Shop locally to beat national shortages says OFVA

Gordon Stock from Ontario Fruits and Vegetable Association says that with the supply chain issues in North America, the biggest issue farmers are facing is input costs.  

With more than 40 ships backed up at the port in Vancouver, farmers could be waiting months for materials needed to harvest and distribute their produce.  

Stock says that some shortages include cardboard boxes and glass. The glass is needed to complete greenhouse builds, and cardboard boxes are needed to package produce like cucumbers.  

“I think the biggest issue we are seeing is an increase in input costs,” said Stock. “Things like fertilizer and packaging for produce.” 

Since there are shortages, the cost of materials like fuel and packaging will rise.  

Stock says the rise in online shopping also creates a demand for more cardboard needed for shipping, and that could add to the shortage of cardboard for farmers to package their produce.  

Several news outlets have pointed to McCormick spices as an example of products that may also be affected by glass shortages.  

Dennis Rogers, at Green Heart Farms, opened his farm in March. He also has a store front location in Kingsville called Green Heart Kitchen. He says because he has a store front, he is not really facing a packaging shortage.  

Instead, Rogers is thinking of other needs that are hard to fill. “Definitely labor for sure,” said Rogers. 

Even when products and packaging are available, it may be hard to find people to do the work. There are labor shortages across Canada, and agriculture is one of the areas being affected. According to the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, 40 per cent of agriculture employers surveyed were not able to find all the workers they needed. 

Many employees who work on the farms come from Mexico and the Caribbean on work visas during the busier months on the farms. With travel restrictions throughout the pandemic, this made hiring workers  from other countries difficult.  

“I have spent three quarters of my time or more on labor issues because we do rely on a significant temporary work force that annually comes to province to maintain fruit and vegetable crops in the province,” said Stock. 

Although farmers are facing challenges, there are ways that communities can help local farmers. Stock says it is good to buy local, so farmers do not need to worry about shipping packaging.  

According to Farm work to Feed Canada, it is estimated that if every household in Ontario spent $10 a week on local food, there would be an additional $2.4 million in our local economy.  

To find local produce stands and farmers in the Windsor-Essex region go to weheartlocal.ca.