Help Create Zero Food Waste Market

Who We Are
The Market & Smør is a start-up company that is bringing fresh, local, and healthy foods to the community of Cobourg, ON.

We are a fresh produce market that focusses on to-go foods and meals. 

Background
Lucas and Montana spent a summer in Cobourg after the birth of their child in order to be closer to their friends and family. Originally from Toronto, they had lived in Alberta for almost a decade and knew it was time to come home which, of all places, brought them to Cobourg.

During their stay in the summer, they noticed that the community did not have a market in the downtown core.

Cobourg has a higher than average (when compared to the rest of Ontario) senior population and lower SES population and with their research, they understood that having fresh produce at a short distance would be highly beneficial. 

They decided to move to Cobourg so they went back to Alberta, sold everything they owned (truck, house, and everything in it), and returned with the dream to open up a green market store in the downtown core.

Today
It has taken 13 months to find a location but today they have one to open the Market in! During the year of working with the town and landlords to find an appropriate location, they won the bid to operate the beach canteen and so they were very grateful for the opportunity to try out their operations right on the beach. 

The Facts
The current food store model in North America is wasteful beyond compare. Globally 1.3 billion tonnes of food is thrown away each and every year. Canada wastes 31 billion dollars in food annually and traditional food retailers are directly responsible for 10% of that. 30% of all produce sent to grocery stores is thrown out or rejected before even being put up for sale. 

We are working towards a zero food waste market. With our to-go foods, our juices and daily lunch specials, we will be able to limit much of what is traditionally considered waste at a grocery store because of the high turnover/volume that will be required. But what do we do with the wast that naturally comes with selling, producing and serving foods? 

The Ask - Where The Funds Will Go
The Oklin GG-10S is a composter that is able to compost 55 pounds in a 24 hour period. It offers a 90% reduction rate on food wastage and offers a sustainable option to bring to the community by diverting the waste that would go to landfills and instead start the composting program where we give the compost to farmers for free so they can grow more incredible food with it. 

Who Will Benefit?
Farmers:
Farmers will be able to have our compost - free of charge - to grow their goods in and outdoors, all year long. 

Community:
This will help our business succeed which in turn provides: jobs to the community, brings accessible and affordable food to the community, supports the local economy, and allows us to operate with almost zero wastage of food.

Environment:
At least 90% of our food waste will be diverted from the landfill. When food waste breaks down in the landfill with other types of waste, it produces methane gas. When food waste breaks down separate from the other waste in a composting bin, it creates carbon dioxide. Both methane and carbon dioxide are greenhouse gases, but methane is over 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the earth’s atmosphere. Plus, the compost created from the diverted organic waste is a nutrient-rich soil that can be used to garden. Diverting food waste is important because it turns something usually considered waste into a resource, which also decreases the number of emissions from landfills.

Timeline
Ideally, we would love to have this piece of equipment for November 2018. We understand that it is a big ask and we are slowly saving it up for it so we are not in a huge rush but look forward to adding this to a piece to our sustainability commitment. 

Our Thoughts
We chose to sell everything to open this Market up. People think that we are crazy for doing this but we think it would be crazy not to; we have the opportunity to add value to an incredible community and, maybe one day, more communities in Canada. We are humbled and grateful every day for the work that we get to do and would be so honored to be able to bring this piece of equipment to a community that we truly believe deserves it. 

We want to thank you for even considering this project for a moment. We hope that you find a worthy cause to get behind, even if it's not ours!