A Natural Fit: Bring Food Home and the Eastern Ontario Local Food Conference

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Author: Josie Di Felice

Posted: October 11, 2017

Categories: GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Ontario

Our biennial Bring Food Home conference is now under 3 weeks away, and as we approach the weekend of October 26-29, the excitement is growing! This year’s conference, focusing on Upstream Collaboration, has us thrilled to be partnering with Just Food from Ottawa and the Eastern Ontario Local Food Conference (EOLFC).

Katie Nolan with the EOLFC recently took a short break from planning to chat with us a little about our unique partnership this year, and the upcoming networking opportunities and knowledge sharing that these conferences are known to foster. With both events concurrently taking place in Ottawa this year, a collaboration between the two seemed like an obvious opportunity to not pass up!

“The Eastern Ontario Local Food Conference started in 2011 as a way to give local food practitioners in the region a place to gather, share ideas, and learn from one another. It has moved around the region but never been held in Ottawa,” Katie explains. “When Bring Food Home was announced for Ottawa in late October, the partnership seemed like a natural fit. We are working together to offer EOLFC-type content as a stream of Bring Food Home.”

The EOLFC stream will offer what our participants have come to expect: timely information on key topics, showcasing of Eastern Ontario’s best examples, and a chance to share ideas and create business connections with new contacts.

The EOLFC is also organizing the opening Ignite session, which will showcase some of the incredible work happening in the region. The session will be host to ten local leaders who have made lasting contributions to the conversation, assets and communities that are part of creating a just, sustainable food system. We can’t wait!

“We hope that our EOLFC participants will benefit from learning more about Sustain Ontario’s work, and some of the broader issues around food systems,” Katie shares. “Similarly, we hope that people from other parts of the province and those who haven’t normally participated in EOLFC will learn more about it, enjoy our sessions, and consider coming to a future offering of the Eastern Ontario Local Food Conference!”

For more on the EOLFC stream, as well as the other 7 engaging streams offered at Bring Food Home this year, view the full program here.