Protecting Ontario’s Farmland Forever – Help Make it Happen
Posted: December 19, 2013
Categories: News from Sustain Members
Guest Blog Post by Matt Setzkorn, Acting Executive Director, Ontario Farmland Trust. The Ontario Farmland Trust is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2014.
Image provided by Ontario Farmland Trust.
Ontario’s farmland is disappearing. Fast.
Every day, hundreds of acres of our best farming soils are dug up, paved over and plowed aside in the face of urban sprawl, scattered rural development, and new aggregate pits and quarries throughout the province. The cumulative impact is devastating. 2.8 million acres converted to houses, highways, factories and mines, and permanently lost to agriculture since 1976. This is equivalent to the amount of land required to feed the entire City of Toronto.
Farmland loss is one of the greatest threats to local food and farming in Ontario. If we care about supporting and growing vibrant local food and farming systems, we must do more to protect our irreplaceable agricultural lands. Nothing is more fundamental.
Ontario contains some of the most productive agricultural soils in the country, yet only 5% of the province is suitable for farming (it’s pretty rocky up north). Southern Ontario is home to the best farmland. Of course, this is also where 1/3 of Canada’s population is located, with ongoing population growth and urbanization driving the rapid conversion of farmland to non-farming uses.
Farmland preservation in Ontario requires collaboration and leadership in policy, permanent land protection and authentic community engagement. We need to recognize Ontario farmland as the strategic resource it is, and ensure all efforts are taken to design policy and programs to mitigate the loss of this valuable resource and support the long-term viability of farming communities. Farm organizations, land conservation groups, governments, farmers, rural landowners, environmentalists and food interest groups must see themselves as partners and work together to permanently protect Ontario farmland for current and future generations.
Since 2004, the Ontario Farmland Trust has been responding to the growing public concern for farmland protection by leading research and education about farmland preservation issues, informing farmland protection policy development, and supporting individuals and communities that want to permanently protect farms that are important to them.
The Farmland Trust will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in the new year, and is launching a Farmland Forever campaign to build on successes to date and to scale-up this important farmland preservation work throughout Ontario.
The ongoing loss of our most productive agricultural lands is an unsustainable trend that cannot continue. Let’s work together to protect the land, Ontario farm livelihoods and our ability to grow local food.
Learn more about how you can support the Ontario Farmland Trust campaign and help protect Farmland Forever at www.OntarioFarmlandTrust.ca
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Read more about local perspectives on the need for Ontario farmland protection in this recent Guelph Mercury article, “The case of the disappearing farmland.” (23 Nov 2013).