Locavore News – Events

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Author: Kyle L. McGregor

Posted: June 5, 2010

Categories: Uncategorized

  • Toronto Urban Growers, June 4
  • Fred Eaglesmith at The New Farm: Benefit Concert and BBQ, June 5
  • Talking Food: Why Symposia Are Important for Food Culture, June 7
  • Stewardship Forum 2010: International Year of Biodiversity, June 8
  • Workshop on Economics of Local Food Markets, New Jersey, June 15 & 16
  • Planning Regional Food Systems – June Workshops
  • Growing Chefs! Going Local! Local Food Challenge, Starts June 13 (BC)
  • Food share annual General Meeting and Open House, June 19
  • Guelph Wellington Local Food Fest, June 27
  • 100-Mile Feast, June 28
  • Food Study Group Conference Programme, July 5, London, UK

Perspectives on good food and farming by Elbert van Donkersgoed
June 4, 2010

Toronto Urban Growers, June 4

Spring has arrived and it’s time to get the TUG group together again. We invite you to join us for a potluck where we’ll share updates, have some fun and EAT GOOD FOOD! Please note that this is an optional potluck, so if you’re not able to bring anything – you’re still welcome to join the fun. We’ll be meeting at FoodShare (90 Croatia Street) on Friday, June 4th at 5:30pm-7:30pm. Aimee Carson contact.

Fred Eaglesmith at The New Farm: Benefit Concert and BBQ, June 5

Calling all Fredheads! The New Farm hosts acclaimed musician Fred Eaglesmith for a one-night-only show. The unforgettable evening will feature food, music and good times in the farm’s century-old barn, with all proceeds going to The Stop. The 100% local and organic meal, prepared by Stop chefs Scott MacNeil and Chris Brown, will feature slow-roasted pork, roots and salads from the New Farm, as well as Mapleton’s organic ice cream. Wine and Creemore Springs beer available at a cash bar. Details.

Talking Food: Why Symposia Are Important for Food Culture, June 7

Gastronomer and culinary activist Anita Stewart will present CHO’s annual spring lecture. Anita believes that “[c]ommunication is central to the creation of a dynamic food culture.” Anita will share her insights into the role of food symposia in Canada and around the world. She wrote Anita Stewart’s Canada – The Food, the Recipes, the Stories (Cuisine Canada Gold Award for Food Culture, 2009) expressly to celebrate Canada’s foodscape and culinary history. $15 members and non-members. Includes refreshments. Pre-registration recommended. Monday, June 7, 7:00 pm Campbell House Museum, 160 Queen Street West, Toronto at Osgoode Subway Station 416 597-0227. Website.

Stewardship Forum 2010: International Year of Biodiversity, June 8

The annual Stewardship Network Ontario Forum at Black Creek Pioneer Village is planned for June 8th, 2010. Dr. John Howard, Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine in the Schulich School of Medicine and Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Association for Physicians for the Environment will explore how our care for the environment has been eclipsed by health care despite the fact that when the environment is ignored, the result is poorer human health. Details from Tiffany Roschkow.

Workshop on Economics of Local Food Markets, New Jersey, June 15 & 16

Local Food Markets is a high-visibility issue area distinguished by a number of economic and marketing questions that demand research-based answers. The goal of the workshop is to highlight current research and bring together researchers, extension educators, private sector participants, and policy makers to exchange ideas and develop a common set of priority research and education needs for local food systems. The synthesis of ideas that result from this workshop will be disseminated in a variety of relevant outlets to encourage collaboration on local foods research and extension. The format will include two thematic sessions emphasizing rural and urban local food issues. Each session will begin with a presentation by an invited speaker selected for expertise in practical or theoretical aspects of local food markets. Aboutthe workshop.

Planning Regional Food Systems – June Workshops

The Ontario Farmland Trust is presenting workshops across the Greater Golden Horseshoe throughout the summer, inviting planners to learn about farmland protection and regional food system development. The first two workshops have been set for June 16th in York Region, and June 17th in Peel Region. Details on Ontario Farmland Trust website.

***NEW***Growing Chefs! Going Local! Local Food Challenge, Starts June 13 (BC)

Discover all the wonderful culinary offerings of your local food community and help raise awareness for Growing Chefs! Here’s how it works: sign up, fundraise, eat local, win awesome prizes! Details.

Food share annual General Meeting and Open House, June 19

The upcoming 25th Anniversary AGM and Open House will celebrate FoodShare’s work over its 25 year history, and look to the future as we launch our new Greenhouse. Count on a provocative panel discussion, demonstrations in all of our program areas, tours, workshops, lots of helpful take-home resources plus fun for the whole family. And of course, we will serve a delicious healthy lunch for all. Be sure to save the date and watch for further details! Details on website

Guelph Wellington Local Food Fest, June 27

Mark your calendar for this year’s 5th annual Fest.  We are still looking for volunteers for various positions at this event. If you are interestedcontact.

***NEW***100-Mile Feast, June 28

The Greater KW Chamber of Commerce will be presenting a 100 Mile Feast featuring celebrity chef Jamie Kennedy. This event is a unique celebration of locally produced food and wine.  The event begins with a reception where Jamie will be cooking at a live action station and will be followed by 5 courses of the finest ingredients along with wine pairings to excite your taste senses. Details.

***NEW***Food Study Group Conference Programme, July 5, London, UK

The British Sociological Association is holding its annual Food Studies Group conference on 5 July at the British Library, London. The sessions will explore the following themes: food security and sustainability; constructions of risk and meaning; the regulation and editing of choice; methodological challenges and innovation; children, food and institutions. Sheila Dillon will attend the Poster Session and Drinks Reception and present a short ‘viewpoint’ about her observations about food in/from the UK and elsewhere. Sheila Dillon is the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme.  She comes from Hoghton, Lancashire, the village where in 1603 a drunken James VI of Scotland, en route to take the throne of England, knighted the loin of beef he was served in HoghtonTower’s banqueting hall—hence Sirloin. Sheila says the story may be apocryphal but it shows that good food has long been taken seriously in her part of the country. Details.

Growing Out of Hunger, July 13, BC

Find out how this former professional basketball player, corporate sales executive and urban farmer is feeding 10,000 people and starting a community food revolution out of his inner-city farms in Milwaukee and Chicago. Winner of the $500,000 MacArthur Genius Fellowship in 2008, Will Allen is transforming the cultivation, production, and delivery of healthy foods to underserved urban populations. Details Simon Fraser University website.

Ecosystem Services: Applications for Conservation Science, Policy, and Practice, July 18-20

Join your colleagues in St. Louis for the 65th annual international conference of the Soil and Water Conservation Society. The conference, held July 18-21, includes workshops, concurrent sessions, symposia, posters, plenary sessions, and technical tours designed to raise the awareness of conference participants to recent developments in the science and art of natural resource conservation and environmental management. The 2010 conference will take place at the Hilton at the Ballpark in downtown St. Louis. Ecosystem services, simply put, are the benefits that society receives from soil, water, air, organisms, and the processes that govern their interactions. Nourishing food and clean water in sufficient quantities are two examples of human needs that would not be met without ecosystem services such as soil formation, nutrient cycling, and regulating the earth’s climate. Other services include meeting the recreational, aesthetic, and cultural amenities that are essential for human well being. The concept of ecosystem services is not new, but is gaining momentum as we seek to prioritize, measure, and communicate the value of conservation impacts in agricultural and urban settings. Abstracts for oral presentations, posters, and symposia should address the role of ecosystem services concepts in the technical, outreach and education, and public policy aspects of conservation. Details.

***NEW***The Food Project Summer Institute, Boston, August 4-6

The time is ripe for young people and their adult allies to step up and change the food reality in this country. Come learn how to build partnerships with youth that help them tap into their potential as change agents. Lots of adults know they want to farm with youth, but how to do this well requires a lot of skill and technique. Come learn from The Food Project’s 19 years of practice. You will see that we depend upon both inspiration and perspiration to create a diverse, vibrant, energetic, skilled, and thoughtful community of youth and adults who grow and distribute an amazing abundance of food. This three-day workshop (August 4-6) promises to be interactive, intimate, and experiential. The techniques we teach apply to doing any effective youth work or teaching.  Enrolment is limited to 25 participants. We accept applications on a first come, first serve basis. Institute details.

Third Annual Savour Simcoe – Celebrating of Heritage, Agriculture & Regional Cuisine, August 29

Third Annual Savour Simcoe event will take place on Sunday August 29th, 2010 at the Simcoe County Museum (outdoors among the trees and historical buildings) – 1151 Hwy 26, Minesing, ON (just minutes northwest of Barrie). Details

Growing Power’s National-International Urban & Small Farm Conference, September 10 to 12, Milwaukee

Come to Milwaukee and help grow the good food revolution. Hosted by Growing Power—a national organization headed by the sustainable urban farmer and MacArthur Fellow Will Allen—this international conference will teach the participant how to plan, develop and grow small farms in urban and rural areas. Learn how you can grow food year-round, no matter what the climate, and how you can build markets for small farms. See how you can play a part in creating a new food system that fosters better health and more closely-knit communities. Conference website.

***NEW***2010 Tour de Greenbelt, September 11, 12, 25 & 26

Re-discover the joy of a leisurely bike ride and come explore Ontario’s Greenbelt, 1.8 million acres of protected land wrapping around the Golden Horseshoe. Website.

Savour Stratford Perth County Culinary Festival, September 25-26, Stratford

Renowned Canadian chefs, award-winning food writers, local farmers and artisans, exclusive Ontario VQA wines, craft brews and Stratford’s musical artists invite you to come join them to celebrate glorious food. Wander farmers markets in search of edible treasures, hands-on culinary demonstrations for adults and kids, outdoor musical concerts, street carnivals, theatre and an authentic Perth County BBQ. Continue with more concerts, street carnivals, culinary demonstrations and York Street Tasting with over 30 chefs paired with 30 local producers and VQA wines for an afternoon of sampling and imbibing in tents. It all happens in Stratford’s historic downtown shopping and garden district. Details on the Savour Stratford website.

FlavourFest, October 5 -11

Experience the flavours of Norfolk County, where local farmers, growers and chefs come together to promote their produce and culinary skills.  There are live cooking shows with celebrity chefs and local talent, meet the Two Fairly Fat Guys, and shop the FlavourFest market to take home products with you. At Norfolk County Fair & Horse Show in Simcoe, ON.Happy Eating!! 1-800-699-9038, website.

2nd European Sustainable Food Planning Conference, October 29-30

Planning for sustainable food production and consumption is an increasingly important issue for policymakers, planners, designers, farmers, suppliers, activists, business and scientists alike. In the wider contexts of global climate change, a world population of 9 billion and growing, competing food production systems and diet‐related public health concerns, are there new paradigms for urban and rural planning capable of supporting sustainable and equitable food systems?University of Brighton (UK) website.

Faith and the Future of the Countryside 2010, November 3 to 5, Swanwick, Derbyshire, UK

A major ecumenical conference exploring the sustainability of rural communities and their churches, and making recommendations for their future. This event will also mark 20 years from the publication of Faith in the Countryside and the completion of the Archbishop’s Commission on Rural Areas. Four conference themes of rural communities, economy, environment and rural church reflect the breadth of issues covered in the original report. Church of England website.

Food Secure Canada’s Biennial Assembly, November 26 to 28

The Assembly will begin with a keynote panel on Friday, November 26, focusing on the ‘big picture’ around food, energy, and climate change, with a panel of speakers from the ‘global South’ and Canada. The speakers will unveil the international corporate agenda and discuss the responses from small farmers and social movements against land grabs and the degeneration of agriculture into the production of biomass for whatever industrial purpose is currently convenient. This discussion will be placed in the context of the movement for Food Sovereignty. Initial program outline. Submissions for workshop or other sessions welcome via on-line form for the Food Secure Canada Assembly 2010. There is a link on the home page or you can go directly to http://foodsecurecanada.org/content-proposal-form.

Greenbelts: Local Solutions for Global Challenges, March 22 to 24, 2011

The Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation is hosting an International Greenbelts Conference in Toronto, Canada, March 22nd – 24th, 2011. Through the sharing of diverse experience and perspectives, the Conference will spark new ideas about the possibilities that greenbelts offer, and generate new ways of tackling some of the complex challenges in near urban farming, rural vibrancy, and protecting our ecosystems and the numerous benefits they provide. Website.

Sustain Ontario Calendar of Events

FarmStart Current Events & Workshops

The Stop Community Food Centre Events Calendar

AND in case you have time

First-ever Water Hour – 8 pm, June 11

Water Hour aspires to be a global happening to protect water. The global launch will take place in June a year from now. Tangible, incremental steps will be taken starting with the all-important pilot test on June 11. Don’t be fooled by the word ‘pilot’. For everybody who participates, it will be the real thing. But at the same time we will be testing every dimension of the program needed for global uptake over the coming year. www.waterhour.org