Reconsidering the wholesale food market
The wholesale food terminal, public infrastructure that connects farmers with wholesale intermediaries, largely has been superseded in North America by major supermarkets and their private supply chains. Yet the Ontario Food Terminal, Canada’s largest wholesale food terminal and the third largest...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
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| Online Access: | https://foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/1350 |
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| author | Sarah Elton Matilda Dipieri Donald Cole |
| author_facet | Sarah Elton Matilda Dipieri Donald Cole |
| author_sort | Sarah Elton |
| collection | DOAJ |
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The wholesale food terminal, public infrastructure that connects farmers with wholesale intermediaries, largely has been superseded in North America by major supermarkets and their private supply chains. Yet the Ontario Food Terminal, Canada’s largest wholesale food terminal and the third largest on the continent, continues to play a key role in Toronto. Drawing on field and archival data in our case study of this public institution, we argue that the wholesale food market supports a diverse retail foodscape that widens food access in Toronto. Further, it provides a reliable marketplace for Ontario produce farmers, thus supporting both agriculture of the middle in the region as well as retail of the middle. We demonstrate how the wholesale food market can contribute to territorial food systems and should be considered as an institutional component of circular food economies.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-adc5d84b3f6d44d08e5fa82a1d719cd5 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2152-0801 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
| spelling | doaj-art-adc5d84b3f6d44d08e5fa82a1d719cd52025-08-20T02:08:49ZengLyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food SystemsJournal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development2152-08012025-04-01142Reconsidering the wholesale food marketSarah Elton0Matilda Dipieri1Donald Cole2University of TorontoUniversity of TorontoUniversity of Toronto The wholesale food terminal, public infrastructure that connects farmers with wholesale intermediaries, largely has been superseded in North America by major supermarkets and their private supply chains. Yet the Ontario Food Terminal, Canada’s largest wholesale food terminal and the third largest on the continent, continues to play a key role in Toronto. Drawing on field and archival data in our case study of this public institution, we argue that the wholesale food market supports a diverse retail foodscape that widens food access in Toronto. Further, it provides a reliable marketplace for Ontario produce farmers, thus supporting both agriculture of the middle in the region as well as retail of the middle. We demonstrate how the wholesale food market can contribute to territorial food systems and should be considered as an institutional component of circular food economies. https://foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/1350produce supply chainsterritorial food systemagriculture of the middlesupermarketswholesale food marketcommodity chain |
| spellingShingle | Sarah Elton Matilda Dipieri Donald Cole Reconsidering the wholesale food market Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development produce supply chains territorial food system agriculture of the middle supermarkets wholesale food market commodity chain |
| title | Reconsidering the wholesale food market |
| title_full | Reconsidering the wholesale food market |
| title_fullStr | Reconsidering the wholesale food market |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reconsidering the wholesale food market |
| title_short | Reconsidering the wholesale food market |
| title_sort | reconsidering the wholesale food market |
| topic | produce supply chains territorial food system agriculture of the middle supermarkets wholesale food market commodity chain |
| url | https://foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/1350 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sarahelton reconsideringthewholesalefoodmarket AT matildadipieri reconsideringthewholesalefoodmarket AT donaldcole reconsideringthewholesalefoodmarket |