Executive Summary

Intro: This report is a collaboration between The Vancouver Food Strategy and UBC’s LFS 350 class in investigating a community food security issue. While research indicates that food retailing power is mainly controlled by a few multinational corporations, small locally owned food markets may be more likely to benefit local communities, especially local food producers and the local economy.

Inquiry question: Our project is based on the Asset Based Community Development concept, which utilizes existing community strengths to achieve a goal. This project investigates community stakeholder opinions on the value of locally owned food markets.

Methods: We prepared a set of questionnaire to interview owners at 11 food markets in Richmond regarding their opinions on local food produce and local food retail ownership.

We introduced our project objectives to the store owners and  informed them on the general lack of support for locally owned food retailers in Metro Vancouver. We then presented them our consent form in order to incorporate their information into our final report.

Results: In total, we visited 11 locally owned markets, in which 6 of them agreed to complete interviews with us. The owners who disclosed information all live in the Metro Vancouver area. One owner questioned the precise meaning of “local food system” while the rest were supportive of how locally owned food markets benefit the community. All six owners had business connections with local producers. In general, locally owned food markets provide more support for local producers. Three market owners acknowledge the importance of providing local food in their markets, while two other market owners are indifferent about the subject.

Recommendations: There are efforts of supporting the growth/development of a stronger/more secure local food system. However, there is no consensus on the definition of “local”. It will be helpful if the community could gain a better understanding of “local” and be able to acquire more knowledge on local food systems and foster asset-based community development.

Conclusion: A major finding in our research is that there has been an increase in attention towards purchasing and supporting local produce. However, more attention needs to be brought to the importance of local ownership rather than local production.  

What:

The moment of significance that occurred in this course is the conversation we had with our course instructor which lead to reconstructing our original project plans and change of scope on the project objectives. Our initial goal in the CBEL project is to investigate and identify places where local residents are able to access locally produced foods in their respective neighbourhoods. In order to tackle and reach this goal, the group has decided to do online research on local grocery stores that support local producers. In addition, to raise awareness of the existence of these businesses, our group had decided to establish an online database that is open for public access.

The scope change:

After the conversation with our course instructor, we were highly encouraged to change the scope of the project. Our instructor stated that local food production has very limited power in food systems. Whereas, the majority of the influence comes from the question of, “who owns this food business?” With our new scope in mind, we decided to shift the focus from something static— final consumer product, to something more labile— stakeholders’ opinions and values. In addition, we are trying to comprehend how the action of store owners can influence the development of the community. Therefore, it is an important moment of significance of our project.

The arising problems:

During the interviews the group came across a number of unexpected challenges. For example, there were language barrier issues in which caused certain stakeholders to be uncomfortable and unwilling to participate in the interview. In another case, the interview was conducted in Cantonese. However, the premise of our project is relatively discipline-specific. That said, there are many academic and/or field-specific terminologies that could not be translated with 100% precision. Language barrier issues were also the cause of unwillingness to sign the consent forms provided by the course instructors.

Furthermore, we came across stakeholders who were willing to sign an electronic version of our consent form through email, but unfortunately became unresponsive and failed to follow through with their promises. A similar problem was encountered when the group tried to reach out to local producers. Again, an electronic version of our consent form was issued to these stakeholders, but the response rate was null.

Other cases included undiplomatic stakeholders who belittled our project intentions. Although we were respectful of their opinions and wanted to maintain a professional attitude, it was easier said than done without displaying any slight reactions of awkwardness.

So What:

This scope changed helped us comprehend and critically reflect on the roots of the issues in the food system. By investigating the opinions and values of local store owners, we come to a better understanding of the market power that exists in the food system. Local food provides limited social and economic benefit to the community, on the other hand, local businesses are the key to increase social proximity and economic benefits of the community. We utilized the concept of ABCD to devise our project. The opinion and values of the owners are part of the assets of the community. It is our interest to discover the potential and assist the community to achieve the project objectives. The significance also taught us the ups and downs of teamwork in a group project. It is inevitable that there will be challenges; however, the attitude and action we take are what matter. Group projects do not always unfold according to original plans and the responsibility of finding an alternative provides new learning opportunities. The scope change served as a milestone in our project, without the input from third person, we could not see the superficiality of our intention.

With the problems that we encountered while delivering and executing the project, we learned that there is a vast fluctuation in opinions of stakeholders. The overall inconsistency of values hinders the food system from moving forward in addressing socioeconomic issues. We see that many store owners (and managers) follow traditional business models with pure profit orientation in which financial value is the main drive/purpose of entrepreneurship. At first we were rather surprised at how little attention was paid into addressing the problematic implications of a food system, but in hindsight, we are well aware that food markets are businesses and the industry is competitive. Furthermore, the blatant existence of these problems are what drives our project, giving it direction/a goal. Therefore, experiencing the situation first hand affirms the significance and purpose of our project.

Moreover, it would be unethical and ignorant to assume that stakeholders who are unfamiliar with the English language are less concerned with social welfare aspect in food systems. However, we should consider and reflect upon ourselves, “can language barrier hinder these stakeholders from becoming more connected with an English-speaking society/community?” Cultural estrangement could potentially cause individuals to become detached from the community, making it difficult for the affected individuals to fully submerge into making positive impact in the local food system. In a system that heavily involves community engagement and connection, cultural isolation is an issue that should not be overlooked.

Now what:

To maximize efficiency of our CBEL project, LFS 350 course could consider establishing connections with stakeholders in advance, in order to minimize logistical difficulties. With the short amount of time allotted to complete the task, instead of allocating time trying to convince stakeholders of our legitimacy, it would be beneficial to spend more time on in-situ research and collecting more data to increase sample size and reduce bias/anecdotal evidence.

Since we did not have a distinct community partner to collaborate with, it created more barriers for project. We feel that there is great potential to investigate the ownership in the local food market system. However, it is very time consuming to justify ourselves and our intentions within timely fashion as most of these stakeholders run and manage their own businesses and do not have the luxury of time to sit down and carry on an open-ended conversation regarding community incentive to improve food systems.

To move forward from the difficulties the group faced, the group must take into account and be more considerate of the views and situation of stakeholders. For example, as students in LFS 350, our interest is to implement/introduce positive change in food systems by valuing specific aspects such as local food production and local market ownership as a means of serving socio-economic good. Although we tried to stay unbiased, there were times when our group inevitably “forced” our opinions onto the interviewees, potentially making the data less candid than it could have been. Therefore, professionalism needs improvement in order to render the project more successful. Furthermore, in a multicultural society like Metro Vancouver, it may have been slightly insensitive to only provide English versions of the consent form, putting stakeholders illiterate in English into awkward and embarrassing situations. Therefore, the LFS 350 course may consider providing consent forms in different common languages spoken in the local area as a means of being more culturally inclusive.

We hope we can inspire future LFS 350 students’ interests to continue to explore and investigate the market/store ownership aspect of the local food system. There are still many issues that need to be discovered and addressed. Even though it may be a challenge to collaborate with not only the community, but also with group members, the hands-on experience and development of professional skills are irreplaceable.

Week 7 Objectives:

-Reach out to main office of local food retail franchises (Kin’s Farm Market)

-Return to food markets that requested to be met at a different time

-Begin to set up database of food markets

Achievements:

-Collected all the necessary data from interviews

-Conducted follow up interviews at food markets where we were unable to speak to an owner or manager the previous week (including speaking to a HR representative Kin’s Farm Market, whom we sent a consent form and question to)

Upcoming objectives and strategies:

-On the week of Oct. 26th, analyze data from interviews that will contribute to the success measures of our project

-On the week of Oct. 26th, start to build the online database. Look into different platforms, including UBC blogs, WordPress, etc.

-Begin research on contacting farmers to interview once database is established

We will analyze our data by comparing the number of markets we visited that were locally owned with the total number visited. We will also compare the answers to our interview questions to extract common themes or variations. From this information we will formulate an online database to promote the existence of locally-owned food markets and to encourage consumer and producer access.

Once the data has been analyzed we can begin researching the appropriate method for setting up a database based on the number of responses and completed consent forms we have received. Throughout our work, it will be imperative to consider that since the public can access this database, we want to utilize the information from our interviews in a manner that is respectful of the interviewees and in accordance with their preferences.

Finally, our last objective for the upcoming week will be to contact local farms to interview (ask them the same questions we asked the local store owners). However, before this can happen, we must have the database completed for us to send to the farm owners should they be interested. The opinions/values of these stakeholders will contribute to the analysis of our data for this project.

What:

This week, two of our group members independently came across the article ‘Small business connects with you’ in The Vancouver Sun, that represents our moment of significance (Jones 2015). In the article, author Laura Jones discusses a wedding catering service a customer received from a small local company. On the wedding day there was a big windstorm and a blackout that affected most of the city. However, despite the extreme weather and traffic conditions, the caterer still managed to work and pulled off an amazing meal for all of their guests.

Local businesses are mostly small businesses. Small local business touches people in our community because they are not just profit-orientated. They give a great amount of attention to the human side of business. This article highlights the existence of small, locally-owned businesses, as they can often incur more stress and undergo more hardships to contribute to our community. They also interact with lots of different people in the community, which helps to form a close network. People with a strong sense of community are often more willing to assist each other during a crisis. Reflecting on the progress we have made, we realized that we were only focused on the economic and environmental benefits that locally-owned businesses can bring to the community. Although prosperity and sustainability are essential topics to discuss, we neglected to consider the human connection and personal aspects of the local food community. This article provides new perspectives and ideas to our existing objectives and success factors.

So What:

During the previous weeks of our project, our focus on the importance of locally-owned food markets was primarily concerning economic benefits. The article in the Vancouver Sun reminded us of a value that we had overlooked. When asked the question during interviews of why we were interested in promoting local food ownership, we cited off facts that considered environmental benefits such as a decrease in fossil fuel emissions from transportation, and economic ones such as fair wages and recirculation of money in the community. Another aspect of local businesses that is equally if not more important is the human connection that is formed when engaging with a small business.

There is an immensely different experience when shopping or eating at a large, corporately run business than when doing so at a small business. While there may be higher prices and less selection with the latter, this discrepancy is made up for with a genuine interest and gratitude of the customer base. That is not to say that corporations are not interested in the demands of their customers, rather that a small business can foster a sense of community and human interaction more easily, as the owners are already engaged in their community rather than in a distant office.

All businesses are profit driven to an extent, but the article provides an example of a business that was willing to go the extra step because of its commitment to its community. Another example that illustrates how small businesses can contribute to their food system in a just, sustainable way is the podcast “Latin Liver” by Dan Barber (2011). In this podcast, Barber discusses his experience interviewing an ethical foie gras producer named Eduardo Sousa. Sousa raises his geese in a wild environment that mimics their natural habitat, allowing the geese to be more comfortable. As a result, come winter the geese gorge themselves on food which enlarges their livers; rendering them perfect for foie gras. Traditionally foie gras is made by force feeding the geese by an arguably cruel method called “gavage”. Sousa demonstrates that it is possible to produce foie gras in a more ethical manner through his three year commitment comprising of many failed attempts. Like the owner of the catering company in Jones’ article, Sousa ensures a high quality product through hard work, commitment, and pride.

Now What:

What we can see behind the catering story in Jones’s article, is the sense of community involvement of those small local businesses, and the responsibility they take as community role players. This real story happened around us shows that being a part of our community, local businesses are generally more willing to provide extra support to other members in the community who they are connected to. Instead of putting large emphasis on profits, local business places a high value on the human side of the business. Indeed, small businesses are usually the ones who give back to local schools and community events. This form of community responsibility is also demonstrated by the foie gras producer in the podcast. In contrast to other business owners who aim for profit maximization by means of animal cruelty, Sousa constantly strives to establish a humane and ethical geese feeding system within the community. Reflecting on both the catering story and the podcast, the aspect of human kindness within the local business market demonstrated is driven by local owners’ sense of community, or their perception of interconnection and interdependence within the community. After learning about both of the stories, our scope for the project has changed. In the past few weeks, we only focused on the economic and profit-driven aspect of the local food market, but neglect the human side and social responsibility side of the local business. The new scope from the story and podcast this week taught us to be open-minded when considering and evaluating the benefits of local market ownership. While economic prosperity and environmental sustainability are important indicators for a successful local food system, community responsibility and the human side of the business are equally critical. For the further improvement of our project, it may be a good idea to have a brief background information section on our database to provide people with more knowledge about the relationship between local business and a strengthened sense of community. We feel that it is essential to raise the public awareness about the local involvement of the small private owned business, as well as their contribution to building a tightly bounded responsible local community.

Works Cited

Barber, Dan. (2011, December 12). Latin Liver. This American Life. Retrieved from http://m.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/452/poultry-slam-2011?act=3.
Jones, Laura. (2015, October 20). Small business connects with you. The Vancouver Sun, p.B8.