Presentation by Karen Hutchinson, Executive Director, Caledon Countryside Alliance at the 2009 Ontario Trillium Foundation professional development conference.
The Green Economy: From the Margins to Centre Stage
1. Repowering Our Local Food System The Green Economy – From Margins to Centre Stage Karen Hutchinson, Executive Director Caledon Countryside Alliance – Eat Local Caledon Ontario Trillium Foundation Conference New Thinking for New Times, November 6, 2009
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4. But I don’t like root vegetables…So let’s get the barriers out of the way first!
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6. Local Food from Caledon and Area on April 30, 2009
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8. Lunch at Building the Infrastructure for Local Food In Ontario Conference in Toronto on May 1, 2009
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18. From Sustain Ontario >55,000 farms in Ontario From 1996-2006 Ontario lost 15% of its farms Negative net farm incomes Average age of farmers is 53 years 4 companies control over 80% of market share in food retail Food is a social determinant of health Over 35% of children 2-11 overweight or obese 1/3 adults overweight or obese Cost of obesity over $7 billion nationally Poverty induced costs related to health care are $3 billion in Ontario Health, Food and Farming in Ontario
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28. Youth Programs – School Gardens, Cooking Classes, Youth Grow Group
31. Caledon Crunch – 4000 Students and Staff at 8 Caledon Schools, 5 Caledon Apple Orchards, Town Hall Staff at 11:00 am on September 29 th , 2009 - all crunching apples connected by a live countdown on Radio Caledon
42. Thank you to the staff and volunteers of the Ontario Trillium Foundation for believing in our vision and supporting us to deliver leading edge programs.
Notas del editor
1. Iowa, Michigan, Vermont, Pennsylvania, the West Coast and many other locations are all involved in re-powering their local food systems. Systems. 2. Eat Fresh and Grow Jobs Study, Michigan, Sept 2006 – economic model to show Michigan can improve economy by creating linkages between farmers and consumers. 3. From Leopold Centre in Iowa, local produce = local profits – farmers’ markets, CSA’s, institutional sales. 4. Chicago – November 2008 – Brian Snyder Presentation from Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture - New evidence that small farms are now breaking into higher income brackets and building a new local food and farm economy with serious growth potential - Building alliances and networks to supply bigger orders - A number of Pennsylvania farms are grossing more than $500,000 with the CSA model – most still are in the under $50,000 bracket - Hooking up farms with their local markets is a proven path to increased farm profitability
Who is involved in Local Food: Sustain Ontario – Alliance for Healthy Food and Farming (www.sustainontario.com) Local Food Plus – local and sustainable food for institutional and retail procurement and certification (www.localfoodplus.ca) Toronto Food Policy Council Caledon Countryside Alliance/Eat Local Caledon Foodlink Waterloo Food Down the Road - Kingston Ontario Culinary Tourism – Ottawa, Niagara, Muskoka, Prince Edward Country, Norfolk and many more Slow Food Foodshare The Stop GTA Agricultural Action Committee Farm Fresh Maps – Waterloo, Wellington, Peel, Halton, Durham and more Farmers, chefs, foodies, environmentalists, business people, government, academics, gardeners And so many more in villages, towns and cities across the Province
Main organizers and co-sponsor for Toronto Food Policy Council’s Annual Local Food Conference from 2003 -2006 2003 - Eat Local, Buy Local, Sell Local 2004 - Eat Local, Buy Local, Sell Local - Community Farmers Markets 2005 – Farm Folk, City Folk – How New Alliances Can Bring Local Food to the Table 2006 – Local Food Success Stories from London and the UK 2006 - What Does Local Food Really Mean? Getting Down to Business with Local Jobs, Sales and Economic Development Worked with a larger committee, to organize and sponsor the 2009 Annual Local Food Conference 2009 – Building the Infrastructure for Local Food in Ontario
In Waterloo Region local production of total vegetables (excluding greenhouse vegetables) increased by 129.1 % between 2001 and 2006 while the provincial and national data indicated decreases for these crops during the same time period: 8.6 % in Ontario and 6.5 % in Canada (Statistics Canada). Region of Waterloo Public Health created Foodlink to building capacity for the local food economy. Foodlink helped develop the Elmira Produce Auction Cooperative (EPAC), a group operated by members of the local farming community that sells locally-grown produce three times a week by means of an auction. It is likely that EPAC has been an impetus for farmers to grow more vegetables.
2002 – Buy Local Guide for Headwaters 2003 – 2006 – Key organizer and sponsor of Local Food Conferences 2006 – Founding partners on Grown in Peel Guide 2007 – First Eat Local Week 2007- 2009 – Making Connections, Local Dinner Series, Monthly Newsletter 2008 – Launch of Inglewood Farmers’ Market Launch of www.eatlocalcaledon.org 2008 - 2009 – Eat Local Month 2008 – Launch of Caledon Crunch 2007-2009 - School Work (cooking classes, seed starting, school gardens) 2009 – Founding partner on Caledon Farmers’ Market 2009 – Caledon Crunch – 4000 Caledon elementary students and staff at 8 schools and staff at Town Hall crunched on a Caledon grown apple at once joined by live broadcast on Radio Caledon 2009 – Take a Bite Out of Climate Change Program– promoting a climate friendly diet with workshops, demonstrations, information at public events including markets with a local food pledge
This is already happening Detroit where Motor City is changing to a food and farming haven.