Schreiner pledges to put Food and Water First

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Published on Wednesday, 15 May 2013 18:17

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Green Party leader Mike Schreiner is the first leader of a provincial political party to sign the Food and Water First pledge.

On Thursday (May 9), Schreiner joined local Green Party candidate Paula Conning and Carl Cosack, chair of the North Dufferin Agricultural Taskforce (NDACT), in Mono to put his name on the list of those promising to protect Ontario’s prime farmland and water resources.

Schreiner didn’t just sign on the dotted line.

He also challenged Premier Kathleen Wynne, Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak and NDP leader Andrea Horwath to put food and water first.

“Farmers and farmland will become endangered species in Ontario if we don’t protect the land that sustains us,” Schreiner said in a news release. “We’re losing farmland each year equivalent to an area larger than Toronto. This is unsustainable.”

The Food and Water First campaign is a citizen-led effort inspired by NDACT’s successful fight to stop The Highland Companies from gaining a licence to mine limestone in Melancthon.

The goal is to see provincial laws changed so Class 1 farmland is protected in Ontario. Only five per cent of Ontario’s land mass is suitable for growing food and just 0.5 per cent is considered prime farmland.

“Our successful campaign to stop the mega-quarry highlighted that we need changes in legislation so that prime farmland is preserved and source water regions are protected,” Cosack said in a news release.

“The Food and Water First campaign makes sure these changes happen.”

Published in the Orangeville Banner, May 16, 2013