Perspectives on good food and farming
March 31, 2010

Ideas for the Future of Farming

A farm commentator from Wellington County says farmers need to re-connect with consumers. Elbert van Donkersgoed says the dis-connect we have now means Ontario is importing food products we could be producing within the province. He says farmers have to change from being producers of raw, bulk product. Van Donkersgoed says we need to find creative ways to market local food products. He argues doing that successfully would force the supermarket chains to follow suit and start putting more and more local product on their shelves. CKNX Radio 920AM Wingham story.

Grocer connecting with Net-savvy customers

The result of months of research and planning was a highly interactive website, launched in September of 2009, with a strong social media outreach to further expand the store’s savvy and highly connected customer base. The website is a hub of activity with videos on how to bag your own groceries, videos of Toronto chefs involved in raising money for The Stop Community Food Centre on why they shop at Fiesta; and stories on how to make a perfect Dagwood and Meatball Madness. You can link up with community organizations and events or even find a carpool to shop at Fiesta. Currently the store has more than 680 Facebook members and as many followers on Twitter. Hypenotic keeps the spaces fresh with newsfeed updates and Tweets. Globe and Mail story.

Foodlink Waterloo Blog: Local Dish

Fresh postings each week will share with you special local finds you won’t want to miss, exciting news about the Region’s bounty, insider stories from our local farmers and chefs, inspiring book reviews to keep you informed and inspired to expand your local food passion and … well let’s just say we have lots of great surprises in store for you. Read it here.

Sell the food-buying experience, farmers told

Now that spring’s here, sort of, farmers who market directly to Ontario consumers through roadside stands or farmers’ markets are gearing up for what should be a busy season. Local food is becoming part of our culture, and these farmers strike a chord with localvores and others who believe direct sales are good on many levels, with quality, freshness and safety at the top of the list. But now, another trait is emerging as a local food priority: that is, fun as a point of differentiation. Owen Roberts commentary in the Guelph Mercury.

Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor’s open letter to the Ontario wine industry

I have received so many emails and phone calls about the efforts of Andrew Peller Limited and Vincor’s attempt to get the government to rescind the government’s recent initiative to ensure that 100% of the Ontario grape crop gets put into bottles and not end up on the ground that I feel I should publish this response as an open letter to the industry so Niagara’s grape growers can decide from a position of knowing another point of view on this issue. The so-called Winery and Growers Alliance is in fact a lobby group for the handful of giant wineries that enjoy a monopoly position in the trade of “Cellared in Canada” (CIC) wines. St. Catharines Standard story

Local veggies available year round

It’s probably the very worst time of the year to find local fresh fruits and vegetables to eat. But local certified organic market gardener Ann Slater is still eating veggies she grew last year on her organic vegetable farm, along with some fresh spinach greens she grows in a hoop house on her property north of Uniondale. What’s surprising, Slater said, is that she freezes and cans very few vegetables and still has plenty to choose from over the winter months. Woodstock Sentinel-Review story.

Forum Urges Action On Local Abattoir Situation

They talked about over-regulation, the reality of food safety and even what some called a lack of common sense. Panelists and audience members alike at last night’s public forum on local food in Wingham all seemed to agree something needs to be done to protect the remaining small abattoirs in Ontario. One of the panelists was Kevin Green, owner of Green’s Meat Market in Wingham. He says his whole business is based on the agricultural community in his area. Green says the costs of meeting increasingly tough regulations have to be passed on to the consumer and to the farmers who get their animals processed at his plant. CKNX Radio 920AM Wingham story.

Ontario’s Greenbelt Turns 5, and has a lot to Celebrate!

Ontario’s 1.8 million acre Greenbelt has protected endangered plants and animals, saved environmentally-important green space, and preserved farmland. That’s not all. One study shows that the Greenbelt contributes $2.6 billion annually in ecological services. Despite these tremendous successes, the Greenbelt is under threat from unnecessary infrastructure, such as highways, and gravel pits and quarries. And while the Greenbelt has protected farmland, more needs to be done to support farming. Green Among the Grey: Fifth Anniversary Progress Report on the Greater Golden Horseshoe Greenbelt from the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance.

Markham’s appetite for food belt grows

A large majority of Markham residents have concerns about urban sprawl, traffic congestion and growth issues and would support a food belt instead of the expansion of the city’s urban boundary on to prime agricultural land, a new poll shows. The poll, conducted by Pollara for the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance, shows that 83 per cent supported a food belt. However, the survey found 61 per cent of respondents were not initially familiar with the proposal but supported the idea after it was explained to them. Toronto Star story.

AND if You Have Time

Dare They Sell You Stale Veggies Now!

In supermarkets where loads of veggies is stacked and dumped, freshness may not be a priority. Keeping a track of all that’s been brought in can be time consuming and not all buyers may have a knack for freshness count. The Fresh Code offers a simple solution to this problem; it’s an intelligent barcode with a graph that indicates the freshness level. As time passes by, the graph on the barcode keeps receding, till it finally reaches “0”; indicating that the veggie needs to be dumped and not sold. Yanko Design website.

Perspectives on good food and farming
March 24, 2010

Waterloo Region Opportunity to Include Food Policies in Official Plans

In 2009, the Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable and many other people and organizations gave input into the Region of Waterloo’s Official Plan (ROP) with a view to encouraging the Region to include food policies in it. Now, each of the seven area municipalities in the Region must create Official Plans of their own which conform to the ROP. There is an opportunity for these municipalities to include food-related policies that would address things like community gardens, the keeping of urban hens and bees, locating food stores, etc. The Roundtable’s Discussion Forum contains information on the public input processes planned by the Cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, and invites you to post any information you may have on the other municipalities (Cambridge or the four rural townships). Contact the Roundtable if you want to help advocate for food policies to be incorporated into area municipal official plans.

Niagara slow to ‘Go Local,’ policy brief says

If a vegetable is planted in a local farmer’s field, will anybody in Niagara eat it? Likely not, according to a new policy brief by Brock University’s Niagara Community Observatory. The eight-page discussion paper suggests there’s more than 7,000 farms in Niagara producing everything from peaches to apples to nuts. But many locals aren’t buying what area growers are selling. Niagara’s 435,000 residents like the idea of supporting local growers and buying food that’s good for them, but are accustomed to quick-fix shopping at large grocery store chains, the report finds. These stores are stocked with foreign goods, which are cheaper for large-scale retailers and consumers to purchase than local fruits and vegetables, writes report authors Sophia Papastavrou and Frances Chandler. St. Catharines Standard story. Report (2MB PDF).

New North Perth Market for Poultry

The province’s chicken and turkey farmers have a new market in North Perth. Erie Meat Products will be processing chicken and turkey into hot dogs at the former Campbell’s plant on the outskirts of Listowel. The company’s George Tiesma says they expect to turn out about 4 tonnes of processed meat a day when the plant is fully operational. They expect that will be by the end of this year. The North Perth poultry processing operation will create about 500 jobs over the next three years. CKNX Radio 920AM Winghamstory.

500 New Jobs Coming To North Perth

The McGuinty government is helping turn a former Campbell’s Soup factory into a poultry processing plant in Listowel as part of its Open Ontario Plan. Erie Meat Products Limited is expected to hire and train 500 workers over the next three years to process chicken and turkey meat for sale around the world. Ontario Premier’s website.

Niagara Food Festival makes top 100 list again

Niagara Food Festival was once again ranked in the top 100 celebrations across the province by Festivals and Events Ontario. Festival co-ordinator Jane Thompson learned the good news this week while attending FEO’s annual conference in Ottawa. The peninsula’s tastiest party nabbed a spot in the top 100 out of more than 1,200 eligible festivals and events from across the province. Thompson said interest is continuing to grow around Niagara Food Festival, especially thanks to networking opportunities such as the FEO conference. While networking with other event organizers, she said everyone was impressed not only with the festival but with its state-of-the- art mobile culinary theatre. The theatre will be doing a lot of travelling this summer, with several out-of-town festivals booking it for an appearance. Welland Tribune story.

Farming for the local consumer

Leaving a profitable job as an X-ray technician wasn’t an easy decision for Chantal Lewington. She quit her $30 an hour job to be a full-time farmer. But it’s a decision the 23-year-old doesn’t regret. It was a lifestyle choice,” she said. I wanted to do something to prevent illness rather than just diagnosing it.” Lewington and her husband Dave own Dalew Farms, a 140-acre (56hectare) property in Lavigne where they operate a small-scale farming operation growing a multitude of vegetables, grass-fed beef and lamb, pastured pork and poultry. North Bay Nugget.

Bringing the farm to school

The county is bringing the farm to Lansdowne Public School. In celebration of National Nutrition Month on Thursday, Lansdowne school’s Student Nutrition Program will welcome Simone Edginton, a regi s t e re d dietitian with Lambton’s Community Health Services Department. In keeping with this year’s theme “Celebrate Food . . . from field to table” students will also have the opportunity to learn about the value of eating locally grown food with Zekveld’s Garden Market. Sarnia Observer story.

Some Welcome Increased Consumer Food Interest

Some farm leaders are welcoming the increased consumer interest in how food is produced and where it comes from. Huron Federation of Agriculture president Wayne Black says it gives farmers the chance to get their story to consumers. Black says the Foodland Ontario program is one way consumers can get a better idea where their food is coming from. But he says supporting local farming goes beyond just buying what’s available at the local farmers market. Black says getting the story out about Ontario agriculture is a challenge – especially when faced by well-financed activist groups who prefer to paint all of agriculture as highly-mechanised factory-farm operations. CKNX Radio 920AM Wingham story.

Loblaw stores to go greener

Loblaw stores are installing solar panels on the roof tops of four Ontario stores in an effort to become a greener company. The stores will be in Toronto, Ajax, Whitby and Orleans. “This initiative is part of Loblaw’s overall effort, through the use of renewable energy sources to reduce our carbon footprint,” said Bob Chant, vice president, corporate affairs, Loblaw Companies Limited. Loblaw will work with the Northland Power Income Fund to install the panels to create clean and renewable power. Toronto Sun story

Groups push for greenbelt expansion

A push to get the Dalton McGuinty government to approve a major expansion of the greenbelt westward through Brant County and in other directions in southern Ontario is gaining fresh energy with the entry of new groups and controversial development activities. For much of the past two years, a collection of groups has been advocating, either independently or in concert as the emerging Greenbelt Alliance, for expansions of the greenbelt area’s original 1.8-million acre territory around the Greater Golden Horseshoe. They want the protective environmental and agricultural zone to grow westward into Brant, northward through Guelph, the Town of Oakville, Markham and Simcoe County, and eastward to Prince Edward County. Brantford Expositor story.

AND if You Have Time

Biodegradable Heat-Activated Coffee Cup

Check out this new product proposal called the Heatswell from designer Scott Amron. He’s created a thin paper collar that expands when it comes in contact with heat and is non-toxic and biodegradable. The material appears to expand about two or so inches, and in different, random shapes. The idea is to cut down on the ubiquitous cardboard coffee sleeve, and the changing size of the cup allows it to be stacked prior to use, reducing environmental impact from shipping. Eat Me Daily story. Video

Ontario Greenbelt Alliance applauds Ontario government’s new wine industry plan with a focus on 100% Ontario wines

Toronto – Today, the Ontario government released a new plan for Ontario’s wine industry that will give more support to VQA wines which are made from 100% Ontario grapes. The new plan sets a direction that would more clearly identify and market VQA wines and create a larger market for Ontario’s beleaguered grape growers, many of whom are in the Greenbelt.

Every year foreign grapes are imported into the province in the magnitude of tens of thousands of tonnes to produce “Cellared in Canada” wines. This practice has continued in spite of the fact that it is forecasted that the equivalent of 9,000 tonnes of quality Ontario grapes will rot on the vine this harvesting season and over 25 local vineyards will be forced to close or sell their land due to a lack of market for their grapes.

While the government’s new plan may be too late to save farmers whose current crops have no buyers, the long term strategy will ensure that there are more VQA wines, with a greater presence in LCBO stores across the province. The new direction also involves essentially phasing out the highly contested “Cellared in Canada” wines by 2014.

“This issue reaches far beyond the vineyards,” said Dr. Rick Smith, Executive Director, Environmental Defence, a member group of the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance.  “It is about supporting a healthy agricultural sector, and making sure that Ontarians have access to local foods that are appropriately labeled, competitively priced and readily available. We support this new direction the government is taking.”

The Ontario Greenbelt Alliance, coordinated by Environmental Defence, has been working with community groups and farmers to raise public and political concern for Ontario’s troubled grape industry.  In June, the Alliance launched the “Put the ‘O’ back in LCBO” campaign that has resulted in a thousand individuals contacting the Premier’s office about this issue.

“Importing cheap foreign grape juice, misleading labels, and a lack of VQA marketing efforts at the LCBO have all contributed to a threat to one of Ontario’s most important and iconic crops,” said Jamie Kirkpatrick, Campaigner with the Toronto Environmental Alliance.  “This plan is a strong step towards what is necessary to sustain a healthy Greenbelt, and keep Ontario’s prime agricultural land in the hands of farmers.”

About the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance (www.greenbeltalliance.ca): The Ontario Greenbelt Alliance is a diverse multi-stakeholder coalition of more than 80 organizations who share a common vision for protecting and expanding the Golden Horseshoe Greenbelt. Environmental Defence is the coordinator of the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance.

For more information, or to arrange interviews, please contact:

Jennifer Foulds, Environmental Defence, (416) 323-9521 ext. 232; (647) 280-9521 (cell)