Request for support: Agri-Food Hub in Rouge National Urban Park
Posted: October 15, 2014
Categories: Food in the News / GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Members
Updated October 26, 2014.
A group of local citizens is seeking support to realize their vision of a world-class Agriculture and Food Hub at the Rouge National Urban Park. You can complete this Parks Canada survey if you would like to indicate your support for the proposed Hub. Sustain Ontario members David Cohlmeyer Consulting and Gary Hoyer of GNH Hospitality Consultants have prepared a website with the following information about the proposal: agrifoodhub.org.
The Hub would use poly-cultural demonstration farms to “provide education, offer engaging farm experiences, help support a vibrant farming community in the Park, and promote the long term use and preservation of the land.” A Non-Profit Agri-Food Hub organization would “be able to focus on agricultural activities and be in a better position to effectively negotiate government and park policies with farmers’ production and marketing needs.”
To learn about the proposed Agri-Food Hub in greater depth, you can read this vision document and the Framework that will be submitted to Parks Canada. The group of citizens behind this vision specifically thinks it is important to include more details than the vague agricultural “landscapes” and “resources” mentioned in the Parks Canada Draft. They want to be sure as many specific opportunities as possible are clearly stated in Parks Canada’s Final Management Plan.
You can share your views in the Park’s 2014 Survey by Oct. 30, 2014. As you fill in the survey, you can indicate the importance of ways an Agri-Food Hub can actively:
- encourage a better understanding and respect for farmers,
- provide educational farm and food experiences for visitors,
- support vibrant, sustainable, poly-cultural, local agriculture,
- conserve first-nations and historical agricultural heritage,
- promote the long-term use and preservation of the land.
2 responses to “Request for support: Agri-Food Hub in Rouge National Urban Park”
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This might be difficult with coming lease agreements. Rumours are that instead of a 5 year lease someone has only been offered 4 month renewals.
The group proposing the Agriculture and Food Hub are not citizens local to the Park. Any of their proposed projects would take farmland away from the farmers that have been farming this land, most for 5 – 7 generations. They have been farming with one year leases (a few have 5 year leases) since the early 70’s when they were expropriated. Parks Canada is proposing 25 year leases.