September 2020
Food & Farming across the Golden Horseshoe
We are excited to announce that we have just posted the Ontario Carrot Value Chain Analysis on our website!

916 farmers in Ontario grow 42% of the carrots consumed in Canada. What happens to the carrots grown in Ontario? Are they consumed domestically or exported? Are there opportunities within the carrot value chain to further process the raw product?

These were the questions addressed by Synthesis Consulting in this analysis, a study commissioned by the Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance.
Ontario Farm Fresh has shared a recording of their webinar with Alex Chesney from Thames River Melons and Lorraine Fiset from Andrews Scenic Acres, as they share how their businesses have changed as a result of COVID-19.

Check out the recording on YouTube to hear how the pandemic has affected their farms, both the positives and negatives.
This summer, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks released a 10-year report on Lake Simcoe. The report shows the restoration of over 15 kilometres of degraded shorelines, the planting of more than 55,000 trees and shrubs, and the creation and restoration of 120 hectares of wetlands.

To build on this progress, the provincial government announced it will invest $581,000 in four new projects to help find better ways to reduce the amount of pollutants from entering Lake Simcoe.
Have you visited the Feeding Your Future website yet? Launched by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, AgCareers.com and CareersInFood.com, Feed Your Future is connecting job seekers with agri-food employers, by offering free job matching concierge service, virtual career fairs, a series of webinars, and specialized training opportunities.

There are two upcoming webinars:


On the Feeding Your Future site, you'll also find recordings of past webinars, upcoming events, and more.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) has created an Agroclimate Impact Reporter (AIR), an online tool that allows producers across Canada to submit reports on how weather and climate conditions are affecting their farm operations.

Information from the project will help AAFC and the agriculture sector better understand the local and regional effects of agroclimate conditions and identify emerging risks to the broader agricultural sector.
 
For more information and to join the survey, visit www.agr.gc.ca/air.
Bring Back Main Street, a nationally-coordinated research and action campaign, is working to ensure that people, businesses and organizations that call Canada’s main streets home can recover and emerge from COVID-19 more resilient than ever.

Check out their website here to learn more.
York Region is in the midst of hosting a webinar series that is providing small food & beverage processors in the region the opportunity to learn about solutions and strategies to support their recovery from COVID-19. The final module in the series is on October 7th. Learn more here.
Join the Greenbelt Fund, the Greenbelt Foundation, and the University of Guelph's Dr. Wayne Caldwell for a webinar on Sept. 28th to learn about what planning departments in the Greenbelt are doing to support agriculture and respond to emerging issues.
Through Canadian Agricultural Partnership funding, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) collaborated with partners including the Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance and Wilton Consulting Group to develop a toolkit for communities to guide them through potential activities, key performance metrics, funding opportunities, and ways to collaborate to support the agri-food sector.

The Always in Season Toolkit includes many tips, templates, and innovative ideas for communities to initiate - particularly during agriculture and food awareness events.

With Ontario Agriculture Week beginning October 5th, now is a great time to consider how you will celebrate local agriculture and food!

Visit https://ofa.on.ca/AlwaysinSeason to learn more.
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