The shift toward local food is about taste, nutrition, and environmental sustainability. Here’s how one Ontario company is helping spearhead the movement.
Thanks to modern shipping and storage methods, the period between harvest and plate in the traditional grocery system is getting longer by the day. This bolsters profits for large-scale producers, but consumers bear the cost in taste and nutrition. Enter the local food movement. Local and organic aren’t just restaurant buzzwords — they represent an approach to food driven by quality and environmental sustainability. The movement is about getting back to the true nature of food as it was before the age of pesticides, supermarkets, and tomatoes that taste like styrofoam.
Mama Earth Organics, a food-delivery company partnered with more than 60 organic farms and artisanal producers, is helping drive the local food movement in Ontario. It offers a wide range of hyper-fresh food with all the convenience of a standard grocery-delivery service. Customers select from an online marketplace stocked with organic produce, dairy, bakery, and pantry products made by local artisans, as well as chef-prepared meals from Mama’s Kitchen. Produce baskets, complete with a variety of sizes and customization options, are a popular choice — including a local-only basket. The average time from harvest to delivery is just 48 hours.
Buy local and help build the future of sustainable food
Supporting local agriculture isn’t just about food that far surpasses supermarket options when it comes to taste and nutrition — it’s about rebuilding a sustainable food system. Through its network of partnerships and customers, Mama Earth diverts money from large-scale producers to local farmers who work to enrich and restore the land they cultivate.
In Mama Earth’s online marketplace, each product description includes its farm or artisan of origin, giving customers insider knowledge on exactly where their food comes from. Each delivery comes with a newsletter that contains recipes and suggestions on how to try new products. The newsletter also details what’s going on at local farms, giving consumers a level of connection to food producers inaccessible in the traditional grocery system.
The company’s focus on sustainability and reducing food waste doesn’t stop with grocery delivery — produce that doesn’t make the cut for sale to consumers is donated to animal sanctuaries like Story Book Farms and Wishing Well Sanctuary.
Mama Earth’s quality guarantee
Many customers choose Mama Earth for the convenience factor. Grocery baskets, complete with temperature-control ice packs for hot days, are delivered right to the door, and customers can opt into a subscription with automated weekly delivery. Deliveries are fully customizable, and for extra peace of mind, consumers can specify “never-send” items for produce baskets.
When Heather and Alex Billingsley started Mama Earth out of their garage in the Beaches, they delivered to just 13 neighbours. Today, the company delivers all across the GTA. The keys to its expansion and continued success? A picky selection process — from producer partnerships to items that make it into customers’ baskets — and friendly, attentive customer service. Each delivery is backed with a 100% quality guarantee.
