I traced my takeout order back to its origins and discovered how much goes into a meal

Ordering a burrito after a long day is one of my favourite ways to make dinner easy. Rice, chicken, black beans, salsa, lettuce, and a generous dollop of guacamole make for a satisfying meal. With a few taps on my phone, it’s on its way to my door.

Usually, I’ll be thinking about what to watch while I eat. But one evening, looking down at my takeout dinner, I started wondering how all those ingredients had made their way into one meal! Who grew them? How far had they travelled? How many people helped get them to my door? Those questions got me thinking about how much we depend on the food system every day.

The chicken, rice, and vegetables each had their own journey before reaching the restaurant. And that journey involved far more people and processes than I’d ever considered.

So I decided to trace my burrito back to its origins, following the ingredients beyond the restaurant kitchen to discover what it really takes to get dinner on the table.

Every ingredient has a story

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I started with the flour tortilla, the foundation of my meal. The main ingredient here is wheat, and that had to be grown, harvested, and processed to make my wrap.

Depending on its origin, that journey might begin on a Canadian farm, with farmers and agricultural workers responsible for growing the crop and food-processing professionals helping prepare it for sale.

Then there’s the chicken. Poultry passes through a series of stages involving farmers, animal-care professionals, processing workers, transportation providers, and food-safety specialists. Every stage of the journey relies on people doing their jobs to help ensure the product reaches its destination safely.

Plus, the tomatoes for salsa, lettuce for crunch, and avocados for guacamole all need to be grown, harvested, sorted, packaged, and transported too. Some may come from Canadian producers, while others travel across borders to meet demand throughout the year.

It’s a lot to think about! Suddenly, my seemingly simple order was looking a lot more complex.

My burrito isn’t just the result of one restaurant preparing a meal. It’s the end product of a connected network of people, businesses, infrastructure, and expertise working together.

Canada’s food system is a bigger operation than you might think

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By the time my burrito reaches my door, it has passed through the hands of people working across a wide range of industries.

According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, more than 2.3 million jobs* are connected to Canada’s food system, representing roughly one in nine jobs. The sector also contributes close to $150 billion annually to the economy.**

Farmers and food producers are joined by engineers, nutritionists, scientists, technicians, truck drivers, processing workers and many others whose contributions help keep food available to Canadians.

Think of the truck drivers with refrigerated trucks, keeping poultry at a safe temperature during transportation or the grocery store workers restocking shelves with fresh produce. Not to mention the people behind the food delivery app that allow me to receive a burrito straight to my door! Everyone’s part is important.

A takeout order with a bigger story

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By the time I’d finished my burrito, I had a new appreciation for what had gone into it. What looked like a straightforward dinner was actually the result of countless interconnected decisions, jobs, and processes, many of which I’d never known about.

Learning more about how it all fits together can help us make informed choices about what we eat, whether we’re thinking about price, convenience, nutrition, where our food comes from, or our personal values.

It really is a connected system that works so reliably most of us rarely think about it. Whether it’s the software developers who made ordering online seamless, the logistics teams and temperature monitoring that keep ingredients moving safely, or the farmers, truck drivers, and cooks along the way — take away any one piece and my burrito wouldn’t exist. Next time I order, I’ll be thinking about more than what to watch.

There’s a whole world behind what’s on your plate. Explore Canada’s Food System to discover the people and careers that help get food from the farm to your home.

* Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, via Canada’s Food System 

** Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, via Canada’s Food System