Learning for biocultural design: community kitchens as innovation spaces for small-scale food production in Manitoba

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Date
2020-08-19
Authors
Addae-Wireko, Emmanuella
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Abstract
Community kitchens have received much attention in the literature, yet their use for commercial purposes by small scale food producers/ processors are under-reported. The purpose of this project was to understand the role played by commercial community kitchens in Manitoba. Commercial community kitchens are a type of innovation space where small-scale food business owners develop product ideas and process raw materials into finished products. Primary data collection methods included the use of semi-structured interviews with eleven small-scale food business owners who produce and process a variety of food products (e.g. kombucha drinks, hummus, almond butter spreads, and gluten-free perogies). Results indicated that the frequency of commercial community kitchens used for these food products ranges from seasonal to yearly use to periodic year-round use. Some business owners stopped using particular commercial community kitchens, combine the use of commercial community kitchens with other facilities, or use more than one commercial community kitchen. Some have stopped using commercial community kitchens because space, storage, tools, equipment, or resources were not adequate to their needs, or the rental cost was too high. The main reason for using commercial community kitchens was the need for government-certified community kitchens, which meet Manitoba’s health standards and regulations, to commercialize food products. Based on business owner interviews, the research suggests that commercial community kitchens can improve their services by increasing storage space, providing relevant tools and equipment for their users, and implementing programs to build user capacity of the kitchen facilities and equipment.
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Community kitchens, Innovation spaces, Small-scale, Food production/ processing, Manitoba, Biocultural design
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APA