Canadians place supporting area farmers among the top three reasons to buy local, survey finds

Thursday, July 4, 2013

by SUSAN MANN

The top three reasons Canadian shoppers have for buying local are fresh and better tasting food; the desire to support their local economy and the desire to support their area farmers, indicates a survey by BMO Bank of Montreal.

Other reasons people had in the third annual BMO food survey were that buying local creates jobs in their area, it’s better for the environment, it gives them an opportunity to buy organic produce and it’s less expensive.

The online survey by Pollara was completed from June 14 to 17 and the sample size was 1,000 Canadians. Overall, the results for a sample of this size would be accurate plus or minus 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Barkin Sayiner, BMO Bank of Montreal commercial banking area manager based in Toronto, says the entire survey was about local food. The financial institution does the survey because it has a very significant presence in the agri-business industry across Canada, it takes enormous pride in the industry and it tries to be knowledgeable about food producers and consumer trends.

The reasons people have for buying local in this year’s survey are similar to the other two years, he says.

Sayiner says as a banker and consumer he’s seen a resurgence in farmers’ markets, which have a booming presence across Canada. “What we’re seeing is definitely an increased number of these local markets.”

People are looking to eat healthy and he says that trend will continue to be fairly important in the future.

The survey found that Canadians are looking to buy locally grown vegetables more than other products. On a regional basis, Ontarians buy local wine 40 per cent of the time, and along with shoppers in British Columbia, are more likely to buy locally grown fruit than shoppers in other provinces. Atlantic Canadians preferred buying local fish, while Quebec residents sought out local cheeses. BF