Food and Farming across the Golden Horseshoe
Over the last year, the Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance has been among many partners supporting a Scarborough Neighbourhood Fresh Food Markets Pilot, led by Marina Queirolo and Jennifer Forde.

We are excited to have Marina share the pilot’s great success in the latest blog post on our website. Marina details what the project is all about — a neighbourhood approach to increasing access to local food and economic opportunities — and also demonstrates how collaboration among diverse people and organizations is vital to addressing these issues in communities across Toronto and beyond.
Fair Finance Fund Accepting Loan Applications

The Fair Finance Fund's Winter Intake is now open! 

Loans are available from $20,000 up to $200,000 at a 6.25% interest rate for local food and farm purpose-driven businesses.

Learn more on their website here. The deadline to apply is February 3, 2023.
2023 Farmland Forum
Save the date! The Ontario Farmland Trust‘s 2023 Farmland Forum is taking place on Thursday, March 23rd, both online and in person in Guelph.

The theme for this year’s forum, Planning to Save the Soil, will focus on the social, economic and environmental considerations for protecting the foundation of our farmland and agri-food sector: Ontario’s soil.

Reducing Food Loss and Waste
Second Harvest has announced the completion of its two-year Food Loss and Waste Implementation Project, which included food loss and waste technical implementation support, change management and goal-setting consulting, and redistribution support for 20 large-scale Canadian companies in the food processing and manufacturing sector.

In total, this project in partnership with Anthesis and Enviro-Stewards, successfully prevented 3,109,433 kg/year of food loss and waste.
Halton Garden Week 2023
Another Halton Garden Week is coming up, taking place this year on February 23 – 25, 2023.

The three-day summit of virtual talks, activities and workshops will celebrate gardening across Halton Region, with a focus on sustainable local practices and products. Lorraine Johnson, author and native plant specialist, will be joining as the keynote speaker.
Food Waste Reduction Innovators
The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food has announced the six finalists of the Novel Technologies Streams for the Food Waste Reduction Challenge. Three of the finalists are from Ontario:

  • ALT TEX Inc. (Kitchener, Ontario);
  • Aruna Revolution Health Inc. (Trois-Rivières, Québec);
  • Chinova Bioworks Inc. (Fredericton, New Brunswick);
  • Clean Works Inc. (St. Catharines, Ontario);
  • Carbon Lock Tech (Winnipeg, Manitoba); and
  • Genecis Bioindustries Inc. (Scarborough, Ontario).

Congratulations to all! Learn more about these innovators here.
Some more food news to chew on...


  • Biodegradable, bio-based, oxo-degradable, and compostable. What do these terms mean, and which terms describe the best eco-friendly material? Check out this article.



  • Have you heard of The Legacy Project? The Toronto-based research and education group has some upcoming in-person and virtual sessions that might interest you.



Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance