Grace Mandarano

100km Foods, Canada

Grace Mandarano is a first-generation Canadian. Both her parents come from farming families in Southern Italy. Throughout her childhood she heard stories of how, as a family and a community, her relatives would work their farms, grow their food, and rear their animals. The connection to their food was undeniable and cherished. 100km Foods Inc. has become for her a re-establishment of that vital connection to food: where it comes from, how it is grown, and how the greater community benefits and thrives from access to good, clean food.

Since its inception in 2008, 100km Foods has purchased more than $34M worth of local food from more than 100 producers across Ontario to serve 450+ restaurant and foodservice customers in Toronto and surrounding areas. She considers financial sustainability and authenticity to be key ingredients to running a successful social enterprise and hopes that 100km Foods can be a conduit to real change in Ontario’s food systems.