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In This Issue
- FFCO's tenth anniversary and conference April 13
- New FarmFood360 tours launch
- Winter Speaker Series: Ian Affleck, CropLife Canada
- Garden in a Box 2022
- Seeking Champion Award nominees for 2022
- Celebrate Canada's Ag Day across Canada
- Renew your membership
- Meet a member: Ontario Bison Association
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Confirmed speaker Bill Carr |
Confirmed speaker Tim May |
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FFCO's 10th anniversary and conference |
FFCO is gearing up to celebrate its 10th anniversary all year long, starting with an annual conference and speakers' program planned for April 13, 2022. There will be options to attend virtually or in person at The GrandWay Events Centre in Elora from 10 am to 4 pm. This year’s theme is
"Evolving in a New Age".
Communications expert and award-winning humourist Bill Carr will address the realities of our new remote workplaces in a presentation titled "Relating Remotely vs. Remotely Relating: The art of Working Remotely in Healthy and Productive Ways."
Fourth generation Ontario dairy farmer Tim May, known to his social media followers as “Farmer Tim”, will speak about his journey from farmer to "influencer" and how he has learned and evolved along the way. Through his platform, he shares the joys and challenges of farm life with his 120K followers on Facebook.
Plans are also in the works to have a panel of our peers talking about the impact COVID has had on the future focus of their organizations.
The event will also include the presentation of the 2022 Farm & Food Care Champion Award.
Look for registration to open on February 14.
Continued recognition of FFCO's 10th anniversary will continue with a series of events and promotions throughout the year.
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Annual Business Meeting
FFCO's Annual Business Meeting will be held virtually on Wednesday, April 20th from 9:00 am to 11:00 am. Platinum, Gold and Silver level members will receive a full voting package in the coming week including nomination forms for the Board of Directors and proposed bylaw changes.
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New FarmFood360 virtual tours launch
In partnership with Good in Every Grain, Mushrooms Canada, Ontario Genomics, Veal Farmers of Ontario and the Agricultural Adaptation Council, four new Virtual Reality tours have been added to the FarmFood360.ca website. The project also received funding, in part, through the AgriCompetitiveness program of the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal, provincial, territorial initiative.
The tours were filmed at Ontario farms as well as the dairy research facility operated by the University of Guelph.
These tours join the 18 farm and food processing tours already filmed and available for viewing.
Using 360 cameras and virtual reality technology, the award-winning FarmFood360° website gives Canadians the chance to tour real, working farms and food processing plants, all without putting on boots or biosecurity clothing.
In 2021, the website received one million visitors. A new educator resource is in development by Agriculture in the Classroom Canada and will be live in February, 2022, providing curriculum-based classroom activities for each tour.
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Winter Speakers' Series
Farm & Food Care organizations across Canada are again teaming up for a series of webinars that will host leaders from across the food industry sharing their insights and experience on how Canadian food producers are adapting to changing demographics, mindful consumers and unprecedented global events.
On February 23 at 1 p.m. Eastern, the first of two talks in the series is titled How GMOs, gene editing and pesticides are helping to make food more sustainable. Ian Affleck of CropLife Canada will speak about how science and innovation have been critical to helping the world combat the global health crisis. It’s also driving major advances in the way we grow food, helping to make food more sustainable, nutritious and affordable. At the end of the day, technology on the farm benefits consumers who have year-round access to a wide variety of safe, healthy and sustainably grown foods.
A second speaker, to be announced, will present on March 23.
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Garden in a Box 2022 taking orders
It's the time of year to start dreaming of spring and FFCO is here to help. Building off a successful pilot season in 2021, Garden in a Box 2022 is now open for orders.
FFCO’s Garden-in-a-Box project invites gardeners to grow alongside farmers across Ontario to cultivate knowledge sharing and context building between home gardening and agricultural growers across Ontario.
Garden-in-a-Box is for Ontario residents, especially families, students, first-time gardeners, community gardeners, urban agriculture enthusiasts, and passionate hopefuls.
This year, the program is also offering a Patio Pack kit for those with limited space, in addition to the Garden Plot Kit. More information on the box contents is available at the link below.
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2022 Champion Award: Call for nominees
FFCO is accepting nominations for its annual Champion Award. The award is presented to individuals, organizations or businesses who have taken initiative to help engage consumers about agriculture in our province. Nominees have used their skills to help inform consumers or correct misinformation about production practices, and done a measurable job of promoting our industry.
Nominations are to be submitted by March 11, 2022. If you know someone you think should be honoured, please review the nomination form.
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2021 recipients Sandi Brock and Paul Nairn |
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Celebrate Canada's Agriculture Day
Farm & Food Care offices in Ontario, Saskatchewan and PEI are teaming up for Canada’s Agriculture Day on Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022. Farm & Food Care will feature three Live Field Trips to showcase Canadian farmers and the food they produce.
Celebrations start at:
· 1pm EST: Farm & Food Care PEI; turnip, carrot and potato farmer.
· 2pm EST: Farm & Food Care Ontario; beef farmer.
· 3pm EST: Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan; hog farmer.
Registration will open for each tour soon.
Canada’s Agriculture Day is a time to showcase all the amazing things happening in the industry and help everyone learn about where their food comes from. There are many ways consumers can participate in the all-day event. Share what you’re doing on social media using the hashtag #CdnAgDay and start the conversation.
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FFCO 2022 livestock truck rollover online courses |
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Transport accidents involving livestock trailers present unique challenges for first responders. Animals that are injured, trapped or loose as the result of a vehicular accident require special consideration for the safety of all concerned. Experience has shown that responders with livestock emergency training can more confidently respond to these situations, in an organized and safe manner, while minimizing the overall time on scene.
FFCO continues to offer an online (Zoom) course designed for first responders (fire, police), transporters, farmer/truckers and others in the livestock emergency services field. It provides detailed information to better prepare responders for accidents involving livestock trailers. The two hour course is customized for individual audiences and is offered on scheduled dates or as a custom course for any group.
Since 2021, 278 first responders have participated in virtual training sessions thanks to generous partnership support from Heartland Farm Mutual Insurance and Trillium Mutual Insurance. Courses have been held for first responders in Perth, Waterloo, Huron, Grey, Bruce and Wellington Counties as well as in Northern Ontario.
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Renew your membership!
With the new year comes time for renewed memberships. Continue your support of the important work for Farm & Food Care Ontario and help build public trust and shared understanding of agriculture in Ontario!
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Meet a Supporter level member: The Ontario Bison Association
"The Ontario Bison Association is a provincial association representing our province in the bison industry. We are a non-profit organization that promotes bison through education and awareness.
Consumers are asking questions and becoming more aware of their food; from where it comes from, to the ingredients used, and everything in between.
Now more than ever, we need to fill the gap by helping our consumers and members find the information that's important to them. Becoming a supporter member of Farm & Food Care Ontario is a step in the right direction for our association. Everyone wins when we stay connected!"
Derek Weidhaas
Secretary
Ontario Bison Association
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