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In This Issue

  • Local Food Week, June 5-11, 2023 #LoveONTFood
  • Virtual field trips for Local Food Week
  • FFCO is seeking a full-time Communications Coordinator
  • Breakfast on the Farm: Farm crawl edition, June 17, 2023
  • The Real Dirt on Farming photo contest, deadline July 1, 2023
  • FFCO hosts tour of the Ontario Food Terminal for food influencers
  • New FFCO Director elected
  • In case you missed it: Farmphotos.ca launched
  • More than a Migrant Worker featured in LCBO's spring Food & Drink magazine
  • Ontario Federation of Agriculture's Farmer Wellness Initiative
Save the date:
Local Food Week
June 5-11, 2023

Local Food Week is a celebration of the fresh, healthy food grown, produced and processed right here in Ontario. Farmers work every day to grow and produce safe and nutritious food for all Ontarians to enjoy and this week, established in 2013, is designed to celebrate that commitment.

Show your love for Ontario food using #loveONTfood across your social media networks.
Virtual field trips for Local Food Week

FFCO, in partnership with AgScape, will celebrate Local Food Week by hosting five virtual food & farm field trips each day at 10 a.m. EST. 

Monday, June 5: Berry farm
Tuesday, June 6: Asparagus farm
Wednesday, June 7: Fish farm
Thursday, June 8: Honeybee farm
Friday, June 9: Egg farm

The tours will be live on Facebook and YouTube for all to watch.
FFCO is seeking a full- time Communications Coordinator.

Reporting to the Communications Manager, the employee will have a strong skill set as a writer, helping to write articles, columns for member publications, press releases and human interest stories. The successful candidate will also play a cross-functional role in all communications activities, joining a small but dynamic team to plan and execute the organization’s award-winning outreach activities.

Please submit resume, references and covering letter indicating your salary expectations to [email protected] by Friday, June 9, 2023.
Breakfast on the Farm: Farm Crawl Edition
Planning and preparations are almost complete for the first Breakfast on the Farm of 2023, planned for Huron County on June 17. The farm crawl edition boasts two farm stops and a crop tour in the first-of-its-kind format for FFCO. The day will start with breakfast at Grazing Meadows Wagyu, owned by the Prior family near Brussels. The farm will showcase its herd of 60 Wagyu beef cows and calves and new barn, which includes automatic feeders. Guests will have the opportunity to take a wagon ride to see the cattle on pasture. The Prior family will also host a breed education area showcasing a variety of other beef breeds. 

This site will include farm equipment, other farm animals, and interactive, informative displays from commodities and farm organizations.

Guests will then continue 15 minutes down the road to meet the Hallahan family, tour their seventh-generation dairy farm and enjoy an ice cream treat. Visitors will have the opportunity to see their milking cows and walk through the modern barns and milking facility, which even includes a robot!

Invite your neighbours, friends, and family for this exciting day! Tickets are $5 each to reserve a spot but will be refunded once guests attend.
The Real Dirt on Farming photo contest
Farm & Food Care is holding a nation-wide farm photo contest with $4,000 in cash prizes available for winners in six categories.

Winning photos will be used by the organization in the upcoming sixth edition of The Real Dirt on Farming, a publication that answers common questions about food and farming practices in Canada. For more information on this publication and to view the latest edition, visit www.RealDirtonFarming.org.

Photos may also be used in other Farm & Food Care initiatives.

CATEGORIES
1. Canadian Farm Scenes – Capture the beauty of Canada’s farm and rural landscape;
2. Faces Behind Food & Farming – From farmers to chefs and everyone in between – all the people who make food & farming possible doing what they love.
3. All about Animals – Farm animals in the barn or field;
4. Farm Innovation – Technology at work on Canadian farms;
5. Crazy about Crops – Photos of crops being grown in fields, orchards or greenhouses across Canada; and
6. Farm to Plate – Showcasing the fresh, delicious and nutritious food grown and produced right here in Canada.

More information, including contest rules, eligibility, format, identification and judging are posted at the link below.

All entries must be received by email by end of day on July 1, 2023.
FFCO hosts Ontario Food Terminal Tour for food influencers

On June 1, 25 media and food influencers joined FFCO for a behind-the-scenes tour of Canada's largest wholesale fruit and produce distribution centre in Toronto.

Attendees had the opportunity to witness the hustle and bustle of the early morning hours at the terminal, home to 5,000 registered buyers, 20 warehouse tenants, and 400 farmers' market tenants.

This tour kicks off a busy season of farm tours for FFCO, engaging culinary students, registered dietitians, media, food influencers and others with these unique activation opportunities. 
New FFCO Director elected

Kelly Gubesch of Wallenstein Feed & Supply (WFS) will join the Farm & Food Care Ontario Board of Directors immediately.

The announcement was made June 2 following a ballot count to determine the results of a by-election to fill a vacant seat in FFCO’s “At Large” category. The category comprises all FFCO agribusiness and general farm organization members.
 
Kelly works in poultry feed sales for WFS and has almost two decades of experience working in the poultry sector.  
In case you missed it: FarmPhotos.ca launched

The opportunity to open the barn door and access images of typical Canadian farms is now online!

The library was created in cooperation with Farm & Food Care Ontario sister organizations, Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan and Farm & Food Care PEI to provide those in agriculture education, teachers, students, and media an opportunity to access accurate, up-to-date photographs of agriculture.

In the library, you will find pictures of Canadian farm animals, farm families, field crops, vegetables, orchards and fruits, animal care and handling practices, modern barns, environmental initiatives and food processing plants.
More Than A Migrant Worker featured in LCBO's early summer Food & Drink magazine
The June edition of the LBCO's popular Food & Drink magazine is hitting shelves across Ontario this month.

The early summer edition is highly coveted with its readership and features a full-page ad highlighting the More than a Migrant Worker (MTAMW) campaign and Delroy Martin, a seasonal apple farm worker from Jamaica who works at Nighthawk Orchards in Meaford.

This ad placement by the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers' Association (in a project partnership with Farm & Food Care Ontario and many OFVGA members) boosts the successful MTAMW campaign. It is aimed at sharing stories of the men and women who grow our food while answering people's questions about seasonal workers in the fruit and vegetable industry. More photo shoots are planned for the summer months.

Food & Drink is one of Ontario's most widely-read magazines, with a total readership of 2,748,000/issue.
Ontario Federation of Agriculture's Farmer Wellness Initiative

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) is reminding farmers and farming communities that there is help available especially during the planting season.

The Farmer Wellness Initiative provides access to free counselling services and tailored mental health support and resources to all Ontario farmers and their families.

If you’re in need of support, reach out anytime day or night at 1-866-267-6255. Let’s break the silence together. 
Become a Member

Did you know?
  • You, your farm or your business can become a member of FFCO
  • Your support in membership makes FFCO's work possible
  • Corporate members ($1800+) can access free training and workshops
 
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