Field Trip!

So, I had a terribly exciting day at the Ontario Food Terminal! I got to hang out with the folks from FoodShare and went on a tour and explanation of the nature of the operations at the Ontario Food Terminal, and can I say, folks, I am incredibly thankful that we have this here in Canada. We have no idea how blessed we really are when it comes to food, and how much more the onus and responsibility lies on us to make wise choices in what kind of food we buy, and where we choose to buy it.
The sheer enormity of produce that passes through its gates everyday - over 5 million pounds a day! The number of people that are involved in getting food to our plates, in trying to keep the large corporations from dictating what kinds of produce, and at what price, we can access! Just the vastness of the place was boggling!
I also learned that, many years ago, the large supermarkets (ahem, Loblaws, Dominion, Sobey's, etc) pulled out of this co-operative venture, a more level playing field for all involved, and went to go outsource their own produce for themselves, in the meanwhile screwing farmers left, right and centre, and, were it not for the independent nature of the Ontario Food Terminal, would dictate to consumers how much we would pay for produce. If it were not there, my goodness! The complexities of how it would change our food patterns, our food bills, etc, are a bit much to try to explain in a small blog account, but would completely change the nature of how we currently understand and access food.
Boy, today was totally a blessing (yeah, yeah, I didn't go to work again, so sue me), and I totally feel privileged for having been able to go learn more about our food webs...