Sustain Ontario Looks Forward to new Local Food Act
Posted: September 19, 2012
Categories: Food in the News / GoodFoodBites / Local Procurement / News from Sustain Ontario / Ontario Food Policy
Members of Sustain Ontario, the provincial alliance for healthy food and farming were pleased to see yesterday’s announcement by the provincial government that it plans to introduce a Local Food Act. After months of conducting consultations and soliciting input from members across the province, Sustain Ontario is looking forward to seeing the bill come to fruition. The goal of the bill is to support, promote and celebrate the good things grown and made in Ontario.
“We see this as a positive step forward in strengthening Ontario’s food system.” comments Ravenna Nuaimy-Barker, Sustain Ontario’s director. “It’s exciting to see Ontario’s government taking initiative to support the food and farming sector.” With an economic impact that rivals the automobile industry for top employer, and with the whopping 15-20% that the organic and local “specialty sub-sector” has grown over the last decade, a small investment in local food seems like money well spent.
Sustain Ontario hopes for this Act to be about more than just the local food economy however. “We are glad to see that they are interested in supporting processors.” says director of Local Food Plus, a Sustain Ontario member, Don Mills. “Also, the government has the opportunity to make a direct impact on the local food economy by directing hospital and school dollars into Ontario-grown food.”
Sustain Ontario recommends a Local Food Act that:
¨ supports food literacy and student nutrition;
¨ grows the market for local and ecologically-produced foods through public institutions;
¨ increases access to financing for local food and farming enterprises;
¨ supports the growth of the ecological and organic farming sectors;
¨ promotes dialogue among ministries and stakeholders for better policy outcomes;
¨ and that invests in local food infrastructure to get food to markets.
For more information on the Local Food Act recommendations made by Sustain Ontario, please see our Good Food Policies page.
Contact:
Carolyn Young
Communications coordinator
647-839-4030
Ravenna Nuaimy-Barker
Director
416-890-0937