CISSSO, the health authority for Outaouais, announced a new program which aims to source food supplies from local and Quebecer producers at a press event on Friday.

The event was titled Les Institutions Mangent Local and was held at the CHSLD du Pontiac in Shawville.

“Today is the first day in the Outaouais that we’re actually using products from the region,” said Joanne Dubois, coordinator of all the food services in the Outaouais region for the CISSSO

Forty nine per cent of our menu in our 21 food services is sourced from . . .

Aliments du Québec, so it’s all Quebec products that we use in our recipes. Next year we’re aiming 54 per cent,” said Dubois.

The event showcased various foods that are all or in part made with local products.

“We have cream of apple and turnips, where the apples come from Coronation Hall in Bristol,” said Dubois. “The veal stew is from the Viande Du Pontiac, we bought everything there. So everybody at the hospital here and at the manoir is eating local today.”

Dubois described the goal of buying as much food locally as possible as stemming from the vision of the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation (MAPAQ). The financing for the program also comes from the Government of Quebec.

“This is just the beginning,” said Dubois. “We have a lot more than we want to bring out. It’s the time of the year that tomatoes and cucumbers are coming out of gardens and that’s what we want to bring to the residents and the patient’s plate.”

Dubois described the process of actually verifying that food is being produced in Quebec, and therefore eligible to be labeled as Aliments du Québec, takes a lot of human resources.

“We’re so proud. I’m from here. I’m very proud that we’re doing this event, starting in the Pontiac,” said Dubois.

“We’ve been working for 20 years for more sustainable food on menus or food services, ‘’ said Dominique Lacroix a councillor for sustainable food procurement at Equiterre, which is a partner organization in the program. “We did different projects with schools, daycares and also, as you can see, health facilities, for them to improve their food supply so far more local foods and also more sustainable food are used.”

Lacroix described the program as a step forward in creating a more equitable and environmentally stable future. According to the project organizers, this project predates covid-caused supply chain issues and is instead mainly aimed at supporting local producers.

Two kiosks were also set up outside of the event as part of the effort to promote local produce. One was the Jardin Educatif and the other was for the Serres Paul Amyotte, which are greenhouses based in Mansfield-Et-Pontefract.

Brittany Soucie was manning the booth for the Serres Paul Amyotte and was selling various kinds of vegtables from the greenhouses.

“I think it is important to buy locally because we are such a small community,” said Soucie. “If we can all support each other we give back to our community.”

She also saw this as a great opportunity to give back.

“Usually we don’t do markets, but since it’s something for the hospital and for our elders where they are able to come out and look at the good veggies we have, we said yes, because some of them don’t get fresh veggies often.”

Soucie says Serres Paul Amyotte is already involved in providing fresh vegetables to Manoir St. Joseph and the CHSLD in Mansfield and they would love to expand what they are already doing.

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