New Canadian ag-tech company Local Leaf Farms officially opened its first vertical farming facility on Monday in Barrie.
The company, located on Churchill Drive, is hoping to transform Canada’s food industry.
President and CEO of Local Leaf Farms Steve Jones says people are thinking local and are looking for a new way to get their food.
“Canadian consumers are demanding greater transparency about the food they eat and that demand has never been more urgent,” Jones said.
Using vertical farming technology, Local Leaf produces hyper-local produce that’s fresher, more sustainable and fully traceable.
Canadians have changed their eating decisions since COVID-19, according to a study conducted by IPSOS.
According to the survey, 68 per cent of Canadians say the pandemic has made food safety more important to them and 47 per cent say locally produced food is their No. 1 thought when shopping.
As most food takes 3,000 kilometres to travel from where it's grown to the grocery store, Jones says Local Leaf has taken those consumer habits into consideration and hopes to make it easier for people to get the nutrition they need.
“As we begin to consider a post-COVID reality, we need to have real discussions about the stability, and overall future, of food production in this country,” he said. “Local Leaf is bringing leading-edge technology to the food sector to produce the fresh, safe and sustainable produce that Canadians are asking for.”
The company’s mobile app allows retailers and consumers to know exactly where their produce comes from, including detailed information on how it was grown.
The farm, which includes an 20,000-square-foot community garden, is even open to the public once a month, allowing people to see and connect with their food.
Local Leaf is located at 9 Churchill Dr.,
