Agriculture critic hosts local talks on Local Food Act

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Published on Thursday, 29 August 2013 21:42

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JOYCE CASSIN Northumberland Today Northumberland Quinte West MPP Rob Milligan, left, hosted a roundtable discussion on the Local Food Act with PC Agriculture Critic and Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman on Monday.

When the provincial legislature reconvenes in the fall, Progressive Conservative agriculture critic Ernie Hardeman hopes to have some local food issues on the table.

His goal is to host a series of roundtable discussions with local farmers. The ninth such discussion took place yesterday in Northumberland, Hardeman said, and he expects there will be several more — and at the end of the day, he hopes to get the consumption of local foods up and imported foods on a decline.

“We are getting feedback from local farmers and producers to see what we can do to strengthen and address the Local Food Act,” Hardeman said after Monday’s roundtable discussion, held in Cobourg on Monday. “We feel the Act doesn’t go far enough to promote local foods.”

He said that the number-one issue he’s heard so far is the lack of education — that more education is required.

“We want to mandate food literacy as part of the curriculum in our schools,” Hardeman said. “Every roundtable in the province has discussed better education to understand food.”

The Food Act encourages people to eat the best (local) food in the world, and Hardeman said he agrees with Agriculture Minister Kathleen Wynne, although he feels people should be more than encouraged, and that more must be done.

The PCs hope to bring more to the Act, to preserve the lands and protect the environment, he said.

“The Minister is quite receptive to suggestions, and some things make perfect sense,” he said.

Hardeman also wants the Income Tax Act changed to help farmers when they are unable to sell their food crops — as in providing a tax break to cover the cost of transporting foods to a local food bank.

“The farmer wouldn’t get any money, but he’d get rid of his crops and the people of the food bank would benefit,” he said.

One of the Tories’ concerns is that there are no targets set, but the Minister has to report on the progress every three years.

“The Minister could say they were 110% successful, and not accomplish a thing (if there aren’t any targets),” he said.

Northumberland County director of economic development and tourism Dan Borowec said the government should take a better look at what is meant by “local” foods.

Currently the definition of ‘local food’ is food that is grown / produced in Ontario.

The Local Food Act is good for Northumberland, said Borowec.

“The intent is very much in line with our proposed niche processing facility,” Borowec said.

Plans to build an agriculture / food incubator in Cramahe Township’s industrial park will help make Northumberland foods available to not only the immediate vicinity, but to areas across the province, he said.

“There’s lots of potential,” he said.

Part of the plan is to label foods processed at the facility that will direct purchasers to the local producer’s website.

“The packaging will identify the source, and it’ll be a big benefit to local farmers,” Borowec said. “This gives the consumer the ability to check the food source and choose who they wish to buy from.”

And farmers and producers such as micro-breweries may have the option to use this niche processing facility soon.

“I’m hopeful the shovel will be in the ground within the next few weeks,” Borowec said.

By Joyce Cassin

Published in Northumberland Today, July 22, 2013

Mega Quarry Down: Big Celebration!

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Published on Thursday, 15 August 2013 06:48

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Celebrate Food & Water First!

Sunday Aug. 18^th in Honeywood ON

August 14^th 2013

Toronto, ON – After more than four years of struggle, the fight against the proposed Mega Quarry north of Orangeville ended abruptly last month. Farmland trust investment firm Bonnefield Financial bought the land from the Highland Companies—the U.S. hedge fund-backed firm that wanted to excavate a 2,300-acre quarry on Class 1 farmland, sparking a massive grassroots movement to protect farmland and water in Ontario.

The Class 1 farmland in Melancthon Township is safe—for the time being—so it’s time to Celebrate Food & Water First!

Remember Foodstock? Soupstock? This is the next installment in a string of successful events to celebrate and protect farmland and water resources. Celebrate the bounty and talent of North Dufferin County, and support the Food & Water First campaign to preserve Ontario’s vital agricultural land and source water regions. The event is being held in Honeywood, the same community that hosted Foodstock and was at the heart of the fight to stop the proposed mega quarry.

Details:

·        11am to 3pm, Sunday August 18^th

·        Honeywood Arena, Honeywood ON

·        $5 admission, children 5 and under free

·        Bring a plate, fork and cup

Local celebrities:

·        Dale Goldhawk of Goldhawk Fights Back

·        The Armstrong family: 4 living generations of a local farm family, here since the 1850s!

·        ‘Father Goose’ Bill Lishman, flying his ultralight from the Pickering Lands to Honeywood

·        Carl Cosack, Chair of the North Dufferin Agricultural & Community Taskforce

Featured:

·        Live music including the band Harlan Pepper

·        40 vendors: local chefs, fresh produce, milk, meat, honey & treats!

·        Art exhibit

·        Wagon rides to a beautiful vista of the prime farmland saved from the mega quarry—see Artists

      Against the Mega Quarry at their easels!

      Kids’ activities and face-painting

Note: bring a fork, plate and cup. This is a bottled water-free event. Quench Buggy on site!

Food & Water First: Changing land use laws in Ontario

Food & Water First is the legacy of the Stop the Mega Quarry movement. While the Melancthon fields are now back in the hands of farmers, Ontario’s prime farmland and source water regions are still vulnerable to non-farming development of all kinds.

Food & Water First is a grassroots movement campaigning for changes to the Aggregate Resources Act and other land-use planning policies. We believe Ontario’s rare agricultural land and water resources should be protected in perpetuity, not squandered in perpetuity.

Food & Water First partners include the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, David Suzuki Foundation Ontario Farmland Trust, Ontario Rivers’ Alliance, Toronto Food Policy Council as well as several municipalities. For more information, visit http://foodandwaterfirst.com

Celebrity profiles

·        Bill Lishman 20 years ago, Bill led geese on a migration route to the U-S using his ultralight plane and that adventure inspired the movie "Fly Away Home." He will speak in the Honeywood arena at noon and then conduct a flypast over the Hills of Headwaters to show his support for Food & Water First, and to symbolically link the Class 1 farmland in Dufferin County to the Class 1 farmland in Pickering that's slated for a new airport. 

"The most precious thing we have is the land that sustains us," says Bill. "To permanently destroy prime growing land, for whatever cause, is tantamount to theft from our offspring."

·        The Armstrong Family Members of the Armstrong family have been stewards of their land in Melancthon for the past 160 years. They understand its true value, and so when the Highland Companies tried to purchase their farm, Ralph and Mary Lynne Armstrong refused and helped lead the battle to stop the proposed Mega Quarry. "Seven generations of Armstrongs have farmed this beautiful soil and cherished its life-giving properties," says daughter Kate, who will be selling Armstrong beef, pork and lamb at Celebrate Food & Water First inside the Honeywood arena.

·         

Dale Goldhawk is a journalist, author and broadcaster with more than 45 years of experience in newspapers, radio, and television. He has been a tremendous supporter of the No Mega Quarry fight over the years. Currently, Goldhawk hosts Goldhawk LIVE, a public affairs show on Rogers TV in Toronto. He is also the host of Goldhawk Fights Back For You, a daily citizen advocacy show on Zoomer radio.

For specific media inquiries, please contact:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , Outwrite Communications 416 476 7484

Ontario farmers put food and water first (2013)

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Published on Friday, 09 August 2013 15:02

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Ontario farmers put food and water first (2013)

By Mark Wales, President, Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA)

Ontario farmers produce the most diverse range of food in Canada, growing more than 200 different crops including grains, fruits and vegetables. But despite this diversity, a mere 5% of the province’s land base is suitable for agriculture. And of that, only a small proportion includes Class 1, 2, 3 or 4 soils.

Productive land is a farmer’s most important resource. Clean water is a close second. These two valuable resources must be preserved. That’s why the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) recently signed a pledge to protect Ontario’s productive farmland and our water resources, and to make every effort to preserve the land and water that will sustain us now and for future generations. The pledge is an initiative of a new Ontario organization called Food and Water First.

Food and Water First is a grassroots movement dedicated to protecting Class 1 farmland and source water regions. While we agree with this intention, OFA feels it important to go further to defend farmland Classes 1 through 4. The group is made up of rural and urban citizens who value Ontario’s agricultural soils and water resources, and the need for preservation. Together, organization partners encourage the Ontario government to adopt a “food and water first” policy so the agricultural sector and source water regions are given priority in land-use planning.

Ontario farmers do their part every day to keep land and water safe. The majority of Ontario farmers employ tailor-made agronomic strategies through Environmental Farm Plans to ensure farmer-owned properties remain productive and environmentally sustainable for generations to come. Practices such as no-till planting, managing waste run-off and keeping on-farm waterways clean are common sense solutions on the farm.

In recent months, the OFA has been vocal on issues about water and farmland preservation. OFA fervently believes that all Ontarians benefit from the economic and environmental benefits productive land and water bring to our province. OFA has a proud history of working with like-minded organizations on research, education and policy development to further strengthen and protect Ontario farmland.

Concern for land and water comes naturally to farmers, because these resources are integral to our livelihood. The OFA applauds grassroots organizations that encourage citizens – both rural and urban – to take a stand by recognizing the value these resources hold for everyone. Ontario farmers encourage a “food and water first” policy approach, and the OFA looks forward to working with like-minded organizations to see it implemented. 

By Mark Wales
President
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
519-773-6706

Posted on the Ontario Federation of Agriculture website http://www.ofa.on.ca/media/news/ontario-farmers-put-food-and-water-first

Simcoe County "Plans for Food and Water First"

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Published on Monday, 24 June 2013 15:03

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Plan for Food and Water First!

Simcoe County residents pose with a sign promoting the province-wide Food and Water First campaign outside the Nottawasaga Inn in Alliston after participating in an Ontario Municipal Board pre-hearing on the Simcoe County Official Plan. Among the groups represented are AWARE Simcoe, the Midhurst Ratepayers Association, People United for a Rural Everett, the Simcoe County Federation of Agriculture, Clearview Community Coalition, the Angus Ratepayers Association and Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition.

AWARE News Network photo

http://aware-simcoe.ca/council/simcoe-county/3747-sprawl.html

http://aware-simcoe.ca/council/simcoe-county/3746-sprawl.html

Peak Water, Peak Oil…Now, Peak Soil?

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Published on Monday, 03 June 2013 21:34

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REYKJAVÍK, Iceland, May 31 2013 (IPS) - Soil is becoming endangered.This reality needs to be part of our collective awareness in order to feed nine billion people by 2050, say experts meeting here in Reykjavík.

And a big part of reversing soil decline is carbon, the same element that is overheating the planet.

“Keeping and putting carbon in its rightful place” needs to be the mantra for humanity if we want to continue to eat, drink and combat global warming, concluded 200 researchers from more than 30 countries.

“There is no life without soil,” said Anne Glover, chief scientific advisor to the European Commission.

“While soil is invisible to most people it provides an estimated 1.5 to 13 trillion dollars in ecosystem services annually,” Glover said at the Soil Carbon Sequestration conference that ended this week.

The dirt beneath our feet is a nearly magical world filled with tiny, wondrous creatures. A mere handful of soil might contain a half million different species including ants, earthworms, fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms. Soil provides nearly all of our food – only one percent of our calories come from the oceans, she said.

Soil also gives life to all of the world’s plants that supply us with much of our oxygen, another important ecosystem service. Soil cleans water, keeps contaminants out of streams and lakes, and prevents flooding. Soil can also absorb huge amounts of carbon, second only to the oceans.

“It takes half a millennia to build two centimetres of living soil and only seconds to destroy it,” Glover said.

Each year, 12 million hectares of land, where 20 million tonnes of grain could have been grown, are lost to land degradation. In the past 40 years, 30 percent of the planet’s arable (food-producing) land has become unproductive due to erosion. Unless this trend is reversed soon, feeding the world’s growing population will be impossible.

The world will likely need “60 percent more food calories in 2050 than in 2006″, according to a new paper released May 30 by the World Resources Institute. Reaching this goal while maintaining economic growth and environmental sustainability is one of the most important global challenges of our time, it concludes.

Urban development is a growing factor in loss of arable lands. One million city dwellers occupy 40,000 hectares of land on average, said Rattan Lal of Ohio State University.

Plowing, removal of crop residues after harvest, and overgrazing all leave soil naked and vulnerable to wind and rain, resulting in gradual, often unnoticed erosion of soil. This is like tire wear on your car – unless given the attention and respect it deserves, catastrophe is only a matter of time.

Erosion also puts carbon into the air where it contributes to climate change. But with good agricultural practices like using seed drills instead of plows, planting cover crops and leaving crop residues, soils can go from a carbon source to a carbon solution, he said.

“Soil can be a safe place where huge amounts of carbon from the atmosphere could be sequestered,” Lal told IPS.

When a plant grows it takes CO2 out the atmosphere and releases oxygen. The more of a crop – maize, soy or vegetable – that remains after harvest, the more carbon is returned to the soil. This carbon is mainly found in humus – the rich organic material from decay of plant material. Soil needs to contain just 1.5 percent carbon to be healthy and resilient – more capable of withstanding drought and other harsh conditions.

“Healthy soils equals healthy crops, healthy livestock and healthy people,” Lal said.

However, most soils suffer from 30 to 60 percent loss in soil carbon. “Soils are like a bank account. You should only draw out what you put in. Soils are badly overdrawn in most places.”

Farmers and pastoralists (ranchers) could do “miracles” in keeping carbon in the soil and helping to pull carbon out of the atmosphere and feed the world if they were properly supported, Lal said.

The world’s 3.4 billion ha of rangeland and pastures has the potential to sequester or absorb up to 10 percent of the annual carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels and cement production, estimates Ólafur Arnalds, a soil scientist at the Agricultural University of Iceland.

Eliminating overgrazing and using other pasture management techniques will reduce the number of animals on the land in the short term but it is better for the long term health of grazing lands. While these practises can help with climate change, there many other good reasons to adopt them, Arnalds told IPS.

That view is echoed by many here since determining exactly how much carbon a farm field or pasture can absorb from the atmosphere is highly variable and difficult to determine.

Proper land management can help with climate change but in no way does it reduce the need to make major reductions in fossil fuel use, said Guðmundur Halldórsson, a research co-ordinator at the Soil Conservation Service of Iceland, co-host of the conference.

And using farmland or pastures as a ‘carbon sponges’ will lead to all sorts of problems, Halldórsson told IPS.

“The real key is adopt practices that enhance soil health to improve food productivity,” he said.

That approach is much more likely to help in improve local livelihoods, protect water resources, improve biodiversity,  reduce erosion and help put carbon back into the ground where it belongs, he said.

“Iceland overexploited its lands, trying to squeeze more out of the land than it could handle. We call it ‘killing the milk cow’. We can no longer live off the land as we once did.”

Situated in the North Atlantic, the windy island was once mostly covered by forests, lush meadows and wetlands when the first settlers arrived nearly 1,000 years ago. By the late 1800s, 96 percent of the forest was gone and half the grasslands destroyed by overgrazing. Iceland became one the world’s poorest countries, its people starved and its landscape remains Europe’s largest desert.

Of necessity, Iceland pioneered techniques to halt land degradation and in restoration. And for more than 100 years the Soil Conservation Service has struggled but the gains are small and very slow in coming. Today at least half of the former forests and grasslands are mostly bare and subject to severe erosion by the strong winds.

“We’re still fighting overgrazing here,” Halldórsson said.

Iceland relies far less on agriculture now and the harsh lessons of poor land management of the past are irrelevant to the 90 percent of Icelanders who now live in urban areas.

“The public isn’t supporting land restoration. We’ve forgotten that land is the foundation of life,” Halldórsson said.

By Stephen Leahy

Posted on Inter Press Service News Agency, June 3, 2013