New report: The Value of Forest and Freshwater Foods in Northern Ontario
Posted: October 22, 2014
Categories: GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Members
While the local food movement often focuses on agricultural production, forest and freshwater foods are also vital in establishing a more ecologically sound, economically resilient food system. These include wild foods that are generally harvested without domestication, such as berries, wild rice, fiddleheads, moose, deer, waterfowl, birch syrup, mushrooms, and boreal plants used for tea and medicine. Ontario Nature, which is a member of Sustain Ontario, has just published a timely new report: Beyond the Fields: The Value of Forest and Freshwater Foods in Northern Ontario.
Through the lens of self-sufficiency and community resilience, the report explores vital relationships between northern communities and foods from freshwater and forest habitats. The publication underscores the benefits of these food systems for economic well-being, human health and ecological integrity, as well as the potential threats to these assets. In order to protect these important resources from pressures such as climate change and habitat loss, the report offers recommendations to the government of Ontario to improve how freshwater food and forest systems are managed, protected and promoted.
To learn more about Ontario Nature’s Forest and Freshwater Foods Project, visit this page. You can also learn more about the hidden treasures of northern Ontario’s forests in the following short video that Sustain Ontario developed with Ontario Nature as part of the Growing Good Food Ideas project.