Doing Research on LFP or Local Sustainable Food Systems?

If you’re a student working on an essay, you’ll find valuable resources on our site.

A good place to start might be our Frequently Asked Questions.

Looking for academic resources?

We’ve found these to be quite useful:

  • “Food Connects Us All: Sustainable local food in Southern Ontario”, Metcalf Foundation, 2008.
  • “Summary of Research Findings on Food Issues for Local Food Plus”, Enveronics, 2009.
  • “Scaling up Ontario: Bringing public institutions and food service corporations into the project for a local, sustainable food system”, Harriet Friedman, Agriculture and Human Values, 2007.
  • “From Kraft to Craft: innovation and creativity in Ontario’s food economy”, Betsy Donald, 2009.
  • “Federal regulation of local and sustainable food claims in Canada: a case study of Local Food Plus”, Rod McRae and Fiona Louden, 2010

If you’re looking to connect with us about starting an LFP program at your school, contact Jessica Thornton, LFP’s Director of Operations at jessica.thornton@localfoodplus.ca

Did you know?

LFP partially got its start from working with a group of dedicated students at the University of Toronto?

During the spring of 2005, LFP president Lori Stahlbrand was teaching a course with former Toronto Food Policy Council coordinator Dr. Wayne Roberts. Lori and Wayne’s small group of undergraduate students surveyed their peers to discover that many students wanted to see more sustainable and ethical Ontario food on their cafeteria trays. And, on top of that, the majority of students were actually willing to pay more money if it meant supporting Certified Local Sustainable farmers.

Within a year, the student’s wish for local sustainable food on campus became a reality. In 2006, LFP partnered with University of Toronto Chef Jaco Lokker to include “local sustainable” food in the pending food services contract. Aramark secured the contract by guaranteeing that 10% of the food served in select campus cafeterias was Certified Local Sustainable. The percentage has since grown to 25%!

Students have the power to make change in their food system! Never underestimate the power of your next research project!