Headwaters Food and Farming Alliance offers this bi-monthly e-newsletter featuring the foundational pillars of the Headwaters Food Charter. The Charter was developed in partnership with WDG Public Health and has been widely endorsed. This series aims to keep you informed about issues and events relating to the Charter's 6 Pillars, 15 Goals and 27 Actions prioritized by our communities to enhance our food system.
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Headwaters Farm Fresh
Local Food Guide
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Each year, HFFA collaborates with In The Hills Magazine on the publication of a local food guide. Headwaters Farm Fresh in print can be found in the June issue of the magazine and features a map and colour coded listings for Dufferin and Caledon/Erin food and beverage businesses as well as farmers' markets. The team is busily working on updating listings and creating the next issue. Online listings can be found at headwatersfarmfresh.ca, hosted by our friends at In The Hills. There are handy filtering links to help you find just the type of shopping and farm experience you're looking for.
Do you have a food and farming business in Headwaters?
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Farm to School Program
Virtual Farm Visits
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Farm to School finally went back to school this month...sort of! April saw the launch of our first remote classroom experiences with virtual farmer visits for nearly 350 Grade 3 students, coordinated through some amazing education leads at Upper Grand District School Board.
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Growing Home Seedling Kits 🌱
To encourage students and families to grow more food at home this summer, our Farm to School team has also put together some awesome home gardening kits featuring Fiddle Foot Farm seedlings, 2 varieties of veggie seeds, an information packet and a pail full of soil! We have 100 kits that will be distributed for FREE to interested families through food banks in Grand Valley, Shelburne, Orangeville and Bolton on a first-come-first-served basis.
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Help Kids Live Free From Hunger "30 in 30" Campaign Results
Children's Foundation of Guelph and Wellington
March 5th – April 4th
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The Live Free From Hunger "30 in 30" campaign from Children's Foundation of Guelph and Wellington looked a little different this year, but boy was it fun...and a complete success!
Exceeding their target, the Food & Friends program will now be able to provide in excess of 31,000 student nutrition meals and fill empty tummies so students can better learn and play! Nourished minds learn better, and Food & Friends makes it their mission to ensure that children and youth in our communities live free from hunger.
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National Volunteer Week
Thanks again to all our local food champions and volunteers
April 18-24
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Whether you volunteer at a food bank, help us pack for Local Food Club, deliver meals for seniors or neighbours, champion for food literacy at your school or workplace, participate in a work-share CSA with a farm, order take-out from local independent restaurants, give local foods as gifts, seek out fair-trade foods, talk to local farmers and learn about their practices, teach your own kids how to grow, prepare and appreciate food and where it comes from, or just consider yourself a local foodie...YOU are part of the solution for a more productive, sustainable, transparent and fair local food system.
WE THANK YOU!
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Earth Month EcoChallenge Leaderboard
Great showing by our local teams!
Congratulations to teams ecoCaledon and Climate Action in Dufferin for their second and fourth place finishes for points earned by Canadian teams in this year's Earth Month EcoChallenge! (Out of 565 total teams worldwide, ecoCaledon ranked 25 and CAID ranked 37...outstanding!) We are very proud of the many community members who joined up, took action, shared reflections and made a difference for environmental and social justice.
You can still visit the portal, check out the team standings and get inspired to take action of your own. Stay tuned for the next ecoChallenge in October. |
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Stories From the Farm
in Headwaters Region
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Lennox Farm Video
Providing the community with healthy, fresh, local food, since 1887
Lennox Farm is a family-owned and operated farm growing a variety of nutritious and delicious produce.
HFFA Co-Chair Marci Lipman took James of Art of Storytelling up to Melancthon to tell the story of Lennox Farm's forced rhubarb.
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GoodLot Farmstead Brewing
In Pursuit of Carbon Negative: Regenerative Farming and Eco-Brewery
GoodLot Farm launched in 2010 as an organic hop farm and have since embraced “regenerative carbon farming.”
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Feeding your future
Making Connections in the Agri-food Workforce
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Employers are seeking qualified candidates for Ontario’s food, beverage and agri-products sector. Feeding Your Future wants to make it easier for employers to find, train, and retain the workers they need, and help employ Ontarians with meaningful jobs during COVID-19 and beyond.
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Agriculture Roundtables
Dufferin County
May 4, from 6:30-8PM
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Dufferin County’s free virtual event on mental health for ag professionals and business owners is TODAY, May 4, from 6:30-8PM.
Chaired by Mulmur business owner Claire Knight of @ShareYourSilverLining and led by Sarah Ahmed(@The.Poc.Therapist), attendees will learn practical tips for stress management at work, how to lead during a crisis and ways to cope with uncertainty during COVID-19. Attendees will also have the opportunity to exchange ideas and questions in a Q&A session with Sarah and Claire.
The hope is that this event will help to normalize crucial conversations about mental health in our retail, hospitality and agriculture communities.
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The 2021 Census
Census Day is May 11th 🇨🇦
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Census information is used to make informed decisions about our community, province and the country as a whole. The next Census of Population and Census of Agriculture will take place in May 2021.
The Census of Agriculture traces its roots back to 1871, the dawn of Canada's confederation. It will update the number of existing agricultural operations in Canada—in 2016, there were 193,650, and in 2011, there were 205,889.
Please be sure to participate in this year's census. The data gathered are crucial to understanding our communities and helps inform many of our local governments' and agencies' plans.
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Grow a Row. Give a Row.
Orangeville Food Bank
Planning a garden this year? Join Orangeville Food Bank's #GrowARow #GiveARow campaign and help to provide our community with fresh produce.
Simply dedicate a row in your garden for the Food Bank. Once the produce is ready to donate, harvest it, wash it and bring it into the Food Bank during one their scheduled drop-off times.
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Climate Change Action Plan
Resilient Caledon Community
On April 20, the Resilient Caledon Community Climate Change Action Plan was before Caledon Council. The plan will guide the municipality for many years with regard to Climate Change.
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Protecting Farmland and Climate Smart Practices
Recent CBC Articles on Food and Farming
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Regenerative Agriculture gets national press and federal support
While some might argue with the labels of "new", "unconventional" or "different", this recent article from CBC recognizes the role of regenerative agriculture practices in the country's efforts toward carbon reduction.
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Should beef be off the menu?
As important as limiting beef intake is where you buy the beef that you do eat and how it is raised. Get to know a beef farmer and learn about their practices. Integrating livestock is a key component of regenerative agriculture, and animals have an important role in soil health on crop farms as well.
Cow/calf and beef operations constitute one of the largest economic agricultural products of the Headwaters region, with a lot of livelihoods at stake. Eat less, sure, and also learn more and buy local.
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Let your voice be heard
Opportunities to share your opinion
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Highway 413
Controlled-Access Highway
If approved, a new 4-6 lane controlled-access highway would be built between the existing interchange of Hwy 401 and the 407 ETR at the Halton–Peel boundary, and Hwy 400 north of Vaughan. In addition, two new extensions would be built to connect Hwy 410 and Hwy 427 with the GTA West.
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Bill C-12
Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act
Bill C-12, an Act respecting transparency and accountability in Canada’s efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050, would require that national targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada be set, with the objective of attaining net-zero emissions by 2050.
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Bill 216
Food Literacy for Students Act
Amend the Education Act so that curriculum guidelines require courses of study in experiential food literacy education and healthy eating for every grade from grade 1 - 12. The courses of study must ensure that students are given opportunities to grow food, prepare food and learn about local foods.
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Current Petitions
Ecotank
Protect the West Credit River
Closes June 18, 2021
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Disclaimer: Inclusion of surveys, petitions or forms above does not indicate endorsement or any position taken by Headwaters Communities In Action on the topics in question. Our intention is to make citizens aware of these opportunities for engagement and to encourage our readers to give their input on matters that affect our communities. |
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The next meeting of the HFFA Coordinating Hub is Friday May 7, 2021 from 10am to noon. Email us if you would like to attend and see what we're all about!
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You can get up-to-date information and advice on COVID-19 from these trusted sources:
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Was this forwarded to you? Be the first to get the news by joining our mailing list. |
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The Headwaters Food and Farming Alliance (HFFA) envisions a food system that is productive, sustainable, transparent, and fair; supports the health and well-being of our residents and food providers; and contributes to the prosperous and equitable economy. |
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Headwaters Food and Farming Alliance (HFFA) is a project of
Headwaters Communities In Action
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