PENNE ALL’ARRABBIATA

Canada is a major producer, exporter and importer of an immense variety of agricultural and food products ranging from processed foods with global value chains to local, farm-based value chains. In this section, I share 3 of my research insights and assess to what extent our recipe can be made from Canadian agricultural and food products.

China is the largest producer of garlic worldwide producing over 20 million tons per year. Canada produces a mere 520 tons of garlic per year.  The garlic I bought and used in my recipe was specifically labelled “Ontario grown”.

Tomatoes in Canada are typically exported from other countries as our growing period for tomatoes is so short due to the northern climate. Canada produces tomatoes, but they are more difficult to come across but not impossible.

The parmesan cheese I used in my recipe was made with 100% Canadian milk and produced in a Canadian facility. The option to use parmesan imported from Italy was available as mentioned in my cost analysis.  However, I chose to use the Canadian cheese as it was more affordable. While parmesan is typically produced in Italy and exported to other countries, western countries like Canada and the United States have begun producing their own parmesan cheese.

Of the three ingredients I analyzed, all are available in Canada. Although traditionally parmesan cheese is typically imported from Italy, it is produced in Canada. None of the ingredients were unavailable in Canada so I did not need to make any substitutions to my recipe.