1. Betsy Donald, Queen‟s University
“The Creative Rural Economy: from theory to
practice”, June 14, 2011
Kingston, Ontario

2.  What is creative food?
 What are the trends in creative food?
 Success stories
 Lessons for Ontario‟s rural communities

3.  Ten years ago, “creative food” described
elements of a newer food system
 Creative food included specialty, local, organic,
ethnic, and fair-trade foods that had supply
networks distinct from mainstream ones
 Creative food offered innovative solutions to
ecological, social and health concerns
 Today we know much more about the
complexities of “creative food” chains

4.  We know more about the contradictions and
ambiguities of systems like
 Local and green (Born and Purcell, Marsden, Blay-Palmer )
 Global and fair trade, organic and cosmopolitan systems
(Imbruce, Guthman and Morgan)
 Regional food networks (Kneafsey, Donald et al.)
 We know about the challenges within the food system
 Labour practices (Slocum; Color of Food; Allen); gender (Coldwell);
class and hunger (Allen, Berg, Bedore); natural systems (Whatmore,
McClintock)
 We have more sophisticated theoretical tools and
empirical cases

5.  Westill don‟t know how various “creative
food” segments are fairing compared to the
conventional industry
 We don‟t know how the financial crisis has
affected different aspects of the food system
 We examined recent US data to find out

6.  The food industry is resilient
 There is evidence of leveling off in organic
and specialty sales
 There is sustained interest in local and
„whole‟ food and its role in health and
community well-being
 This interest has spawned policy innovation
in local food systems
 Those regions with an ethos and history of
sustainable food are fairing better than those
without

7. Source: St. Louis Federal Reserve

8. 1200
1000
Beverages
800
Bakery
Confectionary
600
Sauces and
Seasonings
400
Snacks
Spreads
200
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

9. 700000 350
600000 300
500000 250
400000 200
300000 150
200000 100
100000 50
0 0
2006 Q3 2007 Q3 2008 Q3 2009 Q3 2010 Q3 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Average Weekly Sales Number of Stores
Source: Whole Foods Markets

10. Retail Sales of Specialty Foods Retail Sales of All Foods 2009
2007 2009 2007 2009 Share of
Product Category Specialty
$ % Change in $ % Change in Food
Million $ Million Sales Million $ Million Sales Sales (%)
Yogurt ad Kefir 599 830 38.6 3,680 4,113 11.8 20.2
Refrigerated Juices and Functional Beverages 877 1,172 33.6 4,605 4,687 1.8 25.0
Shelf-Stable Pastas 576 749 30.0 6,030 6,007 -0.4 12.5
Beans Grains and Rice 345 448 29.9 1,988 2,513 26.4 17.8
Sweetners 227 282 24.2 2,052 2,239 9.1 12.6
Frozen Fruits and Vegetables 175 217 24.0 3,423 3,748 9.5 5.8
Baking Mixes, Supplies and Flours 582 687 18.0 3,107 3,663 17.9 18.8
Chips, Pretzels and Snacks 1,307 1,509 15.5 9,234 10,788 16.8 14.0
Refidgerated Sauces, Sauces and Dips 477 549 15.1 848 965 13.8 56.9
Milk, Half &Half Cream 764 822 7.6 15,222 13,972 -8.2 5.9
Oils 718 706 -1.7 2,100 2,478 18.0 28.5
Water 453 428 -5.5 5,348 4,899 -8.4 8.7
Frozen Juices and Beverages 14 13 -7.1 454 421 -7.3 3.1
Source: State of the Specialty Food Industry 2010. Table does not include sales
figures from Walmart and Trader Joes

11. 30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Source: Organic Trade Association

12. 25
20
15
10
5
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Source: Organic Trade Association

13.  “The Whole Foods movement is the „Age of the
Unthinkable‟ for processed foods”
 Food Navigator, April 5, 2011
 Places that have successful food producers and
manufactures are those that already have an
ethos of incorporating sustainable and fairness
elements into products and processes

14.  New food entrepreneurs differ from back- to-
the-landers of the 1960s
 The new entrepreneurs are often well
educated children of baby boomers who add
business acumen to the idealism of an older
generation
 New food entrepreneurs are urban-oriented
and engaged in solving pressing societal
problems like energy use, food
safety, hunger, community development
Back40
veg, PEC

15.  Local community development through food
is not a fad
 Those regions with a history and ethos of
environmentally and socially friendly
practices are fairing better than those
without
 The new urban oriented food entrepreneur is
an asset

16.  Thereare success stories all across the food
chain, but we will focus on two types of
regions, the ingredients towards their
success, and lessons learned
 Case 1: The Revitalizing Region
 Saving itself through food - Hardwick, Vermont
 Case 2: The Established Foodie Region
 A rich food network of producers, food
writers, restaurants, farmers markets –
Portland, Maine

17.  Hardwick is a town in Vermont with a
population of 3,200
“Facing a Main Street dotted with vacant stores, residents of this
hardscrabble community are reaching into its past to secure its
future, betting on farming to make Hardwick the town that was saved by
food”. NYTimes
http://vimeo.com/7729181

18.  75-100 new jobs
 Creating new food businesses with
institutional partners
 Downtown revitalized through new
restaurants and food stores
 New investment dollars flowing into
community
 Successful national marketing campaign

19.  1. Working collectively as a community
“Across the country a lot of people are doing
it individually but it’s rare when you see the
kind of collective they are pursuing,” said Mr.
Fried, whose firm considers social and
environmental issues when investing. “The
bottom line is they are providing jobs and
making it possible for others to have their own
business.”

20.  2.
Establishing the Center for an Agricultural
Economy
 An industrial park for agricultural businesses
 3. Securing the Vermont Food Venture Center
 Agricultural producers rent kitchen space and get
business advice for adding value to raw
ingredients

22.  Portland,Maine
 Population: 65,000
 Consistently ranked as one of America‟s best
small towns for food culture

24.  National awards and accolades
 High ratio of local restaurants to chain
outlets
 High per capita number of local CSAs and
farmer‟s markets
 High per capita number of food
stores, shops, cookbook stores, kitchen
stores
 High per capita number of
brewpubs, microbreweries, wine bars, etc.

25.  Great product (native ingredients from
across the food chain)
 Talented chefs with a cooperative yet
competitive spirit
 Do-it-yourself attitude toward food and
admiration of diverse culinary traditions
 Signature “regional” meal - breakfast
 Lead cultural firms that led to spin-offs
 Engaged residents with high expectations and
supportive of regional food

26.  Ontario is currently witnessing an explosion
of interest in local, sustainable and high-
quality, accessible food, yet more needs to
be done to put Ontario‟s rural communities
on the map for their food culture

27.  Where does your community fit into the food
equation?
 Do you have a strong agricultural base?
 Do you have good local infrastructure?
 Do you have a foodie culture?
 Who are your “food” champions?
 Do you collaborate with surrounding regions?
 Do you market your region? (dedicated food
writers)

28.  Continue to develop infrastructure for local food
products
 Conduct a foodie IQ test for your community
 Embrace the new urban-oriented food
entrepreneur
 Develop better collaboration with all actors in
the food chain for a place-based food vision
 Engage better marketing services for local
producers of high quality food and drink

29.  Donald, B. et al., 2010. “Re-regionalizing the Food System”
Special Issue, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and
Society
 Sims, R. 2010. “Putting Place on the Menu” Journal of Rural
Studies, 26, 105-115.
 Blay-Palmer, A. 2011. “Regional Food-Hub Project for Ontario”
 Ghena, J. 2008. “The Downtown Coffee House Business”
Downtown Economics, Issue 138, Centre for Community and
Economic Development, University of Wisconsin-
Extension, Madison, WI.
 Knutson, M. 2010. “Reinvesting restaurants (and rural
communities), Centre for Rural Affairs, Lyons, NE
 Ngo, Minh K. 2011. “The Place of Food: …new urban oriented
farmers in rural…Ontario”, MA Thesis, Carlton University
 Specific places to check out:
 Organic Valley Cooperative and the impact it has had on the very rural
village of LaFarge Wisconsin
 New Mexico‟s Dreaming vision

30.  The Journal of Ag Food Systems and Community
Development
 Another often cited community for its focus on food
and economic development is Woodbury County Iowa
www.woodburyorganics.com
 American Planning Association‟s resource page on
food systems planning
http://www.planning.org/nationalcenters/health/foo
d.htm and their special issue on food planning with a
number of community examples
http://www.planning.org/planning/2009/aug/index.
htm from Vancouver, Berkeley, Montreal
 Community studies featured in the book “Culinary
Tourism” by Lucy Long. This is mainly an
anthropological text and includes international
communities

31.  Queen‟s University
 SSHRC grant on sustainable food and regional
economic development, no. 864-07-0101
 Heather Hall and Sean Field
 Dr. Yolande Chan and the staff at the
Monieson Centre, Queen‟s School of Business
 Mr. Harold Flaming, Ontario Rural Council
 Farmers, food entrepreneurs, food educators
and rural communities across North America
for their time and devotion to making our
food system better for all