Building Resilience Into Supply Chains Using Container Farming
Canada’s food supply chain is robust and reliable - even in times of the COVID-19 crisis - but there is an opportunity to become more self-sufficient. Container farming can provide your food supply with some autonomy and reduced reliance on external food supply chains.
The supply chain during COVID-19
Empty shelves at the outbreak of the pandemic were a shock to many as grocery store retailers have experienced shortages, or delays, in their supply chain during this adjustment period.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) wrote in a special COVID-19 report that “supermarket shelves remain stocked for now [...] but a protracted pandemic crisis could quickly put a strain on the food supply chains, a complex web of interactions involving farmers, agricultural inputs, processing plants, shipping, retailers and more.” The FAO emphasizes that there is enough supply, but transportation is lacking to help get the crops where they are needed most.
Food prices are rising
Even before COVID-19 struck, food prices in Canada were predicted to rise between 2 and 4 percent, especially vegetables and bakery items. Now, according to a new forecast by the University of Guelph and Dalhousie University, researchers say the factors contributing to the rise have changed but they still expect prices to rise nonetheless. Plus, grocery stores are now spending more to ensure the proper protection protocols are in place on top of paying their essential workers more. These costs won’t be changing soon, so what ways can more resilience be built into the grocery store model?
Students in Kugluktuk, Nunavut help run their Growcer system which provides produce to the school and community.
Everyone is impacted differently
It is important to note that not every community’s food supply is going to be impacted the same way. In a Food Secure Canada webinar about Food Policy and COVID-19, the speakers spoke to how rural and Indigenous communities will be impacted differently than cities. One of the speakers, Jessica McLaughlin with the Indigenous Food Circle, said, “What has become very evident to us is the vulnerability of communities on that big industrial food supply chain and the lack of autonomy to self-determine their own food systems.” However, Mclaughlin added that despite this, communities are working together. “In this crisis, communities have been really resilient . . . you really see how communities pull together and they are taking this into their own hands,” McLaughlin said.
What could a solution look like?
Each community has different needs, but one possible solution is container farming. With container farms, communities and grocery stores can grow a variety of produce year-round, no matter the weather, and even customize what’s being grown to match the demand of the community. You’re also not stuck to growing one crop. A grower can grow multiple types of produce at a time and switch out what’s being grown regularly. Having a local, year-round, consistent supply of produce allows the community not to rely solely on external sources and can provide a buffer when the supply chain experiences delays.
The Yellowknife Co-op's Growcer unit is operated by its existing employees who see it as an opportunity serve their community.
Now, hydroponic growing might sound technical but operating one of Growcer’s systems is extremely simple. It only takes one week of on-site training to have employees comfortable with the system. Justin Nelson, general manager for The Yellowknife Co-op, shared that their employees love working in the Grower unit. “On a cold dark day in Yellowknife there’s no better place to be than inside the Growcer unit,” Nelson said. “When you’re actually harvesting the product that you’re selling it’s a great feeling.” You can read more about The Yellowknife Co-op’s story to see how they integrated a container farm with their store.
Food sovereignty and the ability for communities to decide how their food systems run has been brought to the forefront during COVID-19. It’s impossible to predict what lays ahead, but we do know that this could be a time for a reset for some of us.