Food hub will offer healthy and informative experience.
West End Food Co-op Coordinator Lynn Bishop measures out the length of a future aisle in the food hub space in the basement of the Parkdale Community Health Centre in Parkdale.
Staff photo/ERIN HATFIELD
It is just chalk lines on a concrete floor, but in the new year it will become the West End Food Coop's food hub, a retail space and community kitchen.
As she makes her way through the empty 3,000-square-foot basement of Parkdale Community Health Centre (PCHC), it is clear Lynn Bishop, West End Food Co-op coordinator, sees the space for what it will be.
The West End Food Co-operative (WEFC) is a non-profit multi-stakeholder food co-operative with consumer, worker, producer and community partner members. They operate the Sorauren Farmers' market and a popular series of canning workshops all with the aim of developing a community food culture in Toronto's west end.
The next project on the horizon is the WEFC food hub complete with a retail space, community food education and health programming, services for people who cannot access the store and a community kitchen.
The idea is a shopping experience, accessible to everyone, that is healthy and informative with lots of fresh local food with signage about where it comes from.
In the empty space, Bishop points out where the cash registers will be, the aisles and shelves for dry goods, a bulk food area, freezers, coolers, dried produce areas and a bread display.
"The dream scenario is that there will be a deli area where you can reach in and get soups and salads and you can buy your dinner or a quick healthy meal on your way out of the store," she explained. "And while you are shopping, you can also have a smoothie or a bowl of soup or grab a snack."
A highlight of this space will be the community kitchen where there will be workshops and educational programming.
"The place is unbelievably organized and ready for us, but we are having challenges at the city getting a permit," Bishop said. "It is looking promising and we are addressing every issue that comes up."
When the building was originally designed, the thought was to have some kind of community kitchen there, Bishop said. There is plumbing running to the space and a pre-existing chimney.
The space is accessible with a ramp and has a number of large windows that look out onto Queen Street at Dufferin Avenue.
"It is going to be really visible and the store will have a real relationship with the street," Bishop said. "And hopefully we will have some seating and a little garden out there at a later date, when we are up and running."
The pillars in the space are going to be covered with barn board, which the co-op recovered from some of its member farmers.
"It is exciting to think of having our farmers' barn board in the mix," Bishop said. "And it kind of meets our mission to have some recycled materials and green energy pieces."
The co-op is currently working on the store's purchasing policy and consulting with the membership as to what the store will offer.
"Are we going to have bananas? Or are we just going to have Ontario local stuff?" Bishop said. "There are a whole bunch of issues that have to be addressed around making sure that this is sustainable as a store and that it meets our eaters' needs and our producers' needs and the community's needs."
Bishop said once they secure the proper permits, she expects the space will be ready to open three months after construction begins.
The WEFC is currently raising funds to help complete the space. They have raised more than $150,000 and hope to raise $180,000. For more on donating or becoming a member of the WEFC, visit http://westendfood.coop
Bishop writes a blog for the West End Food Coop which can be found at http://westendfood.coop/blogs/lynn-bishop