The Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance is thrilled to share that our
Serving Up Local project with nine municipally-run long-term care (LTC) homes in Durham Region, Halton Region, and the City of Hamilton
increased local food procurement by a combined 23% in 2017, far surpassing the project goal of increasing local food purchases by 5%.
Collectively the 9 long-term care homes increased their
seasonal fresh fruit and vegetable purchases
specifically (with a focus on strawberries, asparagus, corn on the cob, peaches, tomatoes) by an extraordinary
124%
.
We now have a number of communication pieces and resources to share, including a Manual, that are now uploaded on our
website. There are also individual case studies for Durham, Halton and Hamilton.
Read more here and please feel free to share!
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A big congratulations to
Durham Farm Connections
,
Farmer Tim
, and
Jamie Reaume, past GHFFA Chair
, who were each celebrated with Champion Awards at
Farm & Food Care Ontario
's annual conference this month, recognizing their significant contributions and commitment to Ontario's farming community and agricultural advocacy.
We encourage you to read more about the awards and deserving recipients
on our blog!
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Another big congratulations to
Liz and Peter Lambrick, who received the
Citizens of the Year honour from the Milton Chamber of Commerce earlier this month at their annual Community Awards Gala.
Liz and Peter are a highly respected farming couple in Halton Region, known for their deep commitment to both their community and their industry. Peter i
s also a Director on the Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance Board.
"It came as a great surprise," Peter tells us. "My wife had been very visible this year locally, but any work that I do has been longterm on-going projects whether it is with OFA or GHFFA. I have been lucky over time to have been mentored or involved with some very interesting and leading initiatives." Read more.
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"There's a dramatic shift in consumer preference to more locally sourced, sustainably grown foods, with sales expected to top $20.2 billion by 2019," a news release from FreshSpoke reads. "The local food market is fertile ground for FreshSpoke, a Canadian tech start-up that caught the attention of Food-X and earned them a place as one of only eight companies at their leading food-tech accelerator based in New York City."
FreshSpoke is an online marketplace that connects local food producers with wholesale food buyers through a mobile app. Read the full news release.
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The upcoming
Grey to Green Conference in Toronto is hosting an
Introduction to Rooftop Urban Agriculture training course on
Tuesday, May 15.
The half-day course will discuss multiple approaches to growing food on rooftops through design and maintenance principles, and case studies drawn from across North America.
Learn more
.
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Vineland Research and Innovation Centre has
recently launched an
online resource for World Crops.
"Growers can now better evaluate whether world crops fit their business plan," Nathalie Dreifelds, Vineland Communications & Public Relations Advisor, tells us. "They can also manage risks through proven agronomic practices for Canada's growing season." Check it out here.
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Gusto is
currently looking for people who are excited and interested in discovering their roots and exploring their genetic ancestry through food and cooking. We thought this might be of interest to share with some of our Canada 150 Farm Families!
Applicants must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada, at least 19 years of age as of April 1, 2018, and must be available for up to seven consecutive days of filming this year. For more information, check out the Gusto website here.
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If you're looking to get your food or beverage product on grocery store shelves, an upcoming event on Wednesday, May 23, at Niagara College will be of great interest:
Raise the Barcode - Get your product on grocery store shelves.
Learn more here
.
The event comes from a partnership between Niagara Economic Development, Niagara College, Hamilton Economic Development, Niagara's Small Business Enterprise Centres and Cushman Wakefield.
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