Locavore News by Elbert van Donkersgoed
Posted: December 7, 2009
Categories: Events / News from Sustain Ontario
On November 29th, 4 million football fanatics from across the nation will tune in to the most watched Canadian sporting event, the CFL Grey Cup. And if a regular season football game weren’t enough reason to throw a party, the championship match-up certainly is. If you’re planning a Grey Cup party this year, Homegrown Ontario has your game day menu covered. Homegrown Ontario Newsletter.
Foraging for foodies
Albert Knab, a second-generation Tillsonburg farmer and business professor, complained that his neighbours had a hard time selling their crops. His friend, Chris McKittrick, a Toronto connoisseur of local food, complained he couldn’t get enough. They decided to do something about it and called on grocery guru Paul Knechtel for help. Knechtel, meanwhile, was being driven crazy seeing imported produce in supermarkets in the middle of summer. The trio channelled their frustration into the 100 Mile Market, linking farmers, chefs, caterers, small food shops – and ultimately, consumers – who love the words “fresh” and “local.” Toronto Star story.
Government of Ontario invests in agriculture with new IQF Facility
The government of Ontario through the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has partnered with Naturally Norfolk, a Delhi-based company specializing in the processing of frozen fruits and vegetables, to launch the development of a new Individual Quick Freeze (IQF) facility in this south central Ontario community. Farms.com story.
New organization takes lead on rural Ontario issues
Two provincial organizations have merged to create the new Rural Ontario Institute, a not-for- profit organization formed to provide stronger support for key issues facing rural Ontario. The Centre for Rural Leadership (TCRL) and The Ontario Rural Council (TORC) will officially amalgamate on April 1, 2010 to form the Rural Ontario Institute, operating out of the Ontario Agri- Centre in Guelph. Woodstock Sentinel-Review story.
Funding aims to put healthy food on table
For families struggling to get by on low income, eating healthy, locally produced fruits and vegetables often takes a back seat to food that is fast, inexpensive and often unhealthy. That’s why the Peterborough County-City Health Unit has teamed up with Ontario growers and other community partners for a new project called Putting Local Food on the Table. At the health unit’s office on Hospital Dr. yesterday, Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal announced the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is spending $100,000 in funding over two years to increase the amount of local produce used by the health unit and YWCA programs. Peterborough Examiner story.
Foodbelt boosters speak out
They came in droves and they pleaded with town council to stand up to the region’s growth plan and say no. Local residents packed council chambers Tuesday night to express their concerns about Markham’s remaining farmlands and its preferred growth alternative to 2031 as they relate to York Region’s draft official plan, set to be passed Dec. 16. Leading the pack was Toronto conservationist Jim Robb, who spoke to council on behalf of the Rouge Duffins Greenspace Coalition. Mr. Robb, who is also general manager of the Friends of the Rouge Watershed, said with five per cent of forest cover and 16 per cent of provincial whitebelt left in Markham, the town can’t afford to increase its urban footprint. YorkRegion.com story.
Niagara Region throws support behind fruit and veggie growers
Regional council is asking for provincial and federal aid for Niagara’s endangered fruit and vegetable farmers. Council unanimously voted Thursday to support the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association in its request for a government-supported risk-management program for the beleaguered horticulture industry. Association chair Brenda Lammens said the tender-fruit industry faces “a catastrophe” born of skyrocketing production prices and cheap foreign imports “dumped” into the local market. Lammens said tender-fruit-growing areas like Niagara are poised to lose farms and potentially “thousands of on-farm jobs” if a government-supported industry support program isn’t developed. St. Catharines story.
How Toronto Found Its Food Groove
This excerpt, written by Wayne Roberts, and edited by Christina Palassio and Alana Wilcox for The Edible City: Toronto’s Food from Farm to Fork. The Edible City: Toronto’s Food from Farm to Fork asks: if a city is its people, and its people are what they eat, then shouldn’t food play a larger role in our dialogue about how and where we live? The food of a metropolis is essential to its character. Native plants, proximity to farmland, the locations of supermarkets, immigration, food security concerns, how chefs are trained: how a city nourishes itself might say more than anything else about what kind of city it is.Wayne Roberts New Internationalist blog.
I’m looking for someone to farm my land
The farm has a large country house with around 1800 sq. feet and surrounding fields and bush. It has two main bedrooms with a large open plan kitchen, dining & living area. There is a large garden and pond with extensive gardens. There are approximately 20 acres of land available for cultivation and the remaining 30 is bush and residential. It is well located for markets close to Toronto, Guelph and the surrounding area if you were interested marketing produce. FarmLINK Ontariolisting.
Implementing Acting Today, Shaping Tomorrow In Our Schools
Ontario Principals Council made this video to encourage principals to bring experiential learning for sustainability into their schools and to partner with community-based organizations for assistance. They shot with EcoSource’s Summer Institute for in-service teachers. Also featured
is the Jackman School Garden and Green Roof. Video:Â Implementing Acting Today, Shaping Tomorrow In Our Schools