Food and Water First Campaign reaches Toronto

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Published on Thursday, 10 October 2013 00:07

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Ontario’s largest municipality will discuss backing the Dufferin County grown Food and Water First Campaign.

At Toronto’s council meeting this week, Coun. Josh Matlow is expected to introduce a motion asking the city to relay its support for the campaign to the premier and ministries of agriculture, rural affairs and municipal affairs and housing.

“City council must signal its support for the agricultural sector and call on the Ontario government to adopt a Food and Water First policy to protect Ontario’s Class A farmland,” the motion states.

The North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce (NDACT) is leading the charge for the Food and Water First Campaign, an effort to change policies that allow rezoning that compromises food and water sources.

NDACT was created with the mandate to stop The Highland Companies' quarry plans in Melancthon as well as influence change to the province's Aggregate Resources Act (ARA).

With the quarry application withdrawn, the group is now focusing on ensuring legislation exists to protect Ontario’s edible assets.

“The discussion continues to be taken up by people who know how to write policy and move the bigger sticks,” said NDACT chair Carl Cosack. “Maybe the city of Toronto will raise this profile where people say ‘This makes total sense’.”

Cosack said he hopes the motion will lead to Toronto’s executive committee opening the idea of a Food and Water First pledge to public comment and eventually a recommendation to the province.

“The City of Toronto will hopefully take a stand and say ‘We have all this great farmland around us, and its important to keep that available’,” he said.

“It is great to have Toronto city council discuss this and hopeful bring a request forward to our minister of agriculture.”

Aside from the Toronto Food Policy, the city has yet to address preservation of nearby farmland, according to Cosack.

“Growth and development is great, but in the end you have to figure out how to feed yourself,” he said.

“We can develop, we can build houses, but let’s not do it on class one farmland.”

So far, Mulmur, Melancthon, Grand Valley and Amaranth have supported the pledge. NDACT also plans to present the idea to Orangeville, Shelburne and Dufferin County councils.

“Most every rural municipality you talk to ... they’re all interested, but they don’t know what to do with it or how to implement it,” Cosack said. “But there’s great conversations there.”

The Food and Water First notion isn’t new to Toronto.

In 2012, the city hosted Soupstock, where 40,000 people gathered in opposition to The Highland Companies’ quarry plans.

“The more we’re involved with this, the more it seems to be everybody’s bread and butter,” Cosack said.

However, Cosack said landing the support of Toronto politicians wouldn’t be considered a victory by NDACT.

“If you talk about victories, that means there are losers. That’s not what this thing is about,” he said. “We’re tremendously grateful the discussion has gone this far.”

By Bill Tremblay

Published in the Orangeville Banner, October 8, 2013

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