About Us

Local Food First facilitates opportunities for businesses, organizations, and individuals to increase local food production and consumption in Metro Vancouver in order to increase local ownership and control of our food system.

Vision

Local Food First envisions a sustainable local food system that provides healthy food for the population in the Lower Mainland of BC while ensuring that farmers, farm labourers and food service workers receive dignified incomes.

History

Formed in 2006 in Vancouver, Local Food First’s mandate is to develop resources to catalyze the growth and security of the local food sector. The Local Food First Steering Committee comprises seven local food sector professionals from business, non-profit and academic backgrounds. Since 2006, Local Food First (LFF) has engaged regional local food sector producers, processors and buyers in numerous forums, meetings, surveys and data collection activities to determine needs within the sector. Partnering with the Get Local Business Alliance, LFF piloted and coordinated Meet Your Maker events in 2008 and 2009 drawing a sold-out crowd of producers and buyers both years, and resulting in the creation of tens of thousands of dollars in new contracts, lucrative producer-to-buyer connections. Participants at Meet Your Maker also provided feedback on their challenges in meeting the skyrocketing public demand for locally-produced foods and identified significant opportunities to address decades-old infrastructure gaps in the local food value chain.

Steering Committee