Food for Thought:

Re-imagining the Ontario Food Terminal

by

Sacha Ferro-Townsend

A thesis
presented to the University of Waterloo
in fulfilment of the
thesis requirement for the degree of
Master of Architecture

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2011

© Sacha Ferro-Townsend 2011

 I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including
any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners.

I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public.

ii
ABSTRACT

Toronto is experiencing a food renaissance. Although there has been a resurgence in the popularity
of local food and speciality products, neither supermarkets nor farmers’ markets have adequately
responded to meet the demand. Contemporary retail infrastructure, comprised mainly of supermarket
chains and independent farmers’ markets, is insufficient. In the supermarket reliable global imports are
valued over regional products that support local farmers and the economy. Chain retailers prefer global
players that produce consistent results in order to feed consumers who have become accustomed to
seasonless food. On the other side of the spectrum, farmers’ markets do not generate the economy of
scale required to keep the food industry afloat. As a convenience-driven consumer culture, the limited
hours and seasonal variability associated with the farmers’ market typology inadequately fills the desire
for locally sourced products.

Simultaneously, wholesale distribution nodes have created a closed circuit of food delivery. In
Toronto the main distribution point of wholesale produce stems from the Ontario Food Terminal,
which feeds the city’s myriad grocery stores and restaurants. This ‘just in time’ food delivery system
relies heavily on moving food in and out as quickly as possible. How can it be reimagined as a dynamic
space of interaction among a diverse group of vendors, purchasers and consumers?

This thesis looks at the spatial impact of the food distribution network in Southern Ontario by
reimagining the Ontario Food Terminal as an organism of both local and global agricultural distribution.
It attempts to respond to the growing desire of the public for locally sourced food products and
fill a void that is currently missing: that of a reliable network to support local agricultural products.
Local food can only survive by leveraging the global system. The reconciliation of two seemingly
incompatible systems - local and global - will create a dynamic hybrid that captures the authenticity
lacking in contemporary food culture.

iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my supervisor, Lola Sheppard, for her comments and suggestions along
the way, and for countless morning meetings. Your input and encouragement were invaluable. To
my advisors Rick Andrighetti and Angela Iarocci, for taking an interest in a topic that I am clearly
passionate about and asking the right questions of me. To my editors, Lauren Dando and Will Midgley,
for patiently working through my iterations.

Thank you also to my parents, for teaching me to respect the ground that grows our food, for their
love and support over the last eight years. To the friends who have offered moral support, occasional
hand holding, encouragement, and opinions - it was never taken for granted.

To Tony - thank you for putting up with all of this for the last two years. You are the reason for
my hard work and I am ready for our next challenge.

iv
DEDICATION

This thesis is dedicated to the farmers all over Southern Ontario who supply the grocery stores
and markets with the food we eat - your hard work and commitment to the agricultural industry is
something to be admired.

v
TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Illustrations VII

Introduction 01

01 The Wholesale Food Industry 05

02 Wholesale to Retail 23

03 Precedent Case Studies 41

04 Analysing the Ontario Food Terminal 65

05 Design Vision 85

06 Conclusion 117

References 123

Appendices

Appendix A 131

Appendix B 137

vii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1.01 Aerial Image of the Ontario Food Terminal, Present Day

Pierre Belanger, University of Toronto Daniels School of Architecture

1.02 Washington Wholesale Produce Market, New York, 1946

Tangires, p.253

1.03 Bronx Terminal Market, New York, 1935

Tangires, p. 273

1.04 Chicago Wholesale Produce Market, Chicago, 1941

Tangires, p. 269

1.05 Comparing Modal Share of Produce Transportation

Diagram by Author with information from Canadian Agriculture at a Glance, 1999

1.06 Fulton Fish Market, New York, 1943

Tangires, p. 299

1.07 Toronto Wholesale Fruit Market, Toronto

http://data2.archives.ca/ap/r/r000663.jpg

1.08 Sketch of the Ontario Food Terminal

Ontario Food Terminal Archives

1.09 Historical Progression of the Toronto Food Distribution System (Series of 6)

Diagrams by Author with information from Ontario Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal and Metrolinx: The Big Move

1.10 Aerial Image of the Ontario Food Terminal, 1956

Ontario Food Terminal Archives

1.11 Ontario Food Terminal Farmers’ Market, 1959

Ontario Food Terminal Archives

2.01 Canadian Imports by Country of Origin

Diagram by Author with information from Statistics Canada and AAFC Calculations

2.02 Kensington Market Fruit Stand

Photo by Author

2.03 One Days’ Findings - Charting Produce in a Suburban Supermarket

Diagram by Author with information gathered from the South Cambridge Zehrs

2.04 “Ontario Grown” Product Food Labels

Photo by Author

2.05 Wholesale Terminal Poster

Tangires, p. 269

2.06 Kensington Market Streetscape

http://www.searchingtoronto.com/pictures/plog-content/images/toronto-neighbourhoods/kensington-market/kensington_market_toronto_large.jpg

2.07 Toronto’s Local Produce Stores

Diagram by Authour with information from www.localfoodplus.ca/where-to-vote/where-to-buy and www.eat-local.ca

viii
2.08 St. Lawrence Market vendors
Photo by Author

2.09 Categorizing Toronto Farmers Markets

Diagram by Author with information from www.tfmn.ca and www.eat-local.ca

2.10 Mapping Toronto’s Farmers Markets

Diagram by Author with information from www.tfmn.ca and www.eat-local.caTangires, p. 36

3.01 Rules of the Market

Tangires, p. 14

3.02 Comparing Food Markets

Drawing by Author

3.03 Rungis Market Vehicles

Rungis International Market (www.rungisinternational.com)

3.04 Cleaning at Rungis Market

Rungis International Market (www.rungisinternational.com)

3.05 Rungis Market Map

Drawing by Author

3.06 Rungis Opening Hours and Economic Information

Information from www.rungisinternational.com

3.07 New York City Terminal Market at Night

Overshadowed (http://www.overshadowed.com/ffm/image/_dsc8288.jpg)

3.08 New York City Terminal Market

New York Times (http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/11/20/nyregion/20huntspoint.span.jpg

3.09 NYTM Map

Drawing by Author

3.10 NYTM Opening Hours and Economic Information

Information from www.nycptm.com and www.huntspoint,com

3.11 Workers at Tsukiji Market

Flickr User CeeKay (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ceekay/2745372673/)

3.12 The Tuna Auction at Tsukiji Market

National Geographic (http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/places/images/ga/tokyo_fishmarket-rows.jpg)

3.13 Tsukiji Market Map

Drawing by Author

3.14 Tsukiji Opening Hours and Economic Information

Information from www.tsukiji-market.or.jp and www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/05/japan

3.15 Paris’ Les Halles Market

Tangires, p. 22

ix
3.16 Loading Docks at St. Lawrence South Market
Photo by Author

3.17 Hosing Down St. Lawrence North Market

Photo by Author

3.18 St. Lawrence Market Map

Drawing by Author

3.19 St. Lawrence Opening Hours

Information from www.stlawrencemarket.com

3.20 Borough Wholesale Market at Night

(http://photos.igougo.com/images/p18243-London-Borough_Market.jpg)

3.21 Loading Area at Borough Market

Flickr (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/11/13718334_f45d58f47d.jpg?v=0)

3.22 Borough Market Map

Drawing by Author

3.23 Borough Market Opening Hours

Information from

3.24 Santa Caterina’s Iconic Market Roof

Carlos Lorenzo, Barcelona Photo Blog (www.barcelonaphotoblog.com/2006/08/santa-caterina-market-in-barcelona.html)

3.25 Behind the Scenes at Santa Caterina

Michiel van Raaij (www.eikongraphia.com/images/barcelona/Barcelona_Enric_Miralles_Photographer_Michiel_van_Raaij_8_S.jpg)

3.26 Santa Caterina Market Map

Drawing by Author

3.27 Santa Caterina Opening Hours

Information from www.mercatsantacaterina.ne

3.28 Overflow Space at Jean Talon Market

MontrealFood.com (http://www.montrealfood.com/jt_folder/jtmkt21.jpg)

3.29 Aerial Image of the Jean Talon Market

Christopher DeWolf, Urban Photo Blog (http://www.urbanphoto.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/aerial7.jpg)

3.30 Jean Talon Market Map

Drawing by Author

3.31 Jean Talon Opening Hours

Information from www.marchespublics-mtl.com

3.32 Friday Morning at St. Lawrence Market

Photo by Author

4.01 Map of Etobicoke

Drawing by Author

x
4.02 Multi-modal Distances from the Ontario Food Terminal
Drawing by Author

4.03 North America’s Highway Network Leads to the Ontario Food Terminal
Drawing by Author with information from Foodshed: the Globalized Infrastructure of the Ontario Food Terminal

4.04 Ontario’s Highway Network

Drawing by Author with information from Census Canada (2005)

4.05 Zoning Diagram

Drawing by Author

4.06 Proximity of Amenities Diagram

Drawing by Author

4.07 Axonometric Drawing

Drawing by Author

4.08 Buyer Entries at the Ontario Food Terminal

Chart by Author with information by the Ontario Food Terminal (www.oftb.com)

4.09 Annual Volume of Produce

Chart by Author with information by the Ontario Food Terminal (www.oftb.com)

4.10 Truck Deliveries to Ontario Food Terminal Wholesalers

Chart by Author with information by the Ontario Food Terminal (www.oftb.com)

4.11 Open Hours and Average Annual Volume

Chart by Author with information by the Ontario Food Terminal (www.oftb.com)

4.12 The Ontario Food Terminal Gate

Photo by Author

4.13 The Farmers’ Market

Photo by Author

4.14 Signage at the Ontario Food Terminal

Photo by Author

4.15 Farmers Market Overflow Area

http://www.oftb.com/pics.htm

4.16 Tenant Unit Produce

Photo by Author

4.17 Communal Loading Bays at the Terminal

Photo by Author

4.18 Tenants Lower Level Storage

Photo by Author

4.19 Composting Bins at the Terminal

Photo by Author

xi
4.20 Interior Roads in the Wholesale Terminal
http://www.blogto.com/upload/2007/10/20071006_hallway.jpg

4.21 Exterior Corridor Connecting Wholesale Tenants

Photo by Author

4.22 Site Programme

Drawing by Author

4.23 Exploded Axonometric Drawing

Drawing by Author

4.24 Components of the Ontario Food Terminal

Drawing by Author

4.25 The Wholesale Terminal

Drawing by Author

4.26 Wholesale Distribution Typologies

Drawing by Author

4.27 Single Tenant Unit at the Ontario Food Terminal

Drawing by Author

4.28 Inside a Tenant’s Wholesale Unit

Photo by Author

5.01 Cold Storage Facilities at the Ontario Food Terminal

Photo by Author

5.02 Preserving the Cold Chain

Drawing by Author

5.03 Perspective of the Ontario Food Terminal Market Along Queensway

Drawing by Author

5.04 Removed/Added Components

Drawing by Author

5.05 Programme Parti

Drawing by Author

5.06 Proposed Additional Programme to Fill the 24 Hour Cycle

Chart by Author

5.07 Axonometric Studies of the Ontario Food Terminal Site

Drawings by Author

5.08 Birds Eye View of the Ontario Food Terminal Site

Drawing by Author

5.09 Meydan Umraniye

http://www.archdaily.com/3338/meydan-umraniye-retail-complex-multiplex-foa/649306239_foa-may-02/

5.10 Terminus Hoenheim

http://you-are-here.com/europe/hoenheim.html

xii
5.11 Ground Floor Plan, 1:2000
Drawing by Author

5.12 Second Floor Plan, 1:2000

Drawing by Author

5.13 Roof Plan, 1:2000

Drawing by Author

5.14 North Elevation, 1:2000

Drawing by Author

5.15 Site section, 1:1000

Drawing by Author

5.16 Essential Circulation Paths

Drawing by Author

5.17 Circulation Routes of Specific Users

Drawing by Author

5.18 Looking into the Public Market Courtyard

Drawing by Author

5.19 Section Through the Public Market, 1:200

Drawing by Author

5.20 Public Market Programme

Chart by Author

5.21 Elevation of the Public Market. 1:300

Drawing by Author

5.22 Business Development Centre Programme

Chart by Author

5.23 Section Through Business Development Centre, 1:200

Drawing by Author

5.24 Ground Floor Plan - Business Development Centre

Drawing by Author

5.25 Second Floor Plan - Business Development Centre

Drawing by Author

5.26 Third Floor Plan - Business Development Centre

Drawing by Author

5.27 Section Through the Wholesale Farmers Market

Drawing by Author

5.28 Farmers Market Overflow

Photo by Author

5.29 Wholesale Farmers Market Programme

Chart by Author

xiii
5.30 Wholesale Farmers Market Typologies
Chart by Author

5.31 Urban Beehives

http://www.scientificamerican.com/media/inline/urban-beekeeping-pollinators_1.jpg

5.32 Tomato Varieties

http://newyorkdailyphoto.blogspot.com/2007/09/heirloom-tomatoes.html

5.33 Agriculture Learning Roof

Drawing/Chart by Author

5.34 Buyers Court

http://www.oftb.com/pics.htm

5.35 Wholesale Facilities Programme

Chart by Author

5.36- Sections Through Wholesale Facilities

Drawings by Author
5.38

xiv
“On the table, seasons no longer matter; nor does distance travelled,
cost, or the farmer’s name. Like other cosmopolitan urban regions,
Toronto is a city with the menu of the world. So how is it that so much
of this food diversity seems to come from nowhere in particular,
while consumers -who are otherwise increasingly gastronomically
knowledgeable- neither notice or care?” Lister, 2008

xvi
INTRODUCTION

In Toronto, like all major metropolitan areas, the economy relies heavily on global imports
coupled with local supplements to survive. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the food industry.
The homogenization of food sources has created a culture of food that no longer relies on regionalism
or seasonality to exist. Increasingly dependent on global imports, the city’s food supply is not self-
reliant. Only fifty years ago the majority of Toronto’s food came from within 350km of the city (Lister
2008, 164). Today over 80 per cent is grown in other countries, mainly the United States, Mexico and
Brazil, with emerging economies like China and India set to take a greater share over the next decade.
The value of American food imports alone averages $13 billion per year (Statistics Canada 2003). As
a result the local agricultural industry faces a constant struggle to survive and consumers have become
disconnected from the vibrant culture of food and agricultural production that was once the backbone
of Ontario’s economy.

The modern food industry is composed of four divisions: production, processing, distribution
and retail. Though topics such as food miles and local eating have begun to receive a lot of interest,
the reality is that local agriculture cannot sustain the current population of Toronto. Food distribution
is arguably the most chronically overlooked part of the industry by the public. It requires a systematic
overhaul to respond to the resurgence of locally produced foodstuffs for which consumers are asking.
This distribution works on a multitude of different scales: in farmers’ markets, independent retailers,
supermarkets and wholesale markets. At the farmer’s scale, this network is too small- too expensive and
too limited - to feed the city. At that of supermarket chains, it is far too large. Monopolistic, seasonless
and massive in scale, the supermarket has created its own system of obtaining and distributing food that
bypasses wholesale distribution centres altogether.

Decades of agribusiness investment and technological advancement have allowed for the creation
of a massively globalized system that supplies the world with cheap, seasonless produce. Because
of this, food spending is at an all-time low. The average Toronto household spends roughly seven
percent, or $134 per week, on groceries (Statistics Canada 2003, 54). Almost all of it is spent in chain

1
supermarkets that favour the consistent, yet flavorless, products of global producers (Statistics Canada
2003, 54). Though these same supermarkets have begun local product programs, they are expensive to
maintain and supermarkets end up losing money on the local products they stock. The chains justify
stocking them for marketing and public relations purposes; in the long term this is not a sustainable
venture for the supermarket or the consumer. Why is locally grown food often significantly more
expensive than comparable global products? Can subjecting local farmers to a larger market, thereby
creating the economies of scale necessary for their survival, aide in making them more cost-effective in
the long term? The thesis seeks to address the questions of economies of scale of distribution while
integrating local food production networks.

The population of the Greater Toronto Area is projected to grow by over two million inhabitants
to 7.45 million by 2031 (Toronto City Council 2000). Will the current system, which is at capacity
and almost exclusively dependent on external sources of food, be able to handle the population
increase? In order to provide for the growing population, the creation of infrastructure able to support
more regional farmers and provide local food for city inhabitants in the city is vital. Furthermore, a
sustainable, local food system would benefit the city in myriad ways: supporting the local agricultural
economy; generating regional jobs in the farming, distribution and retail sectors; and providing a supply
of healthy (and reasonably priced) food for city residents. Coupling the local industry with the global
network will ensure that the city can feed itself into the future.

Wholesale food distribution is an industry that remains mysterious to consumers. Though there
is renewed importance in food origins, the grocery store gives few answers. Wholesale terminals-
typically located in peripheral or industrial areas of cities - are off limits to the public, making their
inner workings unclear. Where does food in the wholesale terminal come from and where does it go?
These are questions that must be answered in order to understand the greater food delivery system.

This thesis examines what does and does not work within the existing conditions of the Ontario
Food Terminal and the food economy in Toronto, and strives to create a new model for distribution

2
that includes distribution, retail, and consumption, filling a void in the system. In the new scenario
the Ontario Food Terminal is conceived of as an interconnected node for the distribution of food,
working at a variety of scales simultaneously (wholesale-retail, global-local, and fresh-stored). As the
city encroaches on this once peripheral site, how does its role change? To become a more lucrative
entity, the experience and relationships existing on the site must become reconfigured, emphasizing the
importance of local farmers and buyers within the economy. No longer overlooked as viable producers
of food for the city, the local agricultural industry becomes an important economic generator.

The ultimate goal of this thesis is to extend the reach of locally grown food. By constructing
a hybrid food distribution centre that allows local food to leverage itself through the extensive
international system it is able to compete with the larger and better-funded global import network. It
attempts to respond to the growing desires of the public for locally sourced food products and fill a
void that is currently missing: that of a reliable network to support local agricultural products. Toronto
needs a civic building, one that can relate the history and future of the local food economy and connect
its urban population to the agricultural lands that have traditionally fed it. In this vision, the footprint
of the Ontario Food Terminal is an interconnected network of markets, restaurants and circulation: a
hybridized market complex that benefits the city physically and psychologically.

3
 PART ONE: THE WHOLESALE
FOOD INDUSTRY

“All farm products must get trucked at

least part of the way to market.” Farming
in Canada, 1989

5
 We are at a crisis point. As the food industry continues to
expand into an ever more complex web of industrial farming and
global distribution systems, the public is growing more curious
and demanding increasing accountability as to how food gets to
the table. In the future, not only will the global food network
come under increasingly intense scrutiny (but potentially also
under economic pressure as transport costs rise), but people will
be informed enough to ask the right questions of it. How does
food get to the table? Who puts it there? What are the steps
involved? And finally, what can we do about it?

As with all global networks, a layer of secrecy covers the

industry of food distribution. Society has been purposefully cut
off from investigating this vital step in the chain, and the industry
is slow (perhaps also unwilling) to open up for fear of widespread
operative criticism and governmental scrutiny. It is virtually
impossible to figure out where and how the nodal hubs that feed
1.01 Transport trucks from all over North America deliver produce to the Ontario Food Terminal 24 hours per day, 365 days per year
food into the city operate. It is harder still to understand how food to ensure the city is never without food.
arrived at these centralized distribution terminals in the first place.
Not so long ago, it was understood that what we ate was produced
and trucked into the city from nearby farmland. However, over
the last half century, an invisible network has grown to feed the
increasingly complex tastes of urban centres with little regard to
how the food got there.

Recently, a resurgence of ‘farm-to-table’ eating has raised

questions of the food industry, and public awareness of the
globalization of the food system is growing almost daily. Long

6
 disconnected from the producers and food products that supply
the city’s grocery stores, urbanites are finding renewed interest in
forming relationships with the sustenance of their everyday lives.
What is really involved in the just-in-time supply lines that have
been created over the last century?

Revealing the multifaceted systems behind the food

we eat will be a start toward a better understanding of how
distribution has evolved and what it has become. By looking
at the historical expansion of cities and transportation routes,
along with technological advancements in shipping, sanitation
and refrigeration, and more complex consumer relationships,
the complexities involved in getting food from the farm to the
table can be understood in greater detail. This thesis attempts to
address the complexities inherent in the food distribution system
that has been created.

7
1.02 As transportation evolved, deliveries became increasingly difficult. Trucks created massive amounts of
congestion while attempting to squeeze through narrow streets designed for pedestrians and carts.

1.03 Newer wholesale distribution facilities were designed with wide traffic lanes and individual docks to
accommodate the increased number of truck deliveries. This system has expanded further to accommodate
even larger trucks with semitrailers.

8
1.1 DEVELOPMENT OF A GLOBALIZED FOOD
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
Up until the early part of the 20th century wholesale food distribution throughout North America
occurred on a relatively small scale. Distribution facilities were located in the core of the city, adjacent
to the port and rail infrastructure that brought food in from exotic growing regions in the south of the
continent. Farmers with horses and pull carts supplied food products from surrounding rural areas.
The warehouses were basic structures, often hastily erected, and usually involved some form of retail
component that allowed consumers to buy directly from farmers and wholesalers. Distribution of
produce, meat and poultry, dairy, seafood and dry goods were not separate though there were distinct
differences in how each was transported, stored, bought and sold.

Rapid urbanization began to create significant problems for downtown wholesale markets, which
quickly filled to capacity. As the population of many North American cities grew, due to an influx of
new immigrants and urbanization of rural people, so did the amount of food required to feed them.
Wholesale markets were not able to expand as quickly as the population due to space constraints and
traffic congestion; mounting sanitation concerns added another level of complexity. The need for
efficiency and modernization were of growing importance in the post-industrial landscape. Inevitably,
wholesale market buildings outgrew the downtown location, pushed out of the core by both necessity
and government agencies (Tangires 2008, 232).

It was also more desirable to move wholesale markets out of the city centre since they no longer
relied on rail and port infrastructure to distribute food. Complex centralized wholesale terminals
emerged in peripheral areas in the 1950’s and 1960’s with ample space to grow and in proximity to
major continental transportation routes. Not only did the wholesale terminal unify the arrival of food
by various means of transport, but it also stored, processed and facilitated its redistribution through the
numerous retail outlets of the city (Tangires 2008, 24). Consumers favoured the new, and more sterile,
grocery store environment, abandoning the retail markets of the past. Meanwhile, wholesalers made it
clear that consumers were no longer welcome in the fast-paced world of globalized distribution. Mainly
this was due to food and personal safety issues, as well as gate access monitoring.

9
1.04 A commission merchant inspects boxes ofproduce at the Chicago Wholesale Produce Market, 1941.
In Canada food inspection is enforced on multiple levels by national, provincial and municipal government
agencies.

10
 To fulfil this need, farmers’ markets - temporary organizations that did not require permanent
infrastructure - sprang up around the city. The modern farmers’ market phenomenon started in the
1970’s in the United States, when the government passed the Farmers-to-Consumers Direct Marketing
Act in 1976; it funded the legalization of an act that allowed farmers to sell directly to consumers (Smith
2007, 49). Since then the number of farmers’ markets across the continent has exploded. It seems like
a new one opens every week. Typically held once a week, farmer’s market cater to an urban population
interested in connecting to local farmers and have become a niche market in the food retail industry.
Small-scale and provisional by nature, they have endured but do not generate the economies of scale to
warrant more permanent constructions.

Sanitation has always been a point of concern in urban areas, one that every government struggles
to manage. With respect to food, each day is a struggle to beat the clock. If food products cannot
make it in and out of the marketplace quickly enough they will rot. Relocating wholesale markets to
the periphery of the city was fully supported by government because a tainted food supply is one less
potential disaster for them to deal with and it adhered nicely to the 1960’s zoning ideal of segregating
uses.

The centralized wholesale terminal typology was the first to address food sanitation and hygiene
on a large scale. The initiation of modern integrated garbage collection, compost management
and recycling systems was integral to the operations of these new distribution centres; their upkeep
seamlessly integrated into the daily maintenance of the market buildings.

Wholesale terminals are also responsible for implementing the food safety standards that were
created and monitored by Agriculture Canada and provincial agricultural ministries in the early half of
the twentieth century. Storage and refrigeration, modern inventions when the idea of the centralized
wholesale terminal was being envisioned, provide sellers with the means of storing food for continuous
periods of time at an appropriate temperature. Highly monitored systems regulate temperature, light
and humidity.

11
Comparing Modal Share of Produce Transportation

615 km Average length of shipment

1760 km

10,031 km

1.05 By looking at the averages, it is clear that Canada is heavily dependant on truck deliver- International
ies, though internationally there is actually more balance between truck, rail and marine ship-
ping methods. Almost 100% of the deliveries at the Ontario Food Terminal arrive by truck. Domestic

12
 The advent of continental truck and highway systems played a substantial role in the evolution
of food distribution. It was a much more flexible mode of transportation than rail or marine shipping
methods, and had the advantage of being cheaper, requiring less infrastructural input, more frequent
deliveries and smaller cargo sizes. Traditionally cities relied on regional - and sometimes national -
farmers that shipped their produce by train and boat while they stayed behind on the farm. The
popularity of truck transport eventually overtook the industry, impacting trade at all levels.

Shipping distances lengthened with the technological advancement of refrigerated transportation,

which allowed produce to be picked in an unripe state and stored in climate controlled bins to inhibit
ripening. Until the invention of refrigerated train cars in 1867, only seafood and dairy were refrigerated
during transport (Refrigeration n.d.). Refrigeration changed yet again in 1949 with the invention of
cooled trucks, because it allowed smaller quantities of food to be shipped further and further from
1.06 Up until the end of the nineteenth century, refrigeration was relatively primitive. Meth- the original source (Refrigeration n.d.). Produce is now essentially dormant during its travel period.
ods of cooling were basically derived from man-made ice blocks and were used almost solely for
keeping seafood and dairy products. (Anderson 1953, 31)
Eventually it is unloaded in ripening rooms and placed on grocery store shelves.

Air haulage has created even more opportunity for expansion of the global network, to the point
where essentially any product is within reach of the modern consumer. Tulips from Holland, lamb
from New Zealand and tuna from Tokyo are fine examples - readily available at most grocery stores for
purchase and consumption.

The expansion of North America’s highway system created the ability for more transportation-
based industry which, coupled with new ripening and refrigeration technology, allowed for mass
marketed food products. With this came the need for a new form of food infrastructure – one that
would be able to simultaneously relieve traffic congestion in the city core, centralize daily exchanges
between buyers and sellers, institute food quality and sanitation standards and moderate prices (Belanger
2008). The modern wholesale food terminal was the answer.

13
1.2 AN UNDERVALUED INDUSTRY

Food distribution has been a pervasive industry for as long as recorded history. Treasured
products, such as exotic spices, sugar, chocolate, coffee, salt and tea, were valued like gold and trading
was an incredibly lucrative career for merchants. Only the best products were carried across the globe,
landing in the wealthiest of homes, until the globalization of the food industry in the last century.

As cities of the 20th century swelled, transportation systems became more sophisticated and
food networks enlarged. This introduced new ingredients to growing populations, especially in affluent
countries where the population was service-based and not agricultural. The industrialization of food
production saw the means to grow food products in one country and distribute to a multitude of others.
In Canada it meant that there was more choice in grocery stores and restaurants, as foods like oranges
and pineapple - unable to grow in our climate - could be imported quickly and cost-effectively at an
unprecedented pace.

The contemporary distribution network is a product of modern refrigeration, transportation and

geography and just-in-time logistics systems. An interconnected web of complex delivery systems
consists of truck, rail, air and marine shipping methods that track food from the beginning of the
journey to the end. The individual transportation modes work together to move food products from
rural farming areas to cities, whose food supplies are concentrated in centralized wholesale distribution
centres. Each of these hubs store, sort and process the fresh food products that wind up in the stores
and restaurants of the city.

Industrialization and technology provided the food distribution system yet another layer of
complexity. As tractors and industrial equipment made farming production more efficient, small-scale
operations gave way to larger agribusiness production, necessary to the survival of the food supply
but also detrimental to the health of the planet as they involved the use of less sustainable growing
practices. Large farms sprang up in temperate climates, creating even more nodes for the growing
network. Small farmers found themselves without a consistent consumer base and turned to artisanal
methods of growing, curing and preserving to stay alive, establishing the trend for modern artisanal
cuisine (Citation and historical data needed).

15
1.07 Traffic congestion around the Toronto Wholesale Fruit Market at the intersection of Yonge and Front
Streets in the 1930’s. As the city expanded, the downtown location was unable to handle the chaotic delivery
schedules of trucks, boats, rail and horse-drawn carts that brought food into the market.

1.08 A sketch of the Ontario Food Terminal in 19___ shows the distinct U-shaped, dual-storey design of
the terminal that has since been copied by many wholesale facilities around the world.

16
 The Ontario Food Terminal, located just outside of Toronto’s downtown core, is the hub around
which food-related industry revolves in Canada. The wholesale terminal - largest in Canada and third
largest in North America - has set a precedent for the wholesale distribution of fresh fruit and vegetables,
and people come from all over the world to observe and learn from its inner workings (Belanger 2008,
213). This terminal provides an uninterrupted supply of affordable fresh food to Toronto’s grocery
stores and restaurants year-round.

The Ontario Food Terminal sees itself as a public institution, an arms-length agency of the
Ontario government under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture (Iarocci 2010). In 1946 the
Ontario Food Terminal Act was created, spearheaded by Thomas L. Kennedy and G.F. Perkin, as a
small component of the Ontario government’s post-war policy to develop provincially regulated and
operated produce-marketing boards. It was an attempt to raise declining farm incomes facing Ontario’s
farmers and deal with increased competition for American growers (Bird 2001, 8). The Ontario Food
Terminal building opened eight years later in 1954.

Originally Toronto’s wholesale market operations were located downtown in two buildings: St.
Lawrence Market just west of Jarvis and Front Streets, and the Wholesale Fruit Market on the south-
east corner of Yonge and Front Streets (Belanger 2008). By the early part of the twentieth century,
wholesale market operations were at capacity due to an influx of immigrants. Adding to the chaos was
a gridlocked delivery system that, due to its highly urban location, was unable to handle the new larger
delivery system. The effects of cramped space and inadequate facilities, along with limited competition
resulted in both increased prices and lower product quality (Bird 2001, 9). As a result the government
stepped in to create the Ontario Food Terminal Act in 1946 and plans were made to move the facilities
to a new site further out of the city (Bird 2001, 23). In addition to providing Ontario farmers with
access to the lucrative wholesale market without the need for a middleman, it was thought that the new
Terminal would facilitate governmental regulation of the industry by ensuring that low quality (often
foreign) produce would not be dumped on the Ontario market (Bird 2001, 10).

17
 1876 1932

1967 1992

1.09 The evolution of Toronto’s wholesale market network from the inner city to the periphery, in relation to the
surrounding transportation infrastructure. The introduction of the Greenbelt has helped to preserve some of the
agriculture land that surrounds the city.

18
 Construction on the new terminal was delayed due to steel
shortages during WWII. On May 17, 1952, a fire destroyed
the Wholesale Fruit Market, necessitating the erection of the
wholesale building (Belanger 2008, 216). The new building quickly
became a welcome establishment in Toronto’s food economy. In
order to encourage wholesale tenants to occupy the new terminal
they were offered thirty-year perpetual leases, which are now each
worth well over a million dollars in economic returns annually.
These leaseholders effectively ‘own’ the Terminal in partnership
with the government, who operates the institution (Bird 2001, 12).

Today, the smoothly run operating system oversees the

distribution of 2.2 million kilograms of produce each day, from
as close by as the Ontario Green Belt and as far away as New
2004 Zealand (Elton 2010, 139). Two markets occupy the site, running
separately yet simultaneously. A 550-stall farmers’ market contains
food from regional and national farms, while a wholesale market
receives and distributes foods from all over the world (Ontario
Food Terminal Board 1997).

Wholesale Market The Terminal is perceived as an obstacle for local food since
Urban Growth it facilitates long-distance distribution. However, not everyone
Greenbelt sees it that way. Bruce Nicholas, the terminal’s manager, argues
Highway that it supports local food because it provides a market for the

Rail Transport
local farmers that sell their products there. They estimate that 30-
35 percent of the produce sold at the terminal comes from local
Marine
sources (Leo 2010). In contrast, retail farmers’ markets simply do
Air
not turn over enough business for the farmers to make a living
Projected growth_2031
and chain retailers are reluctant to stock local products because
they do not want to injure the relationships they have created with
global producers.

19
 Though the Terminal provides farmers’ access to Toronto’s
wholesale buyers without the help of a middleman, the farmers
market at the Ontario Food Terminal never fulfilled its original
intention to fully integrate producers into the wholesale market
(Bird 2001). As a result, they are seen as only marginal players
in its operations. An original policy that required farmers’
surplus produce to be purchased by wholesale tenants was never
enacted (Bird 2001, 10). Initial plans for the farmers’ market at
the Terminal also included a covered, lit area with raised loading
docks. The current farmers’ market covering is merely the residual
outcome of a parking deck project completed in 1984. A cold
and dry storage facility has the capacity to hold an extra 80,000
square feet of produce (Ontario Food Terminal Board 1997).
1.10 Aerial image of the Terminal as it existed in 1956, two years after its opening. Though the main
The Ontario Food Terminal operates 365 days per year, terminal building is present, the parking deck has yet to be constructed. Rail lines on the south end of the
site, integral to operations then, have since been removed.
24-hours per day. A monitored gate controls access into the site,
where 3:00am line-ups are not uncommon occurrences. Local
and worldwide deliveries alike are moved from truck to storage to
warehouse and back to truck within a matter of hours. Farmers,
wholesalers, grocers, food-service professionals and middlemen
(called jobbers) make up the network that sells and buys food
on the site. Transport trucks, along with flat body trucks, pick-
ups and forklifts move across the site in a seemingly endless
pattern. The terminal is advantageously located beside highway
infrastructure that runs all the way to Florida, Texas, California
and Mexico (the four major produce growing regions of North
America). The port of Philadelphia, where food has likely been
unloaded from freighters travelling across the globe, is only 12 1.11 The Farmers’ Market area in 1959, prior to construction of the parking deck.
hours away (Elton 2010, 144).

20
 The Terminal runs like a small city with its own security network, sanitation and recycling facilities,
two cafes and a restaurant. A security perimeter of cameras and an interior network of guards keep
unwelcome visitors out and keep peace within. All disputes are settled by the OFT management.
Sanitation and waste management is a package deal: every day the floors get mopped and hosed down
and any waste gets reverted back into the regional farming system as organic compost. Pallets and boxes
get broken down and recycled.

Unlike most other large industries, warehousing is not a customary practise when related to food
distribution. Not only does storage cost money - in an industry where the lowest prices are always the
most desirable - but fresh food products only last on the shelf for a limited amount of time. Thus the
idea of just-in-time supply and demand dictates how the industry works. The fragility of supply and
demand, especially in a globalized industry, became apparent in 2003 when a blackout in central Canada
and the Northeastern United States left Toronto dependent on its current food supply (Belanger 2008,
210). It quickly became evident that Toronto, as is the case with many cities in the developed world,
only carried a reserve to last three days. Our survival is inextricably linked to our dependence on the
global food network.

21
 PART TWO: WHOLESALE TO RETAIL

“What appears to be a carrot or a piece of

meat is indeed a product with a history and
implications more complex and profound
than most of us even think about.”
Lien, 2004

23
 REST
OF THE
WORLD
18%

UNITED
STATES
EUROPE
13%
58%

2%
6%
CHINA

MEXICO

3%
2%
BRAZIL AUSTRALIA

2.01 Canada imports approximately 80 percent, or 52 billion tonnes of fresh produce each year .

24
 A burgeoning food movement is changing the way our society eats and thinks about food.
Though the modern consumer has no shortage of food choices in the grocery store, it is a struggle
for consumers to find the local foods that they are interested in purchasing. When they can be found,
they are often expensive and in limited supply. Farmers’ markets are the most popular source, but their
restricted hours can make patronizing them inconvenient and unrealistic for contemporary lifestyles.

Like the majority of cities in the developed world, Toronto residents can get whatever they want,
whenever they want it. Food that was once considered exotic or luxurious is now ordinary for many,
and access to fresh fruits and vegetables, such as mangoes and lettuce, is seasonless. Yet contemporary
methods of food retailing have left the consumer with little information other than the ambiguous tags
in produce aisles. How fresh is the produce? How did it arrive at the store? How many channels did it
go through to get there? These are questions that no one has asked until now. People are demanding
a more tactile and authentic experience, both in and out of the grocery store. Furthermore, the recent
economic recession has caused consumers to be more mindful of how their retail dollars contribute to
the economy, both locally and globally, understanding that what they spend has a direct effect on the
local economy. It is for this reason that how retail food-purchasing dollars are spent is so important.

“Few sectors can match food for distributed benefits. That’s why it’s such a false economy to select
food exclusively on the basis of its sticker price. The corporate chains that enforce and deliver cheap food
come up short when it comes to chain reactions that create a vibrant local business community.” (Roberts
2008, 141)

The food industry is big business: in fact, it is the largest industry in the world (Roberts 2008, 15).
As recently as the 1960s, most of Toronto’s food came from within a 350km radius of the city (Lister
2008, 162). During the 1970s, worldwide exports began to take off, quadrupling over the decade and
then doubling again from the eighties to the nineties (Goldfrank 2005, 43). Approximately $172 million

25
2.02 Shoppers browse at the street stands in Kensington Market. Most of the food found in
stores there came through the Ontario Food Terminal.

26
is spent annually on fresh food imports in Toronto, where almost all produce is now brought in from
other countries (FHAC 2001, 13). Many of these fruits and vegetables could be grown on regional
farms. As worldwide exports of fresh fruits and vegetables continue to expand, how will the local
network perform under more intense competition?

The role that centralized wholesale terminals play in the chain of distribution is to promote
competition in the food industry. This is achieved by providing high-quality, yet economically priced,
products to all food retailers. The Ontario Food Terminal is unique in that it is able to provide Toronto’s
myriad small-to-medium sized grocers with wholesale produce from both local and global sources. Yet
where does this food go once it leaves the terminal? A network of retail outlets further distributes the
city’s food supply from wholesale sources. From small retailers to supermarket chains, how much of it
ends up in the largest supermarkets - the Loblaws and Metros - of the city?

The modern food retail economy is comprised of supermarkets, big-box stores, independent
grocers and farmers’ markets. It seems like every retail provider is selling food these days, from the
dollar store to the drugstore. As a capital-intensive business, not all retailers are able to employ their own
network for food distribution. Thanks in part to government ventures like the Ontario Food Terminal,
independent retailers are able to survive in the highly aggressive industry and provide the competition
necessary to keep big supermarket chains from taking over the market entirely. Their exposure to
a range of high-quality, low-cost produce allows them to pass cost savings down to consumers and
permits them to maintain smaller retail stores located closer to customers.

27
2.03 Distribution of origin for the fresh produce found at an average grocery store, October. = 5 Products

28
2.1 THE OLIGOPOLY OF CHAIN RETAILERS

The supermarket has drastically changed consumers’ relationship to food over the last century.
Consumers, initially drawn to supermarkets because of their efficiency and convenience, can find
everything required in assembling one, or several, meals at a time in one place. Since grocery stores
started to replace open-air markets, the grocery aisles have evolved into complicated ‘who, what and
where’ maps of our contemporary food culture. The average store carries between 30,000 and 40,000
food products (Elton 2010, 146).

Food retail is an oligopolistic market dominated by a few corporate players. These chains have
spent decades establishing an industry of exclusivity by creating their own networks of food distribution
and forging relationships with international producers who are able to supply consistent food products
on a seasonless basis. Over 60 percent of Ontario’s food retail industry is controlled by supermarket
chains (Bird 2001, 14). In Toronto alone, over half of the foods in the city stream through three
corporate providers: Loblaws (Weston), Metro (formerly A&P), and Sobeys (Empire). The large chains
are highly competitive and offer little diversity from store to store.

These grocery monoliths have the capital and sales infrastructure necessary to build and operate
their own wholesale produce facilities. They use their facilities exclusively to supply their retail stores
and shovel huge amounts of money into logistics and supply-chain research. Streamlining methods
of supply chain distribution save these national companies millions of dollars per year. As a result
they employ their own fleet of transport trucks and distribution terminals to move food from global
suppliers to their network of retail stores. Most often they choose to bypass local producers and local
distribution networks, like the Ontario Food Terminal, in the process. Bruce Nicholas, manager of
the Ontario Food Terminal, estimates that about 10% of the produce at the terminal ends up in chain
retailers like the Loblaws and Sobeys of the city who use it as a supplement to their own produce when
a shipment shows up late or with quality issues.

Big box retail giants - the Costcos and Wal-Marts of North America - have also claimed their
share of the food chain, able to entice customers with volume sales at discount prices (Belanger 2008,

29
2.04 Supermarkets are starting to stock more local products in an attempt to satisfy consumer
interests. A large part of this initiative can be credited to Foodland Ontario, a government
established consumer promotion agency whose main objectives over the last thirty years hand
been to create relationships with regional producers and promote local, seasonal products to
consumers.

30
210). Big-box companies each possess their own incredibly complex distribution network that is used
to transport everything from strawberries to flat screen televisions, and have essentially commoditized
food products in the same way that they do hair products and athletic shoes. Their produce selection is
often very limited and entirely globally sourced. Big-box retail stores are most prolific in suburban areas
where consumers are vehicle-dependent and able to accommodate larger purchases associated with this
method of shopping. In suburban areas, chain grocers and big-box stores represent the majority of
food retail outlets. Almost every day one new box store opens across America (Peled 2001).

Nevertheless larger urban centres have created a model for food retail in the core that promotes
small-to-medium sized businesses (Belanger 2008). The model is based on government-controlled,
centralized wholesale food distribution whose goal is to provide a competitively priced supply of high-
quality fresh fruit and vegetables for retailers to stock in their stores. These public-private ventures,
such as the Ontario Food Terminal Board, were put in place to keep retail giants from taking complete
control of the food retail market. The Ontario Food Terminal is a non-profit government agency
that allows any incorporated individual - anyone with a business number - to purchase food from the
terminal.

31
 2.2 INDEPENDENT RETAILERS AND THE ROLE OF
WHOLESALE MARKETS
In Toronto’s Kensington Market neighbourhood, independent grocers (small-to-medium sized
businesses) far outnumber corporate chains. The neighbourhood’s urban ‘hippie-chic’ retail philosophy
caters to a specific demographic that is interested in the natural local foods that the area has become
known for. Most of the retailers in the neighbourhood obtain the majority of their produce inventory
from the Ontario Food Terminal; the rest is sourced directly from local farmers. Having access to a
diverse range of high-quality, low-cost, fresh and predominantly local produce at the Ontario Food
Terminal has enabled them to price their products competitively with their corporate chain competitors
as they pass their cost savings down to consumers.

Stores like those found in Kensington Market are able to compete with large, capital-intensive
supermarket chains that have their own distribution networks because of wholesale distribution facilities
like the Ontario Food Terminal in Toronto. The non-exclusive nature of the terminal allows it to supply
most of the small-to-medium grocers, artisanal shops and independent restaurateurs of the city. The
competition facilitated by the terminal is essential to Toronto’s diverse and vibrant food retail economy.

Local businesses contribute more to the local economy than national corporations. A 2004 report
done by the Andersonville Study of Retail Economics found that for every $100 spent at local stores in
Chicago, $68 was contributed back into the local economy. In contrast, only $43 was contributed back
for the equivalent spent in a chain store. Additionally, for every foot of retail space, a local company
generates $179 compared to a chain’s $105 (Civic Economics 2004, 3). In an area like Kensington
2.05 A poster from a wholesale terminal in the early half of the twentieth century. Market, which has 16 independent grocers and over 20 independent restaurants, local businesses are
vital generators of economic impact and growth.

Without facilities like the Ontario Food Terminal, it is difficult to speculate whether independent
retailers would be able to survive against larger retail chains and big-box stores, even in highly urban
areas. Due to the nature of the terminal’s public-private ownership policy, the independent retailers

33
of the city are able to provide real value competition for the large
chains in the produce retail market (Bird 2001, 15). If the Ontario
Food Terminal were to cease functioning (or become privatized)
its retail customers would be less able to provide maximum
value to customers. Wholesale tenants would no longer to able
to pass their savings - in the form of government-controlled
rents and shared capital expenses and facilities - to the retailers.
Eventually wholesale prices would go up, food quality would go
down and independent retailers would be forced to charge more
for less to consumers. The larger corporations would ultimately
absorb the smaller players who are unable to price their produce
competitively.
2.06 Independent grocers line both sides of the street in the Kensington Market neighbourhood.

34
 7 11

4
10
1
3 5
6 12
1. The Sweet Potato
2 8
7 2. Multiple Organics
Ontario Food Terminal 9
3. Fiesta Farms

4. Bonne Vie

5. Karma Food Co-op

6. Organics on Bloor

7. The Healthy Butcher

8. Viva Tastings

9. Golden Orchard Fine Foods

10. All the Best Fine Foods

11. Culinarium

2.07 A map locating independent food stores that stock almost solely local products in Toronto. These
stores have been crucial in bringing local agricultural products into the city.

35
2.08 Producers at St Lawrence’s North Market hand out samples and give explanations of their products. To some farmers the marketing involved
in selling their products is the best part of the job. To others, it is a hassle—unnecessary time away spent from the farm.

36
2.3 FARMERS’ MARKETS AND THE PLIGHT OF THE
PRODUCER
Until the early twentieth century, farmers’ markets were the most popular method of food
shopping. All of this began to change as an early food regime, located predominantly in Britain, saw
the creation of a network that,

“…was characterized by a new system that sourced cheap food from the colonies - sugar and tea
from the tropics, wheat from Canada, animal products from Argentina and New Zealand - for Britain’s
urban population, which was growing rapidly during industrialization.” (Elton 2010, 149)

After the Second World War, a second regime of mass-produced food for widespread urban
consumption took hold to create the basis of the modern grocery network. Recently a new dual regime
has started to solidify, according to Harriet Friedmann, a professor of sociology and fellow at the
Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. One is a global food network controlled,
for the most part, by supermarkets. The other, newer, system starting to emerge is based on a more
diverse ‘grass-roots’ regional approach to food distribution (Elton 2010, 150).

Thanks to this new regional system there has been an explosion of local food support and farmers’
markets are going through a resurgence. Over the last decade new farmers’ markets have opened up in
every corner of the country and local food and farmers’ markets are being written about in books like
The 100 Mile Diet, by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, which bring more awareness to the task of local
eating. In Toronto alone, there are now almost 30 markets open on a seasonal or annual basis.

Economically, it is hard to argue that farmers’ markets do not benefit the local economy. Farmers’
Markets Canada reported that the market industry contributed $1.03 billion in annual sales and another
$2.06 in distributed benefits to the economy in 2008. Furthermore 55 percent of market vendors
reported that they were able to create an additional one to five jobs in the local economy.

Yet farmers’ markets do not generate the economies of scale needed in order to sustain the
local agricultural industry. Though shoppers spend an average of $32 per visit, the produce sold there
is often supplementary to weekly grocery store purchases (FMC 2009). According to Rich Pirog, a

37
 Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.

researcher at the Leopold Centre at Iowa State University, only Sorauren 4 Monday

1.5 percent of fresh produce sales come from enterprises such Sick Kids Hospital 13 Tuesday
Riverdale 19
as farmers’ markets. Farmers can make up to $1,000 a day at
Trinity Bellwoods 7
some markets, but doing so also takes them away from the farm
Stonegate 1
where their attention is needed (FMC 2009). Additionally, not
Chef ’s Market 21
all farmers are good at marketing their own products, and find it East York 23
tiresome to attend markets regularly. Nathan Philips Square 14 Wednesday
Bloor-Borden 11
Farmers’ markets cater to a specific demographic of people Metro Hall 16 Thursday
who are willing to pay more and go out of their way for local food East Lynn 24
products. The reality is that these products are too expensive for Dufferin Grove Organic 5

the average consumer to eat on a regular basis. Yet at the Ontario The Appletree 10
Birchcliff Indoor 26
Food Terminal these products are able to compete with global
Birchcliff 25 Friday
ones because the economies of scale necessary to make a profit
Goody’s Natural Market 3
are there. Farmers find that selling from the terminal exposes
University of Toronto 12
them to a broader range of customers who are able to buy their Birchcliff Indoor 26
products in larger quantities. At the same time they are taken St. Andrews 15 Saturday
away from the farm, and must make up the time lost from being Weston 2
at the market when they return home. Brick Works 20
Withrow 22
Goody’s Natural Market 3
St. Lawrence North 17
The Stop’s Green Barn 8
The Village Organic 9
Birchcliff Indoor 26
Distillery District 18 Sunday
Liberty Village 6
Goody’s Natural Market 3
Birchcliff Indoor 26

2.09 Schedule of Farmers’ Markets in Toronto categorized by season and day of the week.

38
 2
9

10

8
21
20 23
11 24
22 26
5 12
3 19 25
4 7 13
1 14
15
Ontario Food Terminal 6 16 17 18

2.10 Dispersion of Farmers’ Markets in the city of Toronto.

39
 PART THREE: PRECEDENTS

“Wherever food markets survive, they

bring a quality that to urban life that is all
too rare in the West: a sense of belonging,
engagement, character.”
-Hungry City, p. 111

41
 WHOLESALE MARKETS

Wholesale terminal markets are incredibly complex centres of food distribution. Not only do
they act as hubs to receive, sort and store deliveries from all over the world, but they are also responsible
for supplying the grocery stores and markets of the cities that surround them. The ‘just in time’ food
delivery system dictates that the terminals must stay in constant motion and most are open 24 hours a
day to receive shipments from near and far.

The main goals of wholesale markets are to regulate the prices and quality of fresh food products
with efficiency and precision. Most terminals process hundreds of millions of tonnes of food products
annually. The majority of cities have separate wholesale terminal markets for meat, seafood, dairy, fruit
and vegetables, cut flowers and a host of other products, which are often located together in Food
Clusters. Most of the time buyers – grocers, restaurateurs and other food professionals - navigate their
way amongst boxes of carefully ordered produce, searching for the freshest goods to take back to their
stores and restaurants. At markets, such as the Ontario Food Terminal and New York City Terminal
Market, fruit and vegetables are continuously unloaded from trucks on one side of the building, sorted,
processed (if necessary) and stored, ready to be sold on the other side (Fig 4.XX). Buyers walk from
one wholesale tenant to the next, purchasing products and loading them into their vehicles.

3.01 A poster outlining the ‘Rules Regulating the Market’ in At other markets, the process works somewhat differently. New York’s Fulton Fish Market
North Carolina, 1864. Food quality standards started to gain
momentum as distribution systems expanded in the late nineteenth (located next door to the New York City Terminal Market) is set up in a double-loaded structure. Fish
and early twentieth century. is unloaded on both sides of the fully refrigerated building, and buyers walk down a double aisle in the
middle (New Fulton Fish Market n.d.). Their purchases are shuttled to either the north or south end
of the building to be loaded into trucks bound for New York City’s shops and restaurants (Fig 4.XX).
At Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, products are sold through a unique auction system that has become a
local tourist attraction ( Tsukiji Market Association 1999). Buyers navigate rooms laid out with seafood
products, inspecting the fish to be sold at auction that morning. The auction occurs in a separate
room, where potential buyers gather and bid on the products they looked over earlier ( Tsukiji Market
Association 1999).

Each model has its own advantages and opportunities. The double-loaded New York model
allows wholesalers to display their produce in a storefront manner so that potential buyers can quickly

43
 RUNGIS INTERNATIONAL
MARKET

NEW YORK CITY

TERMINAL MARKET

TSUKIJI FISH MARKET

3.02 The scale difference between wholesale and retail markets is inherently obviously when comparing them side by side.

44
ONTARIO FOOD
TERMINAL

BOROUGH MARKET

MERCAT SANTA
CATERINA

ST. LAWRENCE
MARKET

JEAN-TALON
MARKET
look to see what is available. Unfortunately it is more difficult for buyers to see individual boxes of
produce, and the central aisle can make delivery and pick up more challenging. In that sense, the
singly loaded layout of the Ontario Food Terminal is advantageous, as food flows in a continuous line.
However buyers must visit each wholesaler individually, making the process of purchasing more drawn
out. They are more likely to develop relationships with specific vendors than to navigate the entire
market daily.

The inner circle at the Tsukiji Fish Market is a unique auction model, set up to allow the greatest
number of buyers to access each product. It is a system that would not work efficiently for smaller
items, such as fruit and vegetables, that have little variation across the field, but in the fish industry,
where each item is distinctive and worth thousands of dollars, it is ideal.

Wholesale terminal markets are frenzied places, with forklifts, carts and all sizes of trucks
zooming around terminal facilities at high speeds. Yet, there is organization to the madness; an inherent
hierarchy among the varying scales of transportation that is respected by market workers and patrons.
Interior roads are used to connect the various operations on each market site, clearly delineated for
specific vehicle types.

Like many logistics centres in our cities (such as airports and seaports) food terminals can almost
be understood as cities unto themselves. As such, convenience facilities adjunct to the wholesale
premises are necessary to keep the terminal operations running smoothly. Wholesale terminals
frequently accommodate restaurants, cafés, cold storage and food processing facilities in addition to the
standard mix of loading docks, warehouses and offices (Tangires 2008). Some of the larger ones, such
as Rungis Terminal, even employ their own laundering services, post offices and banks.

Consumers are unaware of the intricacies involved in running wholesale markets, often shut
out of distribution facilities. Currently, knowledge of these facilities is very limited, and most often
negatively associated with big box stores and other large-scale distribution systems. Yet the opportunity
exists within these terminals for consumers to learn about the origins and processes that food undergoes
before making it to the table.

45
RUNGIS INTERNATIONAL MARKET, PARIS

Rungis Terminal Market is a massive wholesale food

distribution centre, second in size only to La Central de Abasto
de la Cuidad in Mexico City. Rungis Market is located seven
kilometres outside of Paris, at a crossroad between Orly airport,
major highways and rail infrastructure. It is this central location,
with its proximity to global infrastructure networks, provincial
producers and Parisian buyers, which allows for the logistics
required by the complicated distribution terminal. Food deliveries
from all over the world are distributed through the market and
dispersed to Paris, the rest of France, other European countries
and, in some cases, far-off locales like Japan and Dubai (Rungis
n.d.). Open 24 hours a day, the market receives and processes
deliveries as quickly as possible.

At 232 hectares, Rungis is essentially a self-contained city 3.03 Small motorized vehicles load and unload palettes of produce on delivery trucks.

(Rungis n.d.). Opened in 1969 as the predecessor of Marche Les

Halles, it is a complete one-stop food depot housing multiple
wholesale markets: fruit and vegetable, meat, seafood, dairy and
cut flowers. The Rungis wholesale facility also houses restaurants,
cafés, and a laundry service, which allow the centre to operate as
a small internal city. A digital video surveillance system monitors
the huge site, ensuring that unwanted visitors do not enter the
premises.

Nothing at the market is wasted: a programme is in place

to collect and distribute unsold, yet edible, products at the end of
each day to provide to Paris’s neediest citizens. Inedible produce is

3.04 A worker power washes the market floor after selling is over for the day.

46
 N composted and fed back into the system. A sorting and recycling
centre deals with leftover packaging (Semmaris 2008).

One of the more interesting aspects of Rungis Market

is its apparent transparency. It is one of the few (perhaps the
only) wholesale facility that offers an informative website and
promotional materials. Perhaps it is this willingness to embrace
technology as an educational tool that has made it so successful.
The Market has also used technology to pioneer a unique ordering
system that does not require buyers to physically enter the market
to buy food products (Rungis n.d.).

3.05 Context Plan, 1:15000 Market The lack of emphasis placed on local food products
Rail/Subway at Rungis is noticeable. For a country that is known for its
Major Highway protectionist food policies (such as the ones regarding Paris’s
Water
bakeries or French farmers) it would be expected that local food
OPEN HOURS ANNUAL VOLUME procurement would be a top priority. Though there is a local
of Produce market at the facility, it pales in comparison to the rest of the
S M T W T F S
12am 1500 15.0
facility; perhaps the scale at which Rungis operates makes local
10
food seem insignificant.
8 1250 12.5
6
4 1000 10.0
2
12pm 750 7.5
10
8 500 5.0
6
4 250 2,5
2
12am 1 mil $1 bil
tonnes

3.06 Open Hours and Economic Information

47
NEW YORK CITY TERMINAL MARKET, NEW YORK

Hunts Point Distribution Centre is New York City’s major

food cluster; a wholesale distribution terminal divided into fruit
and vegetable, meat and seafood markets. Its establishment was
an endeavour undertaken by the city’s government to unite the
multiple wholesale markets in the city, providing more efficient
modern facilities. With revenues exceeding $2 billion per year,
the New York City Terminal Market at Hunts Point is one of the
largest fruit and vegetable terminals in the world (Hunts Point
Terminal Market 1997).

The produce market processes and distributes over 3.3

billion pounds of fruit and vegetables per year (Press 2008).
Forklifts run 24 hours a day, unloading produce from truck, rail
and air cargo. The terminal is well known for the wide variety
of items it distributes, due in large part to its proximity to New 3.07 Stevedores unload trucks packed with produce boxes before the sun rises.

York’s 15 million inhabitants.

Like most wholesale markets, the New York Terminal Market

and Hunts Point complex operate a tight security network and are
not open to the public. However, a recent move by the former
Bronx Terminal Market vendors to the Hunts Point Distribution
Centre has led to an overhaul of the market’s logistics. The
Bronx vendors, mainly local and regional farmers, felt negative
business-related impacts of moving from a small-scale operation
to the massive Hunts Point location without the support of their
regular buyers who were intimidated by the larger market (Keh
2009). Consequently, a new initiative called The Greenmarket
has been established, opening up the distribution centre Monday

3.08 Produce is shipped around the site with electric forklifts at Hunt’s Point

48
 N through Saturday to serve small-scale buyers, such as restaurants,
schools and bodegas, and also to serve the public (Grow NYC
2010). A large part of the Greenmarket’s function is to facilitate
business between wholesale buyers and small- to medium-scale
local growers (Grow NYC 2010). This market model suggests
the potential to bring diverse stakeholders together, and combine
large-scale wholesale with retail in one location.

Though this initiative intended to promote local producers

and vendors, its opening hours, which consist of early mornings six
days per week, clearly cater to wholesale buyers. The opportunity
to create a vibrant public market has been lost. A simple solution
3.09 Context Plan 1:15000 Market to attract more consumers would be to open during the day on
Rail/Subway
weekends when the site’s wholesale market is closed.
Major Highway
Water

OPEN HOURS ANNUAL VOLUME

of Produce
S M T W T F S
12am 1500 15.0
10
8 1250 12.5
6
4 1000 10.0
2
12pm 750 7.5
10
8 500 5.0
6
4 250 2.5
2
12am 1 mil $1 bil
tonnes

3.10 Open Hours and Economic Information

49
TSUKIJI FISH MARKET, TOKYO

“A kitchen for 12 million people in Tokyo.”

Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo – the world’s largest fish market

– has become a landmark for fishermen, wholesalers, retailers,
sushi chefs and foreign tourists alike. The spectacle generated by
its tuna auction, coupled with the global popularity of sushi and
Japanese cuisine, has made it a popular destination in the city. The
facility is organized into two rings, a wholesale market in the inner
circle and a retail market and shops in the outer circle.

Shaped by its cultural traditions, the vendors, stevedores

and auctioneers of today’s market are descendents of the first
fishmongers who established the market, passing down ownership
through generations. Their level of expertise brings legitimacy
to the marketplace and their reputation for the best quality and 3.11 Workers drive fish shipments around Tsukiji on small electric vehicles and forklifts.
service in the business, along with the market’s efficient operating
system, has proven Tsukiji to be a leader in the distribution of
seafood products.

Tsukiji Fish Market is truly a global business; truck, air and

marine shipments are received from all over the world. Forklifts
and carts distribute products around the floor of the market. The
market maintains strict temperature controls over fish storage areas
for food safety reasons. Any fluctuations require that produce be
disposed of, and the market management often threatens to bar
the public if they feel sanitation or trading operations are being
comprised. Sprinkler trucks clean the market areas daily after
auction and Styrofoam containers are recycled. ( Tsukiji Market

3.12 Buyers inspect the ends of gigantic tuna for quality before the start of auction.

50
 N Association 1999) The market is able to exist in downtown Tokyo
because of these strict sanitary operations.

However, Tsukiji’s future is unknown. Japan’s modernisation

has threatened the market, as more consumers shop at large
corporate grocers. From the 1930’s until recently, the fish market
supplied the majority of sushi-grade tuna to Japan and the rest of
the world. Today it accounts for only 11 percent (Whipp 2005).
Large grocery corporations, who were once big buyers at Tsukiji,
have started to obtain their products directly from the source,
employing a more westernized approach to food distribution in
the attempt to streamline their operations (Whipp 2005).
3.13 Context Plan 1:15000 Market
Rail/Subway Yet the market continues to persevere, capitalizing on the
Major Highway popularity of Japanese cuisine, the markets stellar reputation and
Water
its nostalgic heritage to retain workers and draw in tourists. It
OPEN HOURS ANNUAL VOLUME is these tourists, along with the small-scale buyers who ring the
of Produce outer circle and populate small restaurants across the city, who are
S M T W T F S
12am 1500 15.0 now leading the future of Tsukiji. Its reputation as a purveyor of
10 the highest quality tuna will also keep global buyers vying for its
8 1250 12.5

6 products.
4 1000 10.0

2
12pm 750 7.5

10
8 500 5.0

6
4 250 2.5

2
12am 1 mil $1 bil
tonnes
Closed every 2nd & 4th
Wednesday of the month
3.14 Open Hours and Economic Information

51
PUBLIC MARKETS

Modern retail food markets are often the last vestiges of former wholesale markets that remain
in the city centre. When wholesale markets decentralized and relocated in more suburban areas, the
buildings left behind were frequently transformed into retail food markets. Of course not all of these
were as lucky – one only has to look at the demolished grandiose spaces of Marche Les Halles in Paris,
which were replaced with an uninspired modern shopping centre. The characteristics of those markets
that have survived vary widely from city to city. Borough Market in London, for example, still has a
small number of wholesale tenants that serve local grocers. However, the majority of vendors are local
artisanal producers. As such, the market building has dual operations and is occupied almost 24 hours
per day.

The dual markets at St. Lawrence in Toronto are prime examples of the two key types of
food markets found in most western cities. One is the farmers’ market, ideologically rooted in local
agricultural production and connecting the consumer to the producer directly. The other market type
is based on artisanal production, with retailers that do not necessarily source local food, but rather the
highest quality possible. Though both cater to specific (often similar) demographics, their objectives
are different.

These markets range not only in use but also in formality. Farmers’ markets are often set up
3.15 Public markets, like Paris’ Les Halles, were the primary
in temporary spaces such as parking lots. ‘Stalls’ are typically tables, sometimes with an awning or source of fresh food for consumers before refrigeration and modern
tent structure covering. More formal farmers’ markets have dedicated buildings, such as Jean Talons grocery stores were invented.

Market in Montréal. Not only is the building used specifically for the farmers’ market operations but its
architecture has been modified to aid its function. Panels on the sides of the building open and close to
navigate the seasons. The most formal markets, like Santa Caterina in Barcelona, can be show-stopping
buildings, often with millions of dollars spent on facilities meant to draw in consumers.

In these formal retail markets the logistics that encompass delivery, sanitation and clean-up are
often hidden from customers. In this regard it is similar to the supermarket, as vendors assume that

52
customers are not interested in seeing the logistics associated with food distribution. Even at less
formal farmers’ markets, it is common practice for trucks to unload their produce and park off-site.

Public markets are a vital alternative to chain grocers, bringing genuine artisanal food to the heart
of the city. They are constantly evolving, as both seasons fluctuate and consumers become savvier.
Carolyn Steel describes the marketplace as a ‘…manifestation of our overwhelming disconnection
with food…’ (Steel 2008, 111). It is in these vibrant places that the products take precedence over
convenience and cost. Here the consumer becomes aware of the disconnect that has occurred between
people and the provenance of what they eat.

53
ST. LAWRENCE MARKET, TORONTO

St. Lawrence Market is not only Toronto’s oldest retail

food market, but also its most popular and vibrant. The two
components to St Lawrence – the daily South Market and the
weekly North Market – cater to specific niches of clientele in the
city. The South Market, with established vendors, is associated
more with an upscale boutique than a collection of farmer stalls.
The vendors there are mainly artisanal producers who have been
part of the market for generations and, as such, are intrinsic to
the culture of the place. It is a popular destination, not only
on weekends but also during the week. Many downtown office
workers visit the market for its well-known lunch options. The
building itself, though old, has a lot of character, reminiscent of
traditional European markets like Les Halles or Borough Market,
with soaring interior volumes and classic architectural elements.
3.16 The loading docks at St Lawrence Market, located on the south end of the building, front directly onto urban streets.

The North Market, a weekly farmers’ market, is more

utilitarian. The 1960’s construction is more evocative of a barn
structure than a market. Perhaps it was a deliberate design as it
was built to house a farmers’ market. The stalls are makeshift,
essentially folding tables laid out with produce. The market hosts
a diverse range of produce items, from fresh-picked strawberries
and tomatoes to artisanal olive oils, jams and baked goods. A
few local dairy and meat producers also sell their homemade
cheese and meat products. The food there is local, though often
supplemented in the winter months.

3.17 The floor of the North market building gets hosed down after hours. Due to extremely limited exterior loading space
at the North market vehicles are able to pull directly into the building to load large equipment.

54
 N Though St. Lawrence is a popular destination on Saturday
mornings when the farmers’ market is in full operation, the North
building sits empty for the majority of the week. The South
Market’s weekday hours also make it inconvenient for the city-
dwelling professionals who prefer to do their grocery shopping
after work. The lack of parking provided on and around the site
also limits the number of daily shoppers at the market.

3.18 Context Plan 1:15000 Market

Rail/Subway
Major Highway
Water

OPEN HOURS
S M T W T F S
12am
10
8
6
4
2
12pm
10
8
6
4
2
12am
Retail Hours
Farmers’ Market Hours
3.19 Open Hours

55
BOROUGH MARKET, LONDON

Borough Market is an icon within the city of London.

It was informally established during the thirteenth century as
a gathering place for rural farmers to sell their products. The
market’s advantageous location underneath London Bridge
allowed traders to sell their produce to both North and South
Londoners, eventually moving to its current site on the Borough
High Street.

Today the market has become a ‘haven for anybody who

cares about the quality and provenance of the food they eat…’
(Borough Market 2009) operating both a thriving retail food
market and small-scale wholesale market. The wholesale market
operates at night, supplying London’s grocers and restaurants
with the highest quality fruit and vegetables. By the time the retail 3.20 The wholesale market of the night makes way for the farmers’ market of Boroughs day.
market opens, wholesale functions have packed and cleaned up.
In this sense, it is a rare example of a market that embraces both
retail and wholesale functions.

Borough caters to a specific demographic of food-cultured

individuals, both local and foreign, who are interested in the wide
variety of artisanal products sold there. Though there are a few
fruit and vegetable stalls, the majority of vendors are specialty
producers who focus on creating specific products that are the best
available. Eager to share their extensive knowledge of ingredients,
many of the 160 vendors are producers themselves. As such, they
are able to create a relationship between the food they produce
and their customers. The market also ensures that food products

3.21 In the deliveries area, a stevedore on a forklift whizzes around moving pallets of produce.

56
 N found there are of the highest standard by employing a panel of
impartial food quality experts (Borough Market 2009).

Borough Market’s major success comes from the fact that,

despite being located in a marginal urban condition, tucked under
rail lines and a subway station, it has revitalized the surrounding
neighbourhood at the same time as maintaining the livelihoods
of genuine food trade professionals. It is a place to learn about
unique food products that are specific to regions of the country
from producers who are passionate about what they produce.

3.22 Context Plan 1:15000 Market

Rail/Subway
Major Highway
Water

OPEN HOURS
S M T W T F S
12am
10
8
6
4
2
12pm
10
8
6
4
2
12am
Retail Hours
Wholesale Hours

3.23 Open Hours

57
MERCAT SANTA CATERINA, BARCELONA

Barcelona’s Santa Caterina Market was established in 1845

and renovated by EMBT Architects in 2004 (Mercat de Santa
Caterina 2004). It is located in an incredibly dense area of the
city and surrounded by a mixed group of residential buildings,
commercial storefronts and offices. Not only is the new market
building an icon within the city, but ‘the reconstruction of the
Santa Caterina Market - and the architect’s related urban renewal
plan for the streets around it - bring life and light into one of the
worst slums of Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter.’ (Cohn 2006)

In the new market, interior spaces are congruous with

their surroundings. A piazza in front of the market leads visitors
inside, pavers continued from the exterior bring the outside in and
the colourful, undulating tiled roof is reminiscent of a produce
stand. Soaring interior volumes mimic the grandiose ideals of 3.24 The iconic roof of Mercat Santa Caterina extends out to a public piazza where city residents meet to enjoy the scenery.

the piazza, creating a heightened sense of importance. It is no

doubt that Santa Caterina is one of the world’s more showy retail
food markets. Everything about it hints at carefully executed,
contemporary architecture

You would be hard pressed to find an article written about

the market’s food over its architecture, yet sixty market stalls house
a variety of food-related products, mixing retail programme with
cafés, restaurants and a supermarket (Cohn 2006). During the
most recent renovation, modern systems were put in place to deal
with product deliveries, processing and clean up efficiently though
the urban location continues to make manoeuvring large delivery
trucks through narrow streets challenging.

3.25 In contrast, the back end of the market is all business, where the essentail activities needed to run the market occur.
In this alley the daily deliveries arrive and waste is disposed of.

58
 N Santa Caterina fails in one major respect in that the market
seems to be more about the experience than the food. While its
architecture may personify beauty and function, there is very little
publicized about the actual products that the market carries aside
from its restaurant scene. Though it has a long history of selling
food, it seems as if Santa Caterina may be a highly publicized
tourist trap instead of a genuine food market in the city. Luckily
other markets in the city, like La Boqueria, can fill the need for
authentic market culture in Barcelona.

3.26 Context Plan 1:15000 Market

Rail/Subway
Major Highway
Water

OPEN HOURS
S M T W T F S
12am
10
8
6
4
2
12pm
10
8
6
4
2
12am
In July, the market is open on Fridays only. In
August, it is open only in the morning.

3.27 Open Hours

59
JEAN-TALON MARKET, MONTREAL

“Every day of the year, country and city meet.”

Marché Jean-Talon, Montréal’s largest fresh food market,

has played a vital role in shaping the surrounding neighbourhood
since 1932 when it opened in the newly formed Little Italy
district (Montreal’s Public Markets n.d.) (Lazar 2003, 215). It is
predominantly a farmers’ market known for the diverse range
of fruit, vegetables and other food products that vendors sell.
Almost all of the food sold at Jean-Talon comes from regional
suppliers, who cater not only to the Italian influences of the area,
but also provide ethnic products to the varied population of the
city (Lazar 2003, 215).

Jean-Talon is a unique building that has hybridized itself 3.28 Farmers stalls overflow from interior to exterior at Jean-Talon Market during the summer months. In the winter,
walls enclose the building.
over the years, converting from an open-air marketplace into a
closed market during the winter months with the use of large
panels that wall in the space (Living in Montreal 2008). This works
in the favour of the market, as its size fluctuates seasonally and,
in the summer months, there can be up to three hundred vendors
selling fresh food products, speciality foods and pre-made meals.

The success of the market became a focal point for

development in the neighbourhood and the area directly
surrounding the market is known for its speciality food shops,
bakeries, cafés and restaurants, also mainly of Italian influence.
Jean-Talon has helped define the character of the area and is
simultaneously, “’an intimate part of the neighbourhood and a
landmark known throughout the region.’ (Project for Public
Spaces n.d.) 3.29 An aerial view of Jean Talon Market from 1977 shows its prominent location in the centre of a city block.

60
 N The market’s location in a highly urban area poses challenges.
It is a constant struggle to manoeuvre large trucks in and out of the
site and, as a result, the majority of local producers and vendors
are forced to bring smaller loads. The area is also completely
off-limits to vehicles on weekends during the summer, posing a
problem for wholesalers trying to buy large quantities from the
market and surrounding stores (CBC News 2006). However, as a
proven successful economic and social generator, not only for the
neighbourhood but also the city and local agricultural region, it is
likely that Jean-Talon will remain a thriving space within Montréal.

3.30 Context Plan 1:15000 Market

Rail/Subway
Major Highway
Water

OPEN HOURS
S M T W T F S
12am
10
8
6
4
2
12pm
10
8
6
4
2
12am

3.31 Open Hours

61
PRECEDENT TAKEAWAYS

These seven wholesale and retail markets are not merely interesting places to explore. Each
reveals different aspects of distribution and retail relationships with the city, its patrons and the products
that pass through them. The variety of relationships created give each market unique character and
experience. For example, while they are both wholesale entities, Rungis market and Tsukiji have very
different and distinct relationships with their users and the surrounding city. Each of them is site-
specific and plays a vital role in the local economy.

Though the roles of wholesale and retail food markets appear unique on the surface, their
differences are essentially a matter of scale and timing. Both strive to provide good quality fresh
food products to consumers at an affordable price, yet the volume of flow and pace of movement are
dramatically different. Wholesale markets are highly regulated places of exchange, working at a rapid
pace to ensure a consistent food supply for millions of people each day while retail markets move at a
decidedly slower speed, encouraging consumers to linger and learn about their food.

Infrastructure too is a point of differentiation between the two types of markets. Retail markets,
though frequently housed in large and often celebratory architectural buildings, are more organic in
nature and allow for size fluctuations caused by seasonal shifts and other factors. Wholesale markets,
though somewhat dependent on seasonally fluctuation, have a much greater network of suppliers and
buyers and therefore more permanent infrastructure. They also tend to have a greater number of
complimentary systems at work: wholesale sites typically include recycling facilities, compost systems,
cold/dry storage and amenities for employees.

There is an almost romantic quality to shopping at food markets, meandering from stall to stall
and stopping to make conversations. This applies to both wholesale and retail markets, though the
two operate very differently. The appeal of retail markets lies in the ability to ask questions about the
products that they purchase directly from the producer. Their informal quality makes the shopping

62
experience unique from other retail outlets. Wholesale markets are highly regulated warehouses that are
all business, all the time, yet there is a sense of pride and kinship among the employees that make going
there an enjoyable experience.

Yet there are potential efficiencies in combining retail and wholesale markets, from both the
perspective of the farmer and consumer. Like St. Lawrence Market, both a retail and farmers market,
the objectives of two market types could be combined to attract a wide variety of consumers and
wholesalers to one site.

Newer market examples, like the New York’s Greenmarket, can be seen as role models for my
thesis proposal, which looks at the opportunities available in creating a multi-functional market hub that
takes advantage of wholesale quantities, quality and choice and retail convenience and costs to benefit
both the producer and consumer in the system.

3.32 On weekdays shoppers at St Lawrence Market are able to easily navigate the aisles. However on the weekend these
aisles are so packed with people shopping that it takes almost 30 minutes to get from one end to the other.

63
 PART FOUR: ANALYSING THE
ONTARIO FOOD TERMINAL

“Who are they, the people of Toronto, who

consume all of this food?” Lister, 2008

65
SHIFTING BOUNDARIES OF THE CITY

The Ontario Food Terminal is located in Etobicoke, an

area of the city that was considered peripheral to Toronto until
1998 when the former municipality amalgamated with it (City of
Toronto n.d.). Originally developed as a bedroom community
to house Toronto’s working class citizens in single-family homes,
the region has started to experience an influx of high-rise
condominium development and commercial revitalization. This
has resulted in more urban conditions and population diversity,
particularly along Lake Ontario and the Gardiner Expressway.

South Etobicoke continues to be a mix of residential and

industrial uses, with mainly affluent, high-value properties thanks
to its waterfront location and proximity to the city. Coupled with
its lack of adequate public transportation and dependence on
vehicles, the neighbourhood is in flux as it struggles to shake its
suburban community image.

The region is also an important food cluster for the

province and country, with a large quantity of food and beverage
manufacturing facilities situated in proximity to the Terminal.
The creation of a defining public market building would bring
awareness to this vital industry and generate an identity for the
neighbourhood as Toronto’s defining food region.

4.01 The neighbourhoods directly surrounding the Ontario Food Terminal

are Stonegate-Queensway and Mimico with a combined population of
113 880. See Appendix B for additional information regarding the
neighbourhoods.

66
 .
in
m
10

St. Lawrence Market

4.02 Approximately 30,000 people live within walking distance of the Ontario
Food Terminal. Almost half of the city lives within acceptable driving distance.

67
Transportation Networks

75 hrs

90

40 35
95
72 hrs 75

48 hrs

67 hrs

Major Routes

Minor Routes

4.03 Major highway networks connect the Terminal to important growing regions
across North America in order to navigate the seasons of different growing climates
and provide fresh food products year around.

68
 “All farm products get trucked at least part
of the way to market.” Farming in Canada

PEDESTRIAN

FORKLIFT

CAR

PICKUP TRUCK

PANEL VAN

Major Highways

Minor Highways STRAIGHT BODY TRUCK

GO Transit Line

Border Crossing Point

The Greenbelt

Concentration of Farms
TRACTOR TRAILER
4.04 Ontario’s major highways, connecting to Canada’s east and west provinces and
the United States, converge at the point where the Ontario Food Terminal lies. Minor
highways connect these routes to the provinces major growing regions. SCALES OF INTERMODAL TRANSPORTATION
69
 4.05 The Ontario Food Terminal site is surrounded by single family homes,
condominiums, a few industrial sites and a few clusters of retail/commercial
programme

Residential

Commercial

Industrial

Public Green Space

TTC Streetcar

4.06 The Ontario Food Terminal is located in Canada’s largest and most vital food
cluster, surrounded by multiple other food and beverage companies. Yet the dispersal
of supermarkets, speciality food, convenience, and other food related stores selling fresh
food products (as opposed to restaurants) in the area surrounding the Terminal is
meagre. The number selling local products is even less plentiful.

Supermarket

Speciality Food Store (bakery, butcher, etc.)

Convenience Store (selling food items)

Other Food-Related Store

70
 The Ontario Food Terminal Site

The Queensway Gardiner Expressway

Park Lawn Road

Lake Ontario

To Hwy 427 GO Train Line 400 Series Highway

Major Street
Rail/Subway
Ontario Food Terminal Site
Fig. 4.07 Water

71
 BUYER ENTRIES AT THE ONTARIO FOOD TERMINAL OPEN HOURS ANNUAL VOLUME
of Produce

350,000 S M T W T F S
12am 1500 15.0
340,000
10
330,000 8 1250 12.5

6
ENTRIES PER YEAR

320,000
4 1000 10.0
310,000 2
12pm 750 7.5
300,000
AVERAGE 10
290,000 8 500 5.0

6
280,000
4 250 2.5
270,000 2
12am 1 mil $1 bil
260,000
tonnes
Farmers Market
250,000
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 open May-Oct.

4.08 Fewer buyer entries in recent years may indicate that small businesses are closing or being 4.09 The Ontario Food Terminal is an important economic generator for the city and region,
taken over by larger enterprises. Alternatively, independent grocers may be sourcing food from local bringing in over $2 billon per year. Extended economic benefits are much greater. The Terminal
producers without going through the terminal due to the recent interest for local goods by consumers. handles a large amount of food for its size in comparison to other wholesale terminals.

TRUCK DELIVERIES TO WHOLESALERS AT THE OFT ANNUAL VOLUME OF PRODUCE

40000 1,000,000

PEAKS AT 37,700

35000 950,000
TONNES PER YEAR
TRUCKS PER YEAR

AVERAGE

30000 900,000

25000 850,000

20000 800,000
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

4.10 - 4.11 A dip in truck deliveries (and buyer entries) at the Ontario Food Terminal in
recent years may be an indication of growth for chain retailers who have their own logistics and
distribution network. The annual volume of produce, however, has not dropped as drastically,
potentially indicating that fewer trucks deliver more produce.

72
 THE STOCK EXCHANGE FOR FRESH PRODUCE

The Ontario Food Terminal is Canada’s largest wholesale food distribution centre, a ‘stock
exchange for fresh produce’. With 22 warehouse tenants and 550 farmers’ market stalls. It is ideally
located, less than ten kilometres from the city centre, at the crux of the province’s main transportation
routes. The major highway infrastructure comprised of the Gardiner Expressway, Highway 427 and
Highway 401 connects the Terminal to popular agricultural regions in southern Ontario, the United
States and Mexico. Pearson International Airport is only a few kilometres away.

Each aspect of the facility is thoroughly controlled and standardized (Belanger 2008). Food is
inspected on the way to, and sometimes also at, the Terminal. Transport trucks, vans, forklifts and
carts – in a perpetual state of loading and unloading – travel in harmony on regulated circulation routes.
The infrastructure has been stripped down to its essentials: buildings are meant for food storage and
flat surfaces for circulation.
4.12 The gate at the Ontario Food Terminal is monitored 24 hours a day
to prevent non-terminal employees from entering the premises. Everything at the terminal moves in a circular loop system. Nothing is wasted; everything flows
back into the system. Food packaging is recycled, unsold food is donated to local food banks, wood
pallets are reused and the sludge from the floor is composted (Belanger 2008).

Buying at the Ontario Food Terminal starts long before sunrise, around 2:00 am, and usually
winds down around 10:00 am. By 11:00 am, almost all of the farmers have packed up and returned
home to resume farm duties. Jobbers (terminal employees) cart the last boxes of merchandise out
to trucks; maintenance crew’s hose down common areas and wholesalers unload trucks for the next
morning’s market.

Though there is no doubt that the Ontario Food Terminal is a fascinating place to visit (if
you are able to get inside the gates), there are also many opportunities that can be capitalized on by
combining retail and wholesale functions both from the perspective of consumers and farmers. From
the farmers’ perspective, less time spent travelling between markets means more time in the fields.

4.13 The Farmers’ Market operating under a parking deck, which is

plagued with deficiencies and constantly in need of repair. Motorized
forklifts make deliveries to buyers trucks.

73
A larger consumer base and more exposure would also increase
quantities and profits, allowing them to reinvest money into their
businesses to become more efficient. For consumers a market
hub means being able to understand the cycle of their food, cost
savings, and increased variety.

Creating a market hub gives the possibility for gains in

efficiency; reducing the number of intersections that food must
travel through results in fresher goods. In economic terms, costs
would be reduced as food passes through fewer hands. A market
hub would be an ideal location for food-related organizations such
as CSA’s, food banks and agricultural promotion programmes.

Some of the most interesting moments within the terminal

lie in the parts that get revealed to the consumer through their 4.14 At the Ontario Food Terminal, pedestrian and vehicular paths are clearly delineated (and separated) with signage,
interaction with the site; the routines of the buyers, the language painted lines, guardrails and walls to keep traffic flowing properly.

of the trade, and the virtual obscurity of the industry are a few
examples. Like the milk storage room that consumers catch a
glimpse of in between the blue cartons in the supermarket, the
Ontario Food Terminal holds a level of appeal simply because
it is off limits. Opening to the public would allow the Terminal
to become Toronto’s Western counterpoint to the celebrated St.
Lawrence market.

4.15 A parking lot handles overflow from the wholesale farmers’ market during the height of the agricultural season.
Farmers display their products on metal carts to maximize prime floor space. The remainder of produce is stored in the
back of their trucks.

74
4.18 In tenant units produce is displayed in rows of neatly stacked boxes. Because this food is transported from all over 4.17 A communal loading dock maximizes efficiency by working double duty: during market hours buyers can load their
the world it is packed into cases. Most tenants specialize their products, so that one will carry tropical fruits while another purchases and wholesalers can unload produce in off-hours. They also free up precious tenant floor space for product storage
will stock solely Canadian products. Buyers know who carries what and plan their trips to the Terminal accordingly. and office operations. Forklifts and motorized carts, used to deliver produce to and from trucks, are shared amenities.

4.16 Lower level storage in tenant units are accessed by private elevator. Being below ground helps regulate temperature, as 4.19 If it is beyond the point of donation to food banks, spoiled produce is dumped into the on-site composter. An effort
does the material choice - concrete block and poured concrete construction. is made to reduce the amount of garbage generated through the terminal by composting, recycling, or reusing as much as
possible.

75
4.20 Existing interior road conditions within the main Terminal building accommodate small motorized carts 4.21 A common exterior path links the tenant units of the main Terminal building. Signage and barriers
and forklifts on the left and right sides. A central path for pedestrians is marked with guardrails. indicate travel paths for those who are unfamiliar with the Terminal’s layout.

Fig. 4.22 Site Programme

0 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 24:00 hours Activity

Wholesale Market Receiving

Processing
Wholesale Selling
Farmers’ Market Set Up
Wholesale Market Hours

Loading
Combined Functions Storing
Clean Up
Hose Down
Recycle
Compost
Break Down Garbage
Business & Site Management and Office Tenants - Wholesale Terminal
Administration

Operational
Public

76
 Anatomy of the Ontario Food Terminal Site

Interior Circulation
Interior circulation and parking comprises 61% of the Ontario Food

Terminal site. Two distinct loops separate the wholesale and farmers market.
Farmers
Wholesale Tenants

Infrastructure
The site’s buildings comprise 24% of the site’s surface area. They are

mainly utilitarian structures designed for the practicalities and efficiencies demanded

by the food distribution industry.

Site Boundary
The Ontario Food Terminal site is 182 385m 2 (40 acres), and has been
at capacity since the 1960’s. On two sides it is bounded by local roads. One side is

bound by the Gardiner Expressway, and the fourth side is bound by a retail plaza

containing a pharmacy, bank, some stores and a supermarket.

Entering and Exiting

Entering and exiting the site from adjacent major highways and arterial

roads is a smooth process thanks to its prime location.

From the East
From the West

Fig. 4.23

77
Components of the Ontario Food Terminal

2
eensway
Th e Qu
3
9

5 4

6 (At Grade)
y
re sswa
er Exp
7 Gardin
8
Parklawn Road

1. Entrance 7. Farmers Market Spillover

2. Visitor Parking 8. Terminal Exit
3. Wholesale Market 9. Maintenance Buildings
4. Buyers Court
5. Parking Deck
6. Wholesale Farmers Market
(at Grade)
Fig. 4.24 The Ontario Food Terminal site has an ad hoc groupings of buildings scattered around that do not
take full advantage of the site’s geometry. The buildings themselves are basic industrial structures.

78
The Wholesale Terminal

2
1 3 7 2
4
6
5
9
8

10 9
8

1. Visitor Entrance 7. Cold Storage Facilities

2. Loading Docks 8. Tenant Units - Large
3. Recycling Facility 9. Office Tenants (Upper Level)
4. Restaurant 10. Buyers Court
5. Administrative Offices
6. Tenant Units - Small

Fig. 4.25 The Wholesale Terminal is a U-shaped building with two arms that extend to form a courtyard
called the Buyers Court. It is here that the main exchange occurs between wholesale tenants and local buyers.
The building also houses the Terminals’ administration offices, tenant offices, a small cafe, cold storage and
recycling facilities.

79
Single Tenant Unit at the Ontario Food Terminal

Office

Goods

Tenant Store Receiving

Display Space

Commo
n Cor rid
or

Storage

Path of Goods
Path of Buyer
Vertical/Horizontal Circulation
Product Resting Period

Fig. 4.26 Each tenant unit at the Ontario Food Terminal has its own docking area, storage unit, storefront
and office which are linked to one another through a exterior promenade and subterranean corridor. This
diagram depicts a typical path of travel for food products from truck delivery through to buyer pickup, stop-
ping momentarily in storage.

80
Wholesale Distribution Typologies

Single-Loaded Corridor

Receive — Ship

Single-Loaded Corridor

Receive — Store — Ship

Double-Loaded Corridor

Receive — Ship
Goods
Buyers Path
Fig. 4.27 Diagrammatic Study of Wholesale Distribution Types indicating path of travel of goods and Solid lines represent exterior
buyers. Most distribution facilities are either single and double loaded buildings. travel paths, while dashed lines
represent interior travel paths.

81
Preserving the Cold Chain

The 80,000 square foot cold storage facility at the Ontario

Food Terminal is available to Terminal tenants, buyers, and
individuals looking to store produce for extended periods. The
temperature of each room is electronically monitored by the
Terminal administration, who are able to respond to fluctuations
(and possible spoilage) quickly.

An essential component of the Terminal, the storage facility

allows momentum to continue unhindered on the site when
large shipments come in that are unable to be accommodated
elsewhere. These facilities also provide a small food reserve in
the instance that shipments are delayed or unable to make it to
the Terminal on time.
4.28 Inside a tenant’s tropical fruit store. The wood panelling not only brings an aesthetic quality but also regulates
As the Terminal expands, it will become necessary for the temperature, which is held above average due to the nature of its contents.

cold storage facility to increase as well. It is a vital component

of not only the market’s operations but also the city’s, providing
infrastructure necessary for small to medium sized businesses that
have limited storage and handling capacity to function efficiently
in a cost-effective manner.

4.29 Each room within the cold storage facility is regulated by a sophisticated computer monitoring system to maintain
consistent temperatures. The floor is marked with numbers so that tenants can find their goods.

82
Preserving the Cold Chain

Fig. 4.30 Each tenant unit at the Ontario Food Terminal regulates temperature separately depending on the
needs of the produce they stock. The storage rental spaces are regulated at varying temperatures to accommodate 0o Celcius (32o F)
products that require various optimum storage temperatures. Most are between 32 and 42 degrees Fahrenheit. 6o Celcius (42 o F)
For example, tropical fruits like bananas and pineapples are ideally stored at 52 o F, while potatoes and onions
11o Celcius (52o F)
are ideal at 32-38 o F.

83
 PART FIVE: DESIGN PROPOSAL

“The challenge... is to figure out how to

feed the majority of Canadians, who live
far away from the fields.” Elton, 2010

85
Fig. 5.01 The re-designed Ontario Food Terminal engages the previously-neglected Queensway street front.

86
 The Ontario Food Terminal, along with Southern Ontario’s rich agricultural history, can be
credited as the foundation that has driven Toronto’s diverse and plentiful independent food industry.
The following design proposal re-imagines the future of the Ontario Food Terminal as a dynamic place
of interaction among a diverse group of users. It is as an organism of local and global food distribution
that acknowledges the benefits of interweaving multiple systems to create a progressive model for
future food distribution.

The Terminal’s current objectives, supplying competitive food products to the city’s myriad
independent and small-scale grocers, can be built upon to respond to consumers desire for locally
sourced food products and creating transparency in the distribution chain.

87
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Toronto’s rapid population expansion and lack of year- Buildings Removed and Added

round farmer’s markets will continue to place stress on the city’s

food system. As the city’s population grows, the terminal is set to
come under increasing pressure to expand to meet the demands
of the grocers who depend on wholesale foodstuffs to survive.
This design seeks to accommodate expansion in a comprehensive
and sensitive manner, while at the same time adding another layer
of programme that the city lacks – that of an easily accessible,
year-round farmer’s market for city residents. Simultaneously,
the re-envisioned terminal will provide residents with the food
products they demand and expose them to the inner-workings of
the complex distribution systems that surround them.

Though it has been paramount to the success and diversity

of Toronto’s food culture, the Ontario Food Terminal misses
opportunities that have the potential to make it more dynamic
5.02 The new design utilizes the space encircling the main exchange building of the Ontario Food Terminal, re-
and lucrative. One of these major shortcomings lies in the routing circulation patterns to flow from east to west and separate the private and public functions of the site.
infrastructure provided for local farmers, who presently use the
Removed Buildings
understory of a parking garage as a marketplace. The parking
Added Buildings
deck is plagued with repairs, and farmers operate without the
requisite docking and utility infrastructure that would allow them
to function more efficiently and feel like an integral component
of the terminals’ operations. Part of the design strategy sees Circulation paths have also been tightened in the new strategy. Removing the storage facility
the removal of this parking structure, replacing it with a new from the main wholesale building permits traffic to flow in a tighter route. It is replaced with a new
wholesale farmers market building on the south side of the site building on the east side of the site with expanded cooling facilities, additional wholesale tenant units
that provides infrastructure for farmers to operate efficiently. and composting facilities.

88
Fig. 5.03 Programme Parti

PUBLIC ENTRANCE

WS ENTRANCE
SHOPPING EATING MEETING EATING COMPOSTING

RECEIVING
SH

RECYCLING ST
PROCESSING MANAGING
O
OP

RI
BUYING N
G
PIN

PROCESSING
G

TR
AN
PROCESSING SP
O
RT
AT
G IO

IN
N
RECEIVING
Y
BU
LOADING

BUYING BUYING

Programme Profile
Parking 250 Public Spots
In 1984 the Ontario Food Terminal Board developed a set
100 Spots in the Wholesale Facility
of nine cost centres within the Terminal’s operations. These cost 500 Spots in the Farmers Market
45 Spots elsewhere throughout the site
centres include short-term leaseholders, restaurants, cold storage,
Wholesale Farmers Market 500 Stalls
farmers’ market, tenant warehouses, road and gate, railway and
parking (Ontario Food Terminal Board 1997). Public Farmers Market 80,000 ft 2 has the capacity to hold 300 stalls

Food Boutiques/Vendors 75 units (for a total of 120,000 ft 2)

In the new design, the goal is not only to increase the
Wholesale Tenant Units 22 + 15 additional (for a total of 80,000 ft 2)
efficiency of the nine cost centres, but also to identify new
opportunities. A programme profile outlines the additions and Storage Facilities 100,000 ft 2

new components . Business Development/Office Space 300,000 ft 2 (inc. shared classrooms, meeting space and support services)

89
Fig. 5.04 Proposed Additional Programme to Fill the 24 Hour Cycle

0 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 24:00 hours Activity

Wholesale Market Receiving

Processing
Wholesale Selling
Farmers’ Market Set Up
Wholesale Market Hours
Public Market Hours
Loading
Combined Functions Storing
Clean Up
Hose Down
Recycle
Compost
Break Down Garbage
Business & Site Management and Office Tenants - Wholesale Terminal
Administration
Office Tenants - Business Development Centre
Food-based Programmes
Public Eating
Grab and Go
Casual
Sit Down
Educating
Compost Pickup

Operational Existing Functions Added Functions

Public Existing Functions Added Functions

90
Fig. 5.05 Diagrammatic Studies of Site Conditions

Public Programme Green Space

Wholesale Programme Entrances and Exits

Public
Wholesale
Compost Pickup

Overlapping Programmes Parking

Public Spots
Wholesale Spots

91
DESIGN APPROACH

Integrating the knowledge gained from the previous chapters, the redesigned Terminal strives
to create both local and regional outreach. For local residents, it is meant to be a consistent source of
food products from the surrounding agricultural lands and small-scale producers. For the Terminal’s
buyers, it provides an expanded resource of local products, knowledge and support. The redesign also
provides a common ground for local organizations that are seeking out like-minded individuals and
hope to integrate themselves within a larger group. On the regional level, the terminal provides stability
for farmers and a destination for those interested in food.

The expanded Terminal endeavours to create transparency within the distribution system by
integrating wholesale and retail functions on the same site and granting access to the public. The
new market complex is a stage for the amalgamation of local and global food distribution systems,
allowing both wholesale and retail buyers to purchase directly from local producers. Conceiving a
multi-functional market hub that takes advantage of wholesale quantities, quality and choice and retail
convenience and costs to benefit both the producer and consumer in the system.

The terminal redesign also invigorates the Queensway, a neglected transportation corridor lacking
street presence, with additional retail and commercial programme. Wide pedestrian-friendly sidewalks,
attractive signage and an appealing façade create an engaging entrance to the Ontario Food Terminal
site.

Yet the new market is not solely about the added public components. Above all else, the new
terminal is an amplified place of exchange for all cycles of food. It builds on the current infrastructure
with the addition of a permanent wholesale farmers market, communal office facilities, and additional
commercial and storage space, creating a dynamic place of food-related exchange. Composting facilities
deal with the sites waste, intertwining wholesale and public programme. Food groups with offices at
the Terminal are encouraged to develop relationships with each other, the wholesale and retail users,
and the neighbourhood to develop their policies, strategies and plans.

92
5.06 Birds Eye View of the Ontario Food Terminal Site

The thesis proposal takes advantage of the sites complex multi-modal programme as an operational landscape, creating multiple inhabitable

planes. For example, an agricultural landscape roof on the wholesale farmers’ market provides food for the retail market and acts as a learning garden.

As a public space, it links to adjacent public transportation facilities, and surrounding rivers and green space. Finally, the visible green roof also acts

as an advertisement for the Terminal, perceptible from the Gardiner Expressway and neighbouring condominiums.

93
ARCHITECTURAL EXPRESSION

The architectural language is focused on the articulation of

movement and convergence of multiple exchange courts. The
site is dominated by circulation; vehicular and pedestrian travel
use as much of the sites footprint as buildings do. A hierarchy
of roads filter the various transportation types. The public and
private routes are separated by subtle shifts in the ground plane
and distinct entrances.

The architecture is flexible, organic, pliable and elemental.

It is conceived of as an operative landscape, one that is constantly
in motion. Roof planes on the new buildings push and pull,
allowing light into the interior of the markets and commercial
spaces. Hard, semi-hard and soft material treatments further
5.07 Meydan Umraniye by Foreign Office Architects, a multi-use site similar in scale to the Ontario Food Terminal site,
differentiate the various programmes of the roof planes by were used as a precedent for the design. Multiple planes tilt and shift to address changes in height and create flow on the
site.
creating distinctive areas for agricultural production, seating, and
pedestrian occupation. This roof wrapper creates movement
across the expansive 40 acre site, acting as a moving device to
transport people and products from one level to another.

5.08 Other architectural precedents were transportation-based projects that deal with circulation flows and multiple
transportation types. They included Zaha Hadid’s Terminus Hoenheim, a transit station and car park in Strausburg,
France .

94
5.09 Ground Floor Plan, 1:2000

Wholesale Entrance
Public Entrance
8
5 6 7 9

1
p. 105
2

10
3 13

11
14
12

16
15
4

19
18

17

1. Public Market 8. Administration 15. Temporary Wholesale

2. Outdoor Promenade 9. Entrance Gates Parking
3. Public Parking 10. Wholesale Tenants 16. Train Station
4. Market Loading 11. Buyers Court 17. Wholesale Farmers Market
5. Business Development Centre 12. Administration 18. Retail Market Drop off
6. Education Facility 13. Cold Storage Facilities 19. Terminal Exit
7. Compost Pickup 14. Wholesale Tenants

95
5.10 Second Floor Plan, 1:2000

5
1
p. 105

2 6

1. Upper Public Farmers Market

2. Outdoor Public Farmers Market
3. Access to Ground Level
4. Ramp from Wholesale Farmers Market Drop off
5. Business Development Centre
6. Wholesale Office Tenants

96
5.11 Roof Plan, 1:2000

2 3

1. Skylight Roof
2. Business Centre Patio
3. Compost Facility
4. Ramp from Grade
5. Agriculture Learning Garden

97
 EXHIBITION
EXHIBI TION

Public Market Public Entrance Business Development Centre

See p.104

The Queensway Business Development Centre Wholesale Market - North Wing Buyers Court Wholesale Market - South Wing

98
Outdoor Space Compost Pickup Composting Garden Wholesale Entrance

5.12 North Elevation, 1:2000

5.13 Site Section, 1:1000

See p.106-107

Agricultural Learning Garden Wholesale Farmers Market Gardiner Expressway

99
CIRCULATION

5.14 Essential Circulation Paths

Public The site’s efficiency is dependant upon the flow of goods and vehicles. This diagram depicts the most common
Buyers circulation paths taken throughout the site for wholesalers, buyers, farmers and the public. Wholesale circulation
Wholesale Deliveries zones are separated from public circulation zones (in blue)by shifting ground planes.
Local Farmers
Compost Cycle Ground Upper Level
Solid lines indicate
horizontal movement (exterior
and interior). Dotted lines
indicate lateral movement.
Wholesale
Public

100
5.17 Circulation Routes of Specific Site Users

The Terminal Administrator

A terminal employee attends a meeting The Delivery Man
The Shopper in the business development centre A delivery for one of the Terminal’s
A consumer browses the food wholesale tenants from California is
boutiques and retail farmers The buyer then passes through the wholesale bound for Toronto’s grocers
terminal to pick up the remainder of his inventory
market at the terminal
The Composter
The CSA Employee A neighbourhood resident picks
Office space on the second level of up compost material harvested on
the business development centre the Terminal’s roof for his garden
house a local CSA programme

The Wholesaler
A tenant delivers a large shipment
of apples in the cold storage facilty

The Terminal Employee The wholesaler then unloads the

A forklift moves produce from a rest of his deliveries for the day
wholesaler into a buyers truck on the
other side of the buyers court
The Buyer The Farmer
Before returning to the farm, the farmer A local store owner visits the farmers A Niagara Region farmer bringing
drops off the remainder of produce to be market in search of local produce seasonal fruit to market
sold at the public market

101
 5.18 Perspective

5.19 Public Market Section, 1:200

Looking north into the public market courtyard.

102
 PUBLIC MARKETPLACE

The public market is envisioned as the western counterpoint

to downtown’s St Lawrence Market, an iconic marketplace for the
city, celebrating not only the diversity of Toronto and its residents
but also of the surrounding regions which are rich in agricultural
variety. Daily access to the best, most fresh food products is an
obvious advantage for establishing a new public market on the
existing Ontario Food Terminal site. Its location, in a newly
urbanizing part of the city, will draw a large number of residents
to the site.

The public marketplace is located on the northwest corner

of the site, space that was formerly occupied the inadequate
parking structure. It is a fusion of farmer’s market stalls and
artisanal shops, sourcing food from a plethora of sources. The

Public Parking Exterior Promenade and Seating Lower | Food Shops and Boutiques Parklawn Road
103 Upper | Public Farmers’ Co-op Market
ground floor space is comprised of local stalls, selling everything from honey produced on-site, to
regional artisans selling cured meats, cheeses, produce and preserves. The second floor, operating both
indoor and outdoor, is the Terminal’s farmer co-op. Farmers have the ability to drop off their products
and continue to the wholesale farmers market or operate an individual stall.

The market is accessed by vehicle through a separate entrance off of the Queensway. Street
entrances from the Queensway and Parklawn Road encourage local residents to enter the site. A ramp
connection to the agricultural roof is accessible from the outdoor market space. The unique shape of
the building forms a courtyard with a pedestrian promenade, outdoor seating, and parking facilitates.

104
5.20 Public Market Programme

0 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 24:00 hours Activity

Farmers’ Market Drop Off/Set Up

Public Market Hours 5.21 Public Market Elevation, 1:300
Clean Up & Hose Down
Break Down Garbage
Recycle & Compost
Eating

105
 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

Revitalization continues on The Queensway with the addition of a business development space. 5.22 Business Development Centre Programme

The building is meant to be an axis for creating new business opportunities, placing like-minded 8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 24:00 hours Activity

organizations in contact with one another and lowering operating costs for non-profit city services by Site Management
sharing amenities. Focus on food-related businesses has the opportunity to create new partnerships and Office Tenants
foster growth of the existing economic cluster. Food-based Programmes
Educating
The lower level contains a gallery for exhibitions, communal resource centre and meeting rooms,
a locally run café and classrooms. The two upper floors contain flexible space for office rentals,
communal meetings rooms and tech infrastructure, as well as shared outdoor space.

5.23 Business Centre Section, 1:300

The centre is also meant to act as a community space for the surrounding Etobicoke
neighbourhoods, who are encouraged to use the facility for meetings, events and exhibitions.

The Queensway Business Development Centre Lobby Exhibition Space Cafe Beyond Compost Loading Beyond Wholesale Market - North Wing
Offices Communal Meeting Space

106
5.24 Ground Floor, 1:1000

1 1

6
2 3 4

5.25 Second Floor, 1:1000

8 9 7
7 10 7

5.26 Third Floor, 1:750

10
8 11
7 9

Tenants of the Business Development Centre range from food policy groups and 1. Lobby 7. Office Rental Space
CSA’s to farmers looking to expand their businesses. Common areas are designed 2. Gallery & Exhibition Space 8. Shared Meeting Facilities
to promote interaction amongst the tenants, continuing the theme of the new 3. Shared Meeting Facilities 9. Communal Space
Terminal as an expanded place of exchange. 4. Loading and Storage 10. Maintenance and Tech
5. Cafe 11. Patio
Common Areas
6. Classrooms

107
108
 WHOLESALE FARMERS MARKET

Due to Southern Ontario’s extreme climate, the wholesale

farmers market capacity fluctuates drastically (and rapidly) during
the year. Taking this into account, an open-air structure that is
capable of adapting quickly to seasonal demands was developed.
The new wholesale farmers market provides farmers with the
infrastructure needed to function efficiently.

Farmers are able to store the majority of products within

their trucks, while displaying their goods in a storefront manner,
similar to the Fulton Fish Market wholesale model. Each tenant is
provided with signage, power, water, loading docks and communal
motorized lifts. The market is double-loaded, allowing farmers to
park on the two outside edges and buyers to drive up the middle.

The proposal also provides farmers with access to support

from food-based groups and the opportunity to rent office
space and storage units to facilitate their business operations.
Additionally, they are able to expand their market by dropping
off products to be sold at the retail farmers market without taking
additional time away from their crops.

5.27 Market Section, 1:200

109
 5.29 Wholesale Farmers’ Market Programme
0 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 24:00 hours Activity

Set Up
Wholesale Market Hours
Loading
Storing
Clean Up & Hose Down
Recycle & Compost
Break Down Garbage
5.28 Currently, the farmers market overflow area at
the terminal is a parking lot without any facilities.

5.30 Wholesale Farmers Market Typologies

The Terminal has three main types of wholesale farmers tenants, each of which
have different requirements for leasing, space, infrastructure and transportation.
The flexibility of the new design allows for quick adaptation to accommodate.

Required Infrastructure Average Crop Size Vehicle Types Used

1 Loading Dock, Parking, Office, Signage

Permanent Tenants
Heat, Electricity, Debit/Credit Capabilities

2 Loading Dock, Parking, Signage, Display Space

Seasonal Tenants
Heat, Electricity, Debit/Credit Capability

3 Loading Dock, Parking, Signage, Display Space

Sub-seasonal Tenants
Heat, Electricity, Debit/Credit Facilities

110
 AGRICULTURAL LEARNING GARDEN

The roof surface of the wholesale farmers market is utilized

as a working landscape, comprised of a series of gardens that are
used as a learning tool for school groups and the public. A central
promenade is wide enough to accommodate groups of people
or small tractors. Secondary paths branch off to each of the
gardens. Tilted planes provide skylight glimpses of the wholesale
market below and spaces for gathering on top of.

Each section of the roof tells a story about agriculture and

production in Southern Ontario: the dominant crops, methods
of growing, and harvesting techniques. Plants were chosen to
represent the dominant agricultural crops found in the province,
5.31 The declining bee population is a serious threat to the security of the food
system as bees are crucial to the pollination of approximately 80% of the earth’s and subdivided into varietals. One section brings awareness to the
plants. problem of declining bee populations, which is a serious threat
to food security around the world. A rooftop hive colony can be
used locally to pollinate crops. The final section is less structured,
planted with pollinating fruits and flowers that bees are naturally
attracted to. The harvested produce and honey will be sold in the
retail market.

The upper realm reads as a public space to vehicles moving

along the adjacent Gardiner Expressway. This green loop expands
the awareness of the site to millions of people daily, and creates
a unique experience for those who would otherwise have no idea
what the Ontario Food Terminal means to the city’s food system.

5.32 Over 300 varieties of tomatoes are grown commercially in Ontario, yet a
very small selection is available in regular grocery stores. The agriculture garden
exposes people to a wider range.

111
5.33 Agricultural Learning Roof

Tomatoes (1580 plants) Sweet Corn (640 stalks)

Peppers (1065 plants) Green Peas (1990 plants) Cucumbers (730 plants)

112
 Skylight Seating Area

Beehives

Grape Vines (270 vines) Raspberry Bushes (3420 stalks)

Strawberries (2900 plants)

Pepper Plants
Tomato Plants
Green Peas
Sweet Corn
Cucumber Plants
Strawberries
Grape Vines
Raspberry Bushes
Beehives
J F M A M J J A S O N D

113
WHOLESALE BUILDINGS AND
COMPOST FACILITY

To see the city into the future, the entire site needs to become
an intensified place of exchange. Part of this requires the addition
of new buildings, while simultaneously creating efficiencies within
the remaining structures. The wholesale market building is one
piece of the former Terminal that remains on the site, yet it has
been modified to increase circulation efficiency on the site. Cold
storage rooms, formerly located on the east side of the building,
were removed to improve circulation patterns. The north and
south arms of the building have been extended to accommodate
ten additional tenants. Recycling facilities have been expanded.

A new wholesale building on the east end of the site is 5.34 At the height of trading hours the buyers court, the main exchange floor of the Terminal, is packed with activity.

a flexible space that houses cold storage rooms, and wholesale

tenants. Integrated composting facilities gather spoiled produce 5.35 Wholesale Facilities Programme
and waste from the rest of the site, starting the decomposition 0 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 24:00 hours Activity

process. The roof of the building continues the composting Receiving

process, which terminates on the North side of the site. Processing
Wholesale Selling
Though the site’s programme and logistics are sophisticated, Storing
the wholesale buildings are basic structures; essentially shed Clean Up
architecture that is capable of adapting quickly as seasons, Hose Down

functions and needs evolve. Materials such as concrete, paving Recycle

stones, and wood are chosen for their efficiency; hard surfaces are Compost
Break Down Garbage
easy to hose down at the end of the day.

114
5.36-5.38 Sections through Wholesale Facilities
There are two types of tenant units in the proposal. The first is a classic A | Wholesale Distribution Typology 01
Office
wholesale model, in which product flows from one side of the building to the other.

The second model, gaining in popularity, maximizes floor space with shared

facilities.

A | Wholesale Distribution Typology 01

Common Tenant Storage Buyer
In this scenario, tenants have private loading facilities. Produce flows from Distributor
Corridor
the loading docks lining each unit to the buyers court, which is located on the other

side of the building. Buyers walk a common corridor (exterior to the building) and
Tenant Elevator
enter wholesale units separately.

The current Ontario Food Terminal uses this model, which maximizes

efficiency, as product flows continuously from one side to the other. B | Wholesale Distribution Typology 02
Office 01 Office 02
B | Wholesale Distribution Typology 02
In this scenario tenants share loading facilities. Buyers walk a central path Storefront 01 Storefront 02
to visit each wholesale tenant. Storefronts are more compact, reminiscent of grocery

aisles, and the bulk of produce is stored inside of the tenants unit. Motorized carts
Distributors and Buyers Common Loading Docks
deliver produce to buyers trucks. Buyer
Tenant Storage 01 Tenant Storage 02

An example of this model is New York’s Fulton Fish Market (located

adjacent to the New York Terminal Market). This model is particularly suited to Tenant Elevator 01 Tenant Elevator 02

highly urban sites because it maximizes the building footprint.

C | Wholesale Storage
The wholesale storage facility has a communal loading dock area, and 16 C | Wholesale Storage

temperature controlled rooms. Ground level rooms house produce stored at higher Storage (Dry)
temperatures (such as tropical produce and dry goods), while underground units

take advantage of thermal massing to maintain a consistent cool temperature.

These facilities are available to wholesalers, farmers and buyers looking to store
Common Storage (Cold)
large amounts of produce. Distributors, Farmers and Buyers Corridor

C
B Elevator

A 115
 PART SIX: CONCLUSION

“Today, the demand for locally grown food

might be on a steep rise, with people in
cities clamouring for free-run eggs and
heirloom vegetables tenderly raised by
farmers in neighbouring rural areas, but
are there enough farmers left to meet
this demand tomorrow? Is it already too
late to have discovered the pleasures–and
environmental benefits–of local eating?”
Elton, 2010

117
“What can Toronto do to ensure the long-
term sustainability of a safe, healthy,
and accessible food supply? This is a
significant challenge faced by cities all over
the urbanizing world: too much reliance on
food from ‘elsewhere’ unbalances our food
systems; provenance is lost, along with the
ability to adapt to changes...”
Lister, 2008

118
 A resurgence of popularity for local food, artisanal production and sustainable agricultural
practices has put a spotlight on the network and infrastructure in place for food distribution. Not only
is it timely to look at food distribution networks and their related infrastructure - the markets and stores
that sell the food - in greater depth, but also to think in terms of the future of supply and distribution.
Toronto has grown into a polynucleic city – for the first time it is able to sustain multiple nodes. In
order to respond to the demands of an increasingly complicated and diverse city, an expanded market
must be introduced.

The food industry is a complex organism of local and global systems, both sustainable and
industrial. Yet there is opportunity to create an even more sustainable system by integrating more
producers who focus on small-scale crops and sustainable growing methods. Generally addressing
economies of scale, from minute farming operations in rural Ontario to agribusiness ventures in
California or Brazil, creates the complexity that will ensure that our food system is diverse in the future.

The next question is whether or not there is infrastructure robust enough to deal with this diversity
and also address other prevalent, converging issues – government initiatives, public space, global and
local networks, etc. They are complicated systems that do not necessarily seem to work together and the
ability to respond to them is crucial to the future of the markets that we build in the future.

How does the Ontario Food Terminal address the shortcomings or limitations of the other
markets? Though its intentions are good, New York City’s Green Market falls short because its hours
are inconvenient and site is intimidating for the public. The creation of dual markets allows for both
the public and wholesale users to engage the site simultaneously and at a scale that is appropriate for the
activities. The global nature of markets like Rungis in Paris can be detrimental to the economy of local
farming communities, who are unable to compete with larger agricultural producers in scale and price.
The new Ontario Food Terminal enhances and encourages local agriculture by providing farmers with
a diverse consumer market to compete with global players.

119
 Secondly, how does the new design build on the strengths of these other markets? Borough
market’s confluence is a prototype for the converging programmes, site conditions and transportation
systems that the Ontario Food Terminal will have to deal with in the future as the neighbourhood
urbanizes and becomes denser. The success of the public spectacle generated at Tsukiji Market in Japan
can be seen as a catalyst to encourage new public spaces in the city and Jean Talon’s wider influence is
an example of the potential for the South Etobicoke area to become a food-centric neighbourhood.

A local system that is economically, culturally and ecologically sustainable is able to benefit the city
and surroundings in myriad ways: supporting the regional agricultural economy, generating jobs in the
farming, distribution and retail sectors, and providing city residents with a supply of healthy, reasonably
priced food products. By leveraging the local agricultural system against the global network, a hybrid
that has the ability to meet the demands of consumers and producers alike can be created.

The new Terminal is an expanded place of exchange that works at multiple scales by adding a
retail market and business development centre and placing importance on the education of consumers.
This approach envisions the Ontario Food Terminal as a precedent for future food distribution facilities
as a node for the distribution of both wholesale and retail food systems. The footprint of the Ontario
Food Terminal is a unified network of markets, restaurants and circulation; it is a hybridized market
complex that benefits the city physically and psychologically.

120
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 APPENDICES

Appendix A : Agricultural Studies

131
FARM DISTRIBUTION IN SOUTHERN ONTARIO

Agriculture has a long history in Southern Ontario as

both a lifestyle and economic generator. The following series
of diagrams map out the current agricultural landscape in terms
of crop types and distribution, as well as their proximity to the
Ontario Food Terminal.

Additionally, a duo of diagrams map the seasonal nature and

diversity of these crops. Greenhouses provide seasonal extension
virtually year-round for key products, including tomatoes,
cucumbers and peppers.

All Farm Types

Grain

132
Poultry Vegetables

Hogs and Cattle Other Crops

133
 134
BLUEBERR
IES
S
OT
R IC
AP
TS IES GRAPES
AN R MELONS
RR BER
CU OSE NECTARIN C
GO ES RA
PEACHES NBER
RI
E S
RASPBER
RIES

ES
PL

ES
UM

PL
S

RI

AP
ER
CH
ES
RI
R

BE
AW
R
ST

RHUBARB
JUL JAN
PEARS
Locally Grown Fruit
SEASONAL PRODUCE DIAGRAMS
 JAN
ASIAN VEGE
TABL
Locally Grown Vegetables

ES

UTS
PRO
LS
SSE
U
BR
ER
OW
IFL
AUL
C
NT
LA
GP
EG

S
LI
O
UCE OMS
TT O

AN
CC
LE SHR GREEN

BE
O
MU ONS- OOKING

S
N I -C

BR
O IONS

BE
ON

L
CU

CE
CU ERY
S
D ISHE
RA
S
L

E
E

PP
RL
GA EKS
IC

PE
CH S
A UT
O
R

N
SP O ES U
SP I N

A
AT Z CCH
M

REE
AG IN
I

TO

PEAS-G
RAPIN
RUTABI

135
SQUA
SWEESH
POTATO

TP
O
ES

TA
TO
S E
PA
SN R
IP

S
CA
BB
BE
E

AG
E
TS

RN
CO

CA
RR
OT
S

S
ASPARAGU
JUL

With Information from Foodland Ontario

 APPENDIX B

Mapping Etobicoke Neigbourhoods

137
MAPPING THE ONTARIO FOOD TERMINALS ADJACENT NEIGHBOURHOODS

38.4 percent of households make over $100,000 per year.

65+ 0-14
The average family has three people.
15-24

25-64

Stonegate-Queensway
Almost 60% of residents are WORKING AGE
though there is an above average number of seniors
in the neighbourhood.

45 percent of residents are first generation Canadians.

Mimico 43
The average age is
3rd gen.
1st gen.
The most common leisure activities are aerobic exercise and attending exhibitions.

2nd gen.

138
 7
7,a1g0 40 percent of residents hold a university degree,
$56
(a ve r e)

over 5 percent higher than the city average.

Over 50% of residents live in single-family homes

Over fifty percent of residents prefer to shop in chain stores like Sobeys, Loblaws, or Metro. There are ten Sobeys within ten kilometers.
56 percent of residents own their homes,

higher than the Toronto average. Mimico residents commonly subscribe to nature magazines.
Over six percent of residents work in wholesale trade.

139