, it seems, wants local food.

Being a David in a Goliath-like industry sometimes slows down Qahawish, who considers anything within 200 miles radius "local," but it doesn't stop him. In fact, if anything, it gives the passionate entrepreneur more resolve to keep his dream alive of offering nothing but local fare, and supporting local farmers. It drives him to further build his network of area suppliers, so certain commodities (and restaurateurs, like him) are less dependent on so few growers.

Qahawish's dream has manifested itself in a local-food establishment he and his partner Allison Mitchell call Artisanale. It had its official launch party last week, to the delight of those who stand in support of local farmers and sustainable farming practices.

To the region, Qahawish and Mitchell have been known for sometime as local food advocates. When the doors swung open to their restaurant, they took big steps toward joining local food pioneers Bob Desautels, Anita Stewart and others in our area who proclaim the goodness of Ontario farm products.

And they are indeed bent on supporting small farmers. For years, Mitchell, who apprenticed with Toronto chef Jamie Kennedy, and Qahawish, long-time chef for Toronto's prestigious Osgoode Hall Restaurant, regularly made forays into rural Ontario and farmers' markets to source ingredients. Their contacts with small, regional farmers, as well as the city's roots-like culture, kept drawing them closer to Guelph.

But despite the area's allure, Qahawish and Mitchell had to be realistic about its ability to maintain the requisite staples. After all, with our seasonal climate, local food doesn't regularly leap out of the ground. So they searched out an array of suppliers, both organic and conventional, from farms spanning the Durham region to Stratford, and points in between (Fergus, Acton, Dundas, and two near Guelph). They only had to go out of province to get the kind of duck they wanted, but they hope they can help nurture a local source for that, too.

And to Qahawish, nurturing is what it's all about, developing a supply network of farmers and supporting their efforts. He needs farmers to be productive and know they'll have a reliable market -- that is, him -- if they take the plunge into naturally grown food.

To that end, he's planning an information night later this fall for area farmers, to explain his vision and get more of them onside. As a local food entrepreneur, his lifeblood is his food supply, and he's counting on farmers' support.

He thinks the local food approach will resonate in particular with small farmers, the group that the recent Statistics Canada farm survey says is on the rise. After all, he doesn't need copious quantities of anything, but he does require a steady stream of some very special items, and small farmers have the flexibility to grow or raise them.

Coincidentally, as Artisanale was celebrating with its launch party, across town the University of Guelph was announcing it has created a special research position to focus on issues in tourism and hospitality.

Matters such as the looming labour shortage, the environmental impact of travel and changing consumer attitude and motivations were raised as part of the announcement. And no doubt, local food will be a hot item on the research agenda.

 



Yasser Qahawish and Allison Mitchell, who operate the Artisanale restaurant (formerly the Bookshelf Café) on Quebec Street, are shown with their daughter Grace Alexandra last year. 

 

Owen Roberts teaches agricultural communications at the University of Guelph.

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Discover Local Food is for those interested in the growing number of celebrations, projects and initiatives in support of local food in the Greater Toronto Area and beyond. The list circulates invitations, announcements, news releases and project summaries that relate to local food in the GTA and throughout Ontario. The list is dependent on readers for suggesting items. Send yours now. Discover Local Food is a project of the Greater Toronto Area Agricultural Action Committee: www.gtalocalfood.ca. GTA AAC staff moderate this list.

 

“There is no love sincerer than the love of food.” George Bernard Shaw

 

 

 
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