Over 2014 the Thunder Bay and Area Food Strategy worked with the City on a local food procurement project that aimed at increasing that amount of local food being sourced by the City’s Homes for the Aged and daycares by 10%. Following this, the City identified 6 local food procurement objectives for 2015 that it wanted to pursue:
Develop and launch quarterly local food meetings with the long-term care homes and day cares to continue the conversation on how they might improve internal ordering processes, and better work with local food producers and distributors

• Pilot a forward contract with a local farm. A forward contract is a buying arrangement that provides the City with a guarantee that the product will be available and at a certain price, while giving the grower certainty that City will purchase the product and at a agreed upon price
• Undertake a food waste audit with one of the Homes for the Aged to measure food waste—such as stock, cooking, and plate waste—so that waste reductions can be reinvested back into buying local food.
• Engage residents through local food days, tours, and by bringing in farmers as guest speakers
• Share learnings with food service staff from other institutions—such as schools, hospitals and post-secondary institutions—on the City’s procurement model
• Establish, measure and report on local food key performance indicators