June 7th, 2026

It's easier than ever to order online and have us delivered.

The goal has always been real simple - make real food easier to get.
Please note: Everything in this newsletter is available for free delivery, and we update it regularly based on what’s in stock at the hub. Please read all details on free delivery page before ordering - min $30 order.

New to Small Scale Farms? Enter 10%OFF before you check out and save 10% off your entire order - AND have us delivered for free!

We have great deals on now at The Hub, while quantities last. 

Plus we have freezers full and our meat sampler bags fully stocked, so you can come try our meat and taste the difference for yourself.

We are open to the public Monday to Friday 9–5, Saturday 9–4, and Sunday 10–4 - 13145 Lundy's Lane

View Directions To Small Scale Farms

This week’s Pick & Pack Half Bushel Basket will be announced tonight!

Our pick-and-pack section is the most affordable way to feed your family.
Come by and fill a half-bushel basket with whatever you'd like from this section, for just $30 - and it helps us keep food moving so nothing goes to waste and prices stay reasonable. Win win.

It’s back!

Fresh eucalyptus from Vanderweyden’s Garden Centre is back in stock. The Vanderweyden family has been growing plants in Niagara for decades and has become a local staple for flowers and greenhouse-grown products. (Vanderweyden Garden Centre)

Whether you’re hanging it in the shower, using it in arrangements, or just love the smell, it never seems to stay around for long. Grab some while we’ve got it.

Real food, made easy. Add veggies to your order and we’ll bring it straight to your door.

Check out our vegetable section for free delivery.👇

Please note: Our June delivery of flavoured milks will not arrive at the hub until Wednesday June 3rd. However, they will be here in time for all scheduled delivery orders, so feel free to place your order as usual.

Every week, I spend countless hours sourcing products from farmers, producers, bakers, cheesemakers, beekeepers, dairy farmers, and families throughout Niagara and the surrounding region.

And it’s certainly not because it’s easy, and it isn’t because I’m trying to make a quick buck.

The reality is that I believe there is value in preserving what this land and its people are capable of producing. When you walk through Small Scale Farms, you’re not just looking at products on shelves. You’re looking at the offerings of a region. The work of people who still know how to grow food, raise animals, make cheese, ferment vegetables, bake bread, keep bees, and produce things with care.

What sits on these shelves represents knowledge that has been passed down through generations. Skills that are becoming increasingly rare. People who continue to choose the harder path because they believe quality still matters.

Food without canola oil hidden in every ingredient list. Food raised without unnecessary antibiotics. Non-homogenized milk. Non-gmo. Fermented foods. Real ingredients.

Real people.

Real work.

It appears to me that many have forgotten how valuable that actually is.And now is the time to remember.

People don’t just buy sourdough, they feel the difference.

Real sourdough is slow fermented, which helps break down gluten and phytic acid, making it easier to digest and gentler on your stomach. It’s made with simple ingredients, no additives, and the flavour is deeper, richer, and actually satisfying in a way most bread isn’t.

It’s not just bread, it’s how bread used to be made.

Locally made mushroom blend designed to support energy, focus, and overall wellness — an easy way to add functional mushrooms into your daily routine.

Eeee! Larry gave me some wormwood! I put it right at the entrance to the medicinal garden so I can watch it grow...

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a pie graph I had been building around poverty in Ontario.

The reason I started doing it was simple: I felt like we weren’t actually seeing the real numbers anymore.

So I started digging into the statistics myself.

How many people are on social assistance?  How many are on EI?  How many are working part time?  How many are considered “working poor”?  How many people are technically employed but still struggling to survive?

I wanted to understand the actual economic makeup of the province - not politically, not emotionally, but mathematically.

And before I even touched what we traditionally call the “middle class,” I had already landed at nearly 50% of the population living in poverty, near-poverty, or economically fragile conditions.

But after sitting with it longer, I realized I had left something major out of the equation:

The middle class.

And honestly, I shouldn’t have.

Because the more I thought about it, the more I started realizing that the middle class may actually be in deeper danger than many people officially categorized as “poor.”

Not because they necessarily make less money.  But because they have more debt.

Massive debt.

Mortgages. Lines of credit. Car payments. Credit cards. HELOCs, (home equity line of credit). Consumer financing. “Affordable” monthly payments stretched over years.

For decades, credit created the illusion of stability. It allowed people to maintain a middle-class appearance long after real purchasing power began collapsing. And now the cracks are starting to show.

A recent federal report stated that nearly 50% of Canadians belong to the middle class. But that definition becomes increasingly disconnected from reality when you compare incomes against modern housing costs, food inflation, insurance, fuel, taxes, and debt servicing.

Statistics Canada data shows Ontario’s median household income sits around $91,000 before tax. On paper, that sounds solid. Years ago, that would have represented stability. Today, in many parts of Ontario, that income barely sustains a mortgage, groceries, utilities, transportation, childcare, and debt repayments.

Meanwhile, what’s considered “middle class” in Canada is often defined as households earning roughly between $57,000 and $115,000 annually.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth nobody wants to say out loud:
A household can technically be “middle class” while being one missed paycheck away from collapse.

That isn’t stability. That’s leveraged survival.

And we’re starting to see the cultural indicators everywhere.

Travel is one of the clearest examples because vacations are often the first thing families cut when economic pressure rises. Recent reporting shows Canadian travel demand continues to weaken significantly. Statistics Canada reported Canadian return trips from the U.S. fell again in early 2026, continuing a long downward trend. Other reporting found Canadian visits to U.S. metropolitan areas dropped as much as 42% year-over-year.

At the same time, surveys show many Canadians are avoiding travel altogether because they simply cannot justify the expense anymore. 

That matters because the middle class has historically been the economic engine of discretionary spending.

When the middle class stops traveling, stops renovating, stops eating out, stops supporting local businesses, and starts pulling back in fear, the ripple effects move through the entire economy.

And I think that’s the stage we’re entering now.

What concerns me most is that many people still believe poverty looks like homelessness or visible desperation. But modern poverty often looks very different.

It looks like families carrying enormous debt while appearing “fine.” Two-income households unable to get ahead. People avoiding grocery stores because prices trigger anxiety. Parents quietly skipping meals. Adults with decent jobs unable to buy homes. Households financing basic necessities. People one interest-rate increase away from disaster.

In many ways, the middle class became the buffer zone holding the entire economic structure together. And if that buffer collapses, society changes very quickly — not just economically, but socially, psychologically, and politically.

Because once people realize they followed all the rules and still can’t build security, trust in the system starts to erode.

That’s why I keep coming back to local systems. Local food. Local production. Local relationships. Local resilience.

Because the larger the systems become, the more fragile ordinary people become inside them.

And maybe that’s the real story unfolding beneath the headlines right now: not simply that poverty is growing, but that the line between “middle class” and “poverty” is disappearing altogether.

Locally yours, 
Small Scale Farms

This email was sent to because you've subscribed on our site or made a purchase.

Edit preferences | Unsubscribe