June 2020
Food & Farming across the Golden Horseshoe
With the province starting to open up as Ontario enters stage two of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s worth reflecting back on the resourceful businesses that were able to adapt over the last few months and rise to the challenge of supporting their communities in new ways.

Farms and farm markets were no doubt among those innovative businesses, like Murphy’s Farm Market and Bakery in Alliston. In mid-March, Murphy's moved their whole store online, started hosting online baking classes and tutorials to connect with customers at home, and opened up a drive-thru for pick up orders right from the gate.

“If you’re willing to dive in, and change when something isn’t working, be adaptable—which farmers are—we can do anything,” shares Hollis English, co-owner of Murphy's.

The Greenbelt Foundation has released a new report, “ Plant the Seeds: Opportunities to Grow Southern Ontario’s Fruit and Vegetable Sector ”, outlining opportunities to expand the $2.2 billion sector in Ontario, including through more local production of fresh grapes, pears, strawberries, garlic, eggplant and sweet potatoes — as well as vertical farming. Read more .
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture has partnered with AgCareers.com and CareersInFood.com to launch the  Feed Your Future Campaign, funded by the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. The campaign aims to attract new candidates to fill labour gaps in the agri-food industry, and streamline the process of connecting employers with potential employees.

Flashfood  has announced that its partnership with Loblaw Companies Ltd. will be extended to more stores this year.

Last year, the Canada-wide program helped divert 4.6 million pounds of potential food waste from landfills, while feeding more than 110,000 families and allowing shoppers to collectively save more than $10 million on groceries.

Read more from Food in Canada here .
Huron County invites you to join them for their 2020 Municipal Agriculture Economic Development & Planning Forum on November 18-19, 2020 . The event will be focused on how agriculture and municipal government can collaborate to drive innovation, diversification, food security and resilience in the decade ahead. Stay tuned for more details.
The province has released 2020’s Local Food Report,  Ontario Spirit – A Celebration of Local Food Collaboration , celebrating those in the agri-food & beverage sector who have been working tirelessly to ensure Ontario’s food supply chain remains strong during the COVID-19 outbreak.
To celebrate Local Food Week, York Region acknowledged and thanked their farmers, farm workers, temporary foreign workers, processors, truck drivers, and everyone else in the agriculture and agri-food sector who work tirelessly to get nutritious Ontario-grown food to our tables. Read more .
The Government of Canada has launched the second call for proposals under the  Local Food Infrastructure Fund , a five-year, $50-million initiative ending March 31, 2024.

The fund supports community-based, not-for-profit organizations to improve their food systems through investments in infrastructure that are directly related to addressing food insecurities and increasing the accessibility of healthy, nutritious, and ideally, local foods within their community. Learn more .
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