Yasantha Nawaratne

Ethno-cultural Vegetables in Ontario: Understanding the Value Chain: Specialty Crops Value Chain in Ontario Yasantha Nawaratne

The changing demographics in Ontario, especially in Toronto have created significant changes on food markets, demand and opportunities for ethno-cultural vegetables (ECV). At present most of the ECV are imported to Canada through long and energy consuming food chains. Some of these vegetables can be grown in Canada and there is a high demand for locally grown fresh ECV. There is little known about the production and marketing of ECV which is an untapped market for local farmers and other stakeholders in the ECV value chain. There are different types of value chains exist for ECV and various socio-economic factors effects production and marketing. Understanding the value chain is critical to the development of appropriate policy interventions that serves as a pre-requisite for promoting the cultivation of ECV in Ontario.