December 2020 — Food & Farming across the Golden Horseshoe

Food and Farming across the Golden Horseshoe

CWIF SUPPORTING LOCAL FEMALE-LED BUSINESSES

It’s an important time as ever to support our local businesses. Canadian Women in Food (CWIF) knows this, and to prepare for the holiday season, they launched gift baskets made with products from 30 local female food entrepreneurs — with 10% of the proceeds going to Building Roots to support emergency food programs.

Read more about this initiative on our blog here.

“In the face of an unprecedented lockdown, and without access to sell through proper channels, small business owners are vulnerable to the financial impact of a stocked inventory and no feasible platforms to sell on,” explains Cheryl Appleton, Founder of CWIF. “We’re really proud to see our members push through this and find ways to innovate and collaborate.”

Whether it’s a locally-inspired gift basket or anything else locally-produced, this December we encourage you all to make a special effort to support the local businesses that have enriched your communities.

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, safe holiday season!

A LETTER TO THE PROVINCE

The Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance has sent a letter to Premier Ford in response to the proposed changes to the Conservation Authorities Act that are found in Bill 229. View the full letter on our blog here.

FARMING IN A CHANGING CLIMATE

For the Greenbelt Foundation's final In a Changing Climate report of the year, they met with four Greenbelt farmers to understand climate impacts, how they are innovating and the ways we might support farming in Ontario. Check it out.

OPMA FRESH AWARD WINNER

Congratulations to Tom Heeman who has been named 2020’s OPMA Fresh Award Winner! Tom is being recognized for his work in leading the way to help develop guidelines that were adopted by OMAFRA to allow the safe opening and access to pick your own farms in Ontario this year.

THE RISE OF GHOST KITCHENS

Ghost kitchens (food prep facilities that only offer delivery, with no brick and mortar restaurant location) have greatly increased in popularity. The President of Kraft Heinz Canada has said that "Ghost kitchens, food delivery at home, is something that’s here to stay.” Read the full article here.

Agriculture & Climate Change Panel

On Thursday, December 10th, the Broadbent Institute is hosting an online panel discussion on Agriculture & Climate Change: Reducing Emissions in our Food System.

An expert panel featuring Gillian Flies, Melana Roberts and Darrin Qualman will discuss the important role of our food systems in reducing climate change.

Learn more and RSVP online here.

‌

Food Waste Reduction Challenge

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has launched a $20M Food Waste Reduction Challenge.

The Challenge has four innovation streams, and is currently accepting applications for Streams A and B. These streams will support solutions that are ready for commercialization and that provide an innovative way of doing business (i.e. a new business model) to prevent or divert food waste across any or multiple segments of the food supply chain.

Learn more here.

The deadline to apply is January 18, 2021.