Food and Farming across the Golden Horseshoe

AHEAD OF THE CURVE Summer Fresh founder Susan Niczowski began her multi-million dollar company in her mother’s kitchen in Toronto 30 years ago. The company now generates more than $100 million from the sale of 80-plus products across Canada and the United States. We encourage you to read about Susan's great story, including how she has adapted over the last year, in this Food in Canada article by Mark Cardwell! Read more

DURHAM FOOD REPORT CARD The Durham Food Policy Council (DFPC) hosted a symposium on April 22nd to discuss the development of a Food System Report Card for Durham Region. The event began with a keynote presentation from food system scholar and practitioner Phil Mount. Then Mary-Anne Martin, a DFPC member, presented on how the council got here and their plans for developing the food report card, before attendees went into breakout sessions to brainstorm indicators. Read more in our latest blog post! Learn more

NEW FARMER TRAINING Registration is open for the Ignatius New Farmer Training Program, a collaboration between the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario, Everdale, and the Ignatius Jesuit Centre. Educational content is geared toward new farmers, but is open to all farmers who might be curious about a certain topic, wishing to expand their farming knowledge, or in need of a refresh. Those interested in the program can register for a whole term, or choose individual sessions, which will all take place online this year. Learn more

OFA GUIDE The Ontario Federation of Agriculture has released a new guide to support members in selling and marketing agricultural products during COVID-19 and beyond. The updated guide provides ideas for alternative market channels, general health & safety protocols, info on how to set up an operation and how to keep your workforce safe, and tips for using social media and other online tools. Learn more

CIRCULAR ECONOMY The Guelph-Wellington Smart Cities Office has received funding of nearly $5 million from FedDev Ontario to launch the Circular Opportunity Innovation Launchpad (COIL). COIL will provide programs, funding and platforms to accelerate circular businesses and concepts in the food and environment sectors, as well as launch challenges and transformative sector-wide demonstration projects.  Learn more

Webinar Recording: Land Use Planning for Licensed Cannabis Production On April 20th, we hosted an online event on land-use planning in Ontario for licensed cannabis production. The webinar shared research from the University of Guelph and industry experts on planning trends, challenges and opportunities. If you weren't able to attend, a recording of the webinar is now available. Thank you to our speakers and everyone who joined us!

Survey: Enhancing Capacity for the Next Generation of Agricultural and Rural Leaders in Ontario A class in the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program (AALP) is currently working on a project that aims to determine best practices for attracting youth (under 40) and new individuals to leadership roles within rural and agricultural organizations. They have launched a survey for representatives from rural, agricultural and non-profit organizations who are willing to share best practices of how they are attracting the next generation of leaders. Learn more and access the survey here.

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OntarioFresh.ca 2.0

The province's largest local food platform, connecting buyers and sellers of Ontario-grown products has added a new business-to-consumer (B2C) service. It allows producers, processors, and other food and drink vendors to connect with and market their products to consumers. And as always, it’s free! If you haven’t explored Ontariofresh.ca before, we encourage you to do so now. Whether you have a full-scale e-commerce marketplace or you are just beginning to explore the e-commerce world, Ontariofresh.ca can help you expand your visibility and directly reach consumers. If you have any questions about joining the platform, please don’t hesitate to contact the Greenbelt Fund at info@ontariofresh.ca.

‌ Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance www.FoodandFarming.ca