Headwaters Food and Farming Alliance offers this monthly e-newsletter featuring the foundational pillars of the
Headwaters Food Charter
. The Charter was developed in partnership with WDG Public Health and has been widely endorsed. This series aims to keep you informed about issues and events relating to the Charter's 6 Pillars, 15 Goals and 27 Actions prioritized by our communities to enhance our food system.
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CHARTER CHECK
✅
Environmental Responsibility
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GOAL 1
The local food system
considers and works
to reduce its vulnerabilities
to and impact on climate change.
GOAL 2
There is
minimal
food waste in
Headwaters.
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With respect to climate change,
m
itigation refers to actions that are taken to reduce and curb greenhouse gas emissions, while
adaptation refers to reducing vulnerability to the effects of
climate change. What if we could actually
reverse the problem, draw carbon out of the atmosphere and lock it away, and in the process, actually
regenerate soils and natural environments that have been depleted and are susceptible to climate change?
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions while drawing down and sequestering more carbon from the atmosphere are key.
The only known current method for sequestering carbon is through photosynthesis. In order to sequester more carbon, vegetation on cleared land needs to be replaced. This can happen in a number of ways. Planting trees and reducing deforestation is one. Another is promoting agricultural practices that build organic matter in the soil which stores more water and draws carbon out of the atmosphere. This goes by many names including carbon farming and regenerative agriculture.
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ACTION
Assist local schools to
deliver curriculum and programs that educate children and youth on the food system, climate change and their interactions.
ACTION
Raise awareness
and support programs and policies that
enhance ecological
goods and services
provided by farms.
ACTION
Increase knowledge
within the food system about practices that help mitigate and adapt to
climate change.
ACTION
Support local governments, businesses,
community organizations, and agencies to build public awareness and develop policies to preserve agricultural land, mitigate climate
change, reduce food waste, encourage healthy and environmentally friendly food choices, and low impact agricultural production practices.
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Improving the soil is also a key aspect of regenerative practices. Like much of the world, soils in Ontario are at risk. Key indicators of interest are: soil organic carbon, soil erosion risk and soil cover. Here are the latest estimates from the New Horizons report by OMAFRA (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs).
- 82 per cent of Ontario’s agricultural soils are estimated to be losing more CO2 to the atmosphere rather than increasing soil organic carbon.
- 68 per cent of Ontario’s farmland is estimated to be in an unsustainable erosion risk category.
- 53 per cent of Ontario’s cropland is estimated to have low or very low soil cover, covered less than 275 days or 75 per cent of the year.
In March of last year, HFFA co-hosted a well-attended session on regenerative agriculture and soil health in Mono Ontario. Many small and large scale farmers in the Headwaters region had already adopted regenerative practices and were eager to hear more, indicating strong local interest in this topic. (See below for details on our next session on March 6, 2020.)
The potential of regenerative agriculture is now being recognized around the world by governments, businesses and individuals.
One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B)
was launched at the United Nations Climate Action Summit held in NYC September, 2019. Their actions are focused on increasing regenerative agricultural practices, improving cultivated and dietary biodiversity, and involving institutional and financial decision makers. Nineteen companies have signed up.
Several big food corporations are supporting regenerative agriculture. General Mills has committed to regenerative practices on 1 million acres by 2030. These include minimizing soil disturbance, improving crop diversity, keeping the soil covered, keeping a living root in the ground year-round, and integrating livestock. One of the things the program is trying to accomplish is developing relationships between farmers so they can learn from each other and develop a support network.
This brings us full circle to our local efforts.
Next week, on
March 6, 2020
we are hosting another event, with more farmer-speakers, vendors and information, a panel of experts offering supports for transitioning farmers, and a local lunch. Register now! You don't have to be a farmer to attend. See our poster below and click to visit our website for more information and to register.
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For those of us who are not farmers, there are still things we can do.
Watch and learn:
The Fast Forward Dufferin-Caledon Eco Film Series is screening the movie
Dirt Rich on Tuesday April 7, 2020 at 7pm at Westside Secondary School in Orangeville
. (See the poster below.)
“Dirt Rich takes the viewer on a journey through a multiplicity of carbon draw down strategies that focus on natural solutions that simultaneously address the revitalization of soil and stabilization of atmospheric carbon levels.”
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Know your HFFA Hub members
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This month's newsletter content was curated by Rose Schmidt, a passionate voice for regenerative agriculture and co-founder of the former Drawdown Headwaters, with Nancy Meyer. Rose is a member of the HFFA Hub supporting the Agriculture and Food and Environment Sectors. Rose also enjoys horses, photography and talking to farmers.
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The Headwaters Food and Farming Alliance (HFFA) envisions a food system that is productive, sustainable, transparent, and fair; supports the health and well-being of our residents and food providers; and contributes to the prosperous and equitable economy.
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Headwaters Food and Farming Alliance (HFFA) is a project of
Headwaters Communities In Action
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