Toronto Film Premiere of To Make a Farm and New Farmer Panel

June 21st at The Royal Theatre, 608 College Street, Toronto

www.tomakeafarm.ca

6:30pm-9:00pm

Tickets $12 on-line or $13 at the door.

Join director/producer Steve Suderman and new farmers Tarrah Young and Audrey McDonald, along with the GTA Agriculture Action Committee, Sustain Ontario, the West End Food Coop, The Stop, FoodShare Toronto, Toronto Food Policy Council and FarmStart for this thought-provoking documentary.

Named one of the ten most popular Canadian films at the Vancouver International Film Festival, To Make a Farm asks: what might the future of local food and farming look like? This beautifully photographed documentary explores the lives of five young people who have decided to become small-scale farmers.

Doors open at 6:30pm and the film presentation will begin at 6:50pm.  After the film, join in the panel discussion where panelists will  tell their “getting started” stories and hopes for the future.  We will also be relocating for more informal discussion following the panel.

Panelists:

Steve Suderman - Director, Cinematographer, Producer, www.tomakeafarm.ca

Steve grew up on a farm in western Canada. He studied Mathematics and Computer Science and taught high school before pursuing filmmaking in 2002. In 2008 he completed his first feature-length documentary Over Land, which followed his family’s experience of having to leave the family farm.  In 2011 Steve premiered his second feature-length documentary, To Make A Farm, at the Vancouver International Film Festival, where it was named one of the top ten most popular Canadian films of the festival.  VIFF calls To Make A Farm “exceptionally hopeful.” The film made its US premiere at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and continues to screen across Canada and the United States. It will air on TVO and Knowledge Network in 2012.

Tarrah Young - owner/operator, Green Being (featured in the film)

Tarrah Young runs Green Being Farm in Neustadt, ON with her husband Nathan Carey. They run a winter CSA, supplying their members with high quality storage crops and hardy greens along with a healthy dose of food and farm education. They also raise and direct market pastured pork, poultry, grass-fed lamb, beef and eggs, with a focus on raising animals in a way that does not compromise their dignity of that of the environment. Tarrah holds a degree in Environmental Biology from the University of Guelph, and acts an instructor for both FarmStart and Georgian College, where she teaches both aspiring and existing farmers.  She also runs seminars for consumers designed to help them understand better understand farming and food systems.

Audrey MacDonald - second generation farmer, FarmStart’s McVean property

Growing up on a farm in Jamaica, Audrey was exposed to various micro-climates and different crops at a young age. To date, Audrey has been growing in an allotment garden for the past twelve years, and an allotment greenhouse for the past six years. She decided to start a farming enterprise because of a passion for growing fresh, healthy food and a desire to spread the word of healthy eats. Audrey is a recipient of South Etobicoke’s first citizens green award of merit, and a recipient of a citizen’s award of merit from for promoting healthy living in the community.

In preparation for hosting the National Student Food Summit 2012, Meal Exchange is currently hosting an open call for student leaders to relate their experiences in being involved with interesting and innovative student food projects. If you or any students you know fit this bill, please feel free to contact us with information about that student food project by accessing the form provided in the link below.

For more details, visit here.

Healthy Food, Healthy Living: Strengthening Local Food Connectons in Healthcare from Sustain Ontario on Vimeo.

Note: Audio levels improve after about 10 minutes of the video.  Read more to see the presenters’ powerpoint slides.

Thanks to the help of Powerline Films, we have a recording of the Healthy Food, Healthy Living event that was held last night at Toronto City Hall.  Thanks to Linda Swanston, Darcy Higgins and their keen volunteers from Food Forward, Hayley Lapalme from My Sustainable Canada and the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care, Alex MacEachern and our panelists Heather Fletcher, Food Services Manager at St. Michael’s Hospital,  Franco Naccarato, the Program Manager for the Broader Public Sector Investment Fund and Elena Hall, Green Team Member/Seed to Feed Organizer for the University Health Network, at Princess Margaret Hospital for making the event a memorable one.
Sustain Ontario, as part of the Farm to Cafeteria Canada network,  prepared a webinar for partners across Canada but due to a last minute audio failure had to cancel the webinar.  We’ve provided you with a video recording of the presentations and their powerpoint files in the order of presenters.

In a hard-hitting interview this week with Postmedia News, Olivier De Schutter also blasted Canada for its “appallingly poor” record of taking recommendations from UN human-rights bodies seriously.

De Schutter, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, has been on an 11-day mission to Canada, his first to a developed country.

For further details, visit here.

Canada is a nation that imports almost as much food as it exports. In many cases the same products go out and come in. It is a nation that has systematically encouraged food supply from long distances. It has discouraged mixed crop regionally based farmers in favour of large-scale consolidation of agricultural production, mostly for export. More than food security (everyone gets to eat) we need food sovereignty (where we retain control of our food supply).

To read more about this issue, visit here.

Local Food Children’s Programming Assistant

The focus of this position will be to develop and manage food focused children’s activities at the Sorauren Farmers market every Monday. The candidate will also work with our Market Manager to support special event coordination and other market activities. Due to the small and innovative nature of the organization the candidate will also be expected to assist at times with other co-op initiatives and food education programming including: community kitchen programming, food preservation workshops, fundraising events, and food hub activities.

We are looking for a self starter, who has experience and enjoys working with kids, loves cooking, is passionate about food and is able to work some evenings and the occasional weekend.

Responsibilities:

• Coordinate the scheduling of food focused activities for children at the Sorauren Farmers’ Market
• Run activities for children at the Sorauren Farmers’ Market
• Create resources and documenting the programming over the season
• Procure resources needed for the programming (especially eco friendly items)
• Help organize events and other activities with Farmers’ Market Coordinator
• Work with WEFC Programming Coordinator on the Co-op Kitchen activities – including preparing food, supporting workshops, documenting activities
• Complete related administrative duties

Qualifications:

• As well as working some evenings and weekends the candidate must be available Mondays from 12pm to 8pm Excellent interpersonal and facilitation skills
• Demonstrated experience and skills working with and educating children in informal settings
• Demonstrated passion for food issues (social, environmental, access, local)
• Interest and willingness to do physical work
• Demonstrated ability to work within a diverse community (people of different ages, abilities and cultural backgrounds)
• Computer, Graphics and other related communications skills are an asset
• Experience working in kitchens (including food handling certificate) is an asset
• Interest and willingness to ride a bicycle is an asset

Salary: $10.25 per hour  per hour, 35 hours/week up to 16 week duration.

Start Date: As soon as possible.

Note: Funding provided for this position has restricted criteria. The successful candidate(s) must be a student, returning to school in the fall of 2012, and be between the ages of 15-29 years

Please submit your résumé to jobs@westendfood.coop. Please note, due to the number of applicants only those candidates who qualify for an interview will be contacted.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier de Schutter, who is travelling the country on an official mission, has heard from a range of citizen groups who have laid out the facts about the right to food in Canada. At hearings in Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto, he heard that:

1. 55.5% of people receiving social assistance nationally are food insecure
2. 17.8% of First Nations adults (aged 25-39) reported being hungry in the last 12 months but didn’t eat due to lack of money for food
3. Social assistance for a single person in Ottawa is $635 a month, and the average rent for a bachelor apartment in that city is $715, leaving no money for food, let alone a nutritious diet.  Social assistance rates have dramatically declined over the last two decades
4. Many women in minimum and medium security prisons, who must cook for themselves, receive $4 a day in order to cover all their food needs
5. Over 60% of kids aged 9 to 13 are not eating enough fruits and vegetables
6. Approximately one of four Canadian adults is considered obese. The economic cost of obesity rises to nearly $7.1 billion per year, based on costs associated with the 18 chronic diseases linked to obesity
7. 30,000 people in the agricultural labour force are migrant workers, many of whom come back year after year for decades, but who do not have any access to permanent residency, and face particular challenges in accessing rights, benefits and community services
8. Two thirds of homeless people in Toronto are hungry (and without access to food) at least once a week
9. Food insecurity is as high, as 79% in some Northern communities
10. Over $3.5 billion in public funds went to hog farms between 1996 and 2009, mostly to large-scale operations of $1 million or more
11. A tax of $0.01 per liter on sugary drinks could raise $8 million per year in Quebec and $35 million in Canada that could be reinvested in preventive healthcare
12. In Québec, 5.6 farms are lost per week

“These numbers show Canada is failing to fulfill the right to food. That needs to change”, said Diana Bronson, Executive Director of Food Secure Canada. “We have told the Special Rapporteur that we need a national food strategy –that thousands of people across the country have worked for several years to build the People’s Food Policy- and it is time these ideas got implemented. Our members across the country look forward to hearing the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations next Wednesday and hearing the Government’s response in the following days.”

For more information or interviews with Food Secure Canada or our members:

• Diana Bronson, cell: 514-629-9236; Diana@foodsecurecanada.org
• Anna Paskal: 514-889-2533; policy@foodsecurecanada.org

LET’S MAKE A SPLASH – Meet your MP from May 21-25 

Join us for a teleconference with former MPs Bill Blaikie (NDP, 1979-2008 ) and Warren Allmand (Liberal, 1965-1997) for a first hand account of how to make the most out of a meeting with your Member of Parliament.

Monday, May 14th at 4 PM – 5PM (EST)

Sign up to receive call-in details.

All MPs recently received a copy of Resetting the Table: A People’s Food Policy for Canada.  The media and House of Commons are buzzing with questions and opinions about the UN Special Rapporteur’s visit, food and food policy.  Now is a great time to:

• put your community’s issues on your MP’s plate
• ask what your MP plans to do about Olivier de Schutter’s recommendations (that will be announced May 16th)
• educate your MP about why we need a national People’s Food Policy, specifically the 5 priorities named in the executive summary.

By: Stephanie Verkoeyen

My name is Stephanie Verkoeyen and I’m currently doing an internship with Sustain Ontario. Over the next couple of months, I’ll be doing a mini-blog series around sustainable seafood. I come from an aquatic resource background and wanted to take this opportunity to explore and share with you the importance of seafood as a food source.

Seafood isn’t often the first thing to come to mind when we think about food and farming. But for half the world’s population, fish provide at least 15 per cent of their animal protein intake. Canada’s Food Guide advises we eat at least two servings of fish a week, especially those rich in omega-3 fats e.g. char, herring, mackerel, salmon, sardines and trout. For those involved in fisheries, seafood is an important source of income. Canada has one of the world’s most valuable commercial fishing industries, worth more than $5 billion a year and providing 120,000+ jobs.

Few outdoor experiences compare with fishing in one of Ontario’s 400,000 lakes, rivers, and streams (Note: as an outdoor enthusiast I can vouch for this!). Fishing has been a part of Ontario’s culture and heritage for many years, with the Great Lakes offering some of the world’s best freshwater fishing. Most people don’t realize that Ontario has the largest freshwater commercial fishery AND the largest recreational fishing industry in Canada. Best known for its muskellunge and walleye (pickerel) fishery, Ontario is home to an astounding 160 of Canada’s 228 species of freshwater fish.

With the demand for seafood on the rise, and a plentiful supply right in our backyard, it’s possible to find locally sourced options with a little effort. Many seafood restaurants have begun to offer more sustainable seafood options, with some restaurants specializing in sustainable seafood. Next time you’re dining out, ask your waiter where your seafood is coming from. If you’re picking up fish from the market or grocery store, make it a habit to ask for seafood that is adequately labeled and includes information on species, origin, and catch method. Wherever possible, choose seafood with credible eco-labels. And for the truly adventurous spirits out there, grab a pole and cast away!

The next blog will look into the idea of sustainable seafood – what it is, why it’s necessary, and what’s happening in Ontario. 

Imagine Canada’s new Standards Program designated Tides Canada, a national environmental and social justice charity, as one of seventeen respected charities and nonprofits.

“Tides Canada is proud to be a part of this impressive list of Canadian charities and non-profits that embody excellence in administration, transparency, and governance,” said Jodi White, Board Chair.

Designed to strengthen public confidence in the charitable and nonprofit sector by recognizing and promoting best practices, the Standards Program offers a stamp of approval for organizations that demonstrate excellence in board governance; financial accountability and transparency; ethical fundraising; staff management; and volunteer involvement.

Sustain Ontario is proud to be a project of Tides Canada!

People wanting to voice their concerns have been asked to contact Sylvia Przezdziecki (sylwia_przezdziecki@ontla.ola.org) and Tamara Pomanski (tamara_pomanski@ontla.ola.org).

If you would like to be considered for giving a presentation to the Standing Committee on General Government you must contact the Clerk of the Committee by 5pm on Wednesday May 9