Food and Water First
Food Water FirstMelancthon Township - the 1st "Food & Water First" Community
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- Published on Friday, 15 March 2013 21:15
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NDACT appeared before Melancthon Township Council Thursday March 7, 2013 and invited them to become a "Food & Water First" community. Melancthon Council, in a recorded vote, unanimously agreed to support and activiely participate in the "FOOD and WATER FIRST" campaign.
Excerpt from Melancthon Council Meeting Minutes, Mar. 7, 2013
Click here to see the presentation.
Click here to find out more about the Food & Water First Campaign details.
Your Rural Ontario
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- Published on Tuesday, 12 March 2013 12:16
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Melancthon Landscape is Posted on TVO Agenda website
What is rural Ontario? Is it a Statistics Canada definition? Is it a culture? Is it farmland that is gradually being swallowed by suburban sprawl? When we talk about rural Ontario are we sure that we're all referring to the same place? We’d like to know what you think rural Ontario is.
J.D. Black's potato field, Melancthon
Photos by Natalia Shields
I entered the Melancthon Potato Field Tree into the prestigious annual SNAP photography competition and fundraiser for ACT and it was accepted for the Silent Auction.... I was surprised by the emotional response that viewers had to the photo. An old maple tree standing guard over a humble potato field... Perhaps the recent anti mega quarry battle served to remind us that Ontario farmland is important and we came very close to losing a huge tract of that precious land. --Natalia from Toronto
The anti megaquarry fight in Melancthon Township over the past 2 years inspired me to join the group Artists VS the Megaquarry... As a photographer and a farmer's daughter, I felt it was my cause as well... the bottom line is all farmers in Ontario are engaged in the same endeavour...to produce food for Ontarians. That endeavour creates connections not only between all the farm communities but also with their urban neighbours who enjoy the food they produce. --Natalia from Toronto
TVO The Agenda website https://pinterest.com/TheAgenda/your-rural-ontario/
Ontario Municipal Board Decision Paves Way for Farmland Loss
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- Published on Friday, 01 March 2013 13:57
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Ontario Municipal Board Decision Paves Way for Farmland Loss (Mar 01, 2013)
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Christian Farmers of Ontario Disappointed with OMB Decision By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com Loss of farmland due to urban sprawl is a public policy issue that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. One of the Ontario’s general farm organizations, the Christian Farmers of Ontario (CFFO) finds the most recent decision made by the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) to alter the planned development for the Region of Waterloo a setback for farmland preservation. As strong advocates for the importance of farmland preservation, CFFO has been active in arguing that the importance of preserving prime farmland outweighs the value of building subdivisions. While the Region of Waterloo has embraced the goals outlined in the Places to Grow Act, which is aimed at encouraging redevelopment and intensification in city development within the Greater Golden Horseshoe area, the OBM has ruled in favour of developers. The Region of Waterloo wanted to limit new subdivisions to 80 hectors of land, while the OMB ruled in favour of developers who wanted 1000 hectors. Now that the OMB has made its decision the region, landowners and developers will go into negotiations as to where this new development will occur. The CFFO says in this week’s commentary that this decision is only one of three decisions that they fear will serve as a precedent for other cities and developers throughout the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The CFFO finds the decision even more troubling given that the Region of Waterloo was working towards limiting urban sprawl and that their elected council had been working with the public and made efforts to meet the goals presenting the Placed to Grow Act. The CFFO commends the Region of Waterloo for their efforts and says that new policy options are needed to protect farmland as a valuable asset in the long-term. |
Posted in farms.com
March 1, 2013
Calzavara celebrates Melancthon win at ‘Taters Not Craters’ dance
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- Published on Monday, 25 February 2013 20:45
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The Orangeville Banner reports on the ‘Taters Not Craters’ dance that took place last week to celebrate the defeat of the Melancthon quarry. Council of Canadians organizer Mark Calzavara spoke at the February 16 event in Honeywood, Ontario.
Performers at the dance included members of Our Lady Peace. According to the news story, drummer Jeremy Taggart grew up in nearby Mansfield and became involved in the fight against the mega-quarry when told about it by a childhood friend. Musician Tom Barlow also performed at the dance with a special song about the community’s fight to save its farmland. Hobo Wally, Danny Beaton, Ed Roman, Grand Canyon, the Hamilton-based alternative country rock band Harlan Pepper, and the square-dance group Heaslip & Band were also there.
The newspaper notes, “The dance celebrates The Highland Companies withdrawal of its application for a licence to mine 2,316 acres of land for limestone in Melancthon, as well as the North Dufferin Agricultural Task Force’s second mission for an overhaul of the provincial Aggregate Resources Act.”
For more on the successful campaign to defeat the Melancthon mega-quarry, please see http://canadians.org/blog/?p=18027.
By Brent Patterson, Wednesday, February 20th, 2013
Posted on the "Council of Canadians" website
Second Annual Taters Awards
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- Published on Sunday, 24 February 2013 22:35
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THE SECOND ANNUAL TATER AWARDS!
The Oscars may have red carpets, glitzy dresses and tuxedos....but we have the Taters!
To those new to the campaign, the Taters were launched last year to honour the many journalists, bloggers, filmmakers and musicians who have told the story of our fight to stop the Highland mega quarry. The Tater is a Golden Spud (a spiffy Mr. Potato Head!) representing the potato fields we sought to protect.
Click here for the list of winners. We've included links to all of the top videos, articles and blogs! Enjoy!
Donna T.