Site Introduction
Fifty years ago, the market garden was the major provider of in-season produce to every local economy. Restaurants served local produce and grocery stores sold local products. Farmers' markets were a thriving concern in every urban centre.
Then, cheap produce imported by wholesalers undercut the local markets, and the local grower could not survive. Indeed many stopped growing and bought from the wholesalers It cost them less to purchase the offshore produce than it did to grow it themselves. The market garden became a thing of the past.
Today, with rising transportation costs, the price of offshore food is becoming prohibitive. We are seeing a resurgence of the market garden. However, if we the consumers want to enjoy the benefits of fresh local produce, we have to be ready to support our local farmers, and to make a habit to buy locally.
BuyFromTheFarm.ca was created to be an interactive community, where information about local produce is easily found and exchanged. We have no geographic restrictions. This is the first National website for market growers in Canada.
These features make BuyFromTheFarm.ca unique:
- BuyFromTheFarm.ca was designed for the consumer, so fresh produce, and related information, is easy to find.
- The National scope of BuyFromTheFarm.ca means consumers will need only one web site, no matter where they are or where they travel in Canada.
- Producers are in control of their own listing, and able to show case their products and explain their advantages. They are able to change their listings in a timely manner, without waiting for a webmaster to get around to doing it.
- Producers are cross-referenced to Farmers Markets, allowing consumers to pre-order and pick up produce on market days.
- Every listing is mapped using Google Maps to make it easier for users to locate rural destinations.
- Every registered user, every listing, and almost every Farmers Market has a Contact Form. Without publishing email addresses, BuyFromTheFarm.ca encourages private communications between our users.
- Users are able to publish their recommendations, and to read the recommendations of others.
- Users and producers alike can submit recipes to the site showing innovative ways to use fresh produce. These recipes are searchable by product and by recipe type, and the person who submitted the recipe may be contacted using the private Contact Form.
- Free listings of rural Events allow local groups to post their fairs, bake sales, fund raisers etc. Each of these listings has a map to let our users find the event more easily. When the number of listings grows, BuyFromTheFarm.ca will allow searches by location, event type etc.
- BuyFromTheFarm.ca is a second-generation internet application. We want you to participate, and we welcome any suggestions or contributions.
BuyFromTheFarm.ca is dedicated to providing the local producer with a venu to let you, the consumer, know where you can obtain local produce. We designed the site around that one principal. We want BuyFromTheFarm.ca to be a valuable tool for all of our participants. The more useful it is to the consumer, the more the Farmers Markets and Producers will benefit and list with us. The more who list, the more the Canadian consumer will use the site. Please use this information, support your local farmers, and tell all your friends about BuyFromTheFarm.ca.