March 29 2016 18:00-21:00 IMA 307 Image Arts Building, Ryerson University, 122 Bond Street

I am writing to honour the legacy of Dr. Kerry Preibisch, a much loved University of Guelph professor who passed away  after a very courageous journey with cancer.

Kerry was a mentor to me and many other students and colleagues. Throughout her impressive career, she became an internationally recognized scholar for her work in rural sociology, globalized agricultural and food systems and the people who labour in these systems, particularly migrant farm workers.

Kerry worked particularly closely with migrant women from Mexico and Guatemala. Based on years of dedicated research, she was among the first scholars to write about the unique issues faced by migrant women in a field normally dominated by the male perspective. She also helped us to understand the social relations between migrants and Canadian communities and migrants’ centrality to Canadian and global food systems. Read more……

Later this month, youth will take to the land with experienced harvesters for a wintertime fish camp, where they will have the chance to learn about food security issues and how to address them in the long term, using traditional harvesting methods. This will be the second camp organized through the project, the first held last fall.

The camp is part of a Health Canada funded study on climate change its impact on the land and the people who live there.

“Through some of this funding we’re able to provide money for community harvests so we’re up here trying to plan the next harvest where we get elders and youth and as many people as we can,” said Andrew Spring, the head researcher on the project, in from Wilfrid Laurier University. “It’s great because the elders get on the land and they’re able to teach the younger harvesters the skills they need.”

The participatory action research – which sees researchers work with the community to identify and solve issues – was initiated by the Deline Renewable Resources Council, and is also supported by the Northern Farm Training Institute and Ecology North. Read more…..

WATERLOO – Food justice advocate and musician Anan Lololi will be speaking at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Waterloo campus during the Spring Food Forum March 24. Lololi’s talk on on urban agriculture takes place from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the concourse.

The forum, presented by Laurier’s Sustainability Office and Young City Growers (YCG) – a grassroots initiative focused on creating urban agriculture – will challenge students to think about issues such as local food systems, sustainable farming, food security and sovereignty, and environmental stewardship.

“This event is an opportunity for Laurier students to learn about urban agriculture – what it is and why it’s important to their community and the ecological environment,” said Fanis Juma Radstake, program manager at Young City Growers. “Students can also learn how to participate in urban farming, such as by volunteering with YCG at Laurier’s Northdale campus.”

Students will also have an opportunity to register and learn about the local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, a weekly delivery of farm fresh produce.

Lololi is one of the founders and the executive director of the Afri-Can FoodBasket (AFB), a non-profit food justice and community food security organization that began in 1995 in Toronto. Lololi holds a master’s degree in Environmental Studies from York University and a diploma in Business Administration from Centennial College. Lololi has served as an executive member of the Growing Food and Justice for All Initiative (GFJI) based in Milwaukee and the Community Food Security Coalition of North America. He has been a board member of the Toronto Food Policy Council and Food Secure Canada, an administrative and food policy consultant for the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, a committee member of Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) Humber Watershed Alliance, and was a food policy and urban agriculture consultant for FoodShare Toronto. Lololi had also been appointed to the Sustain Ontario Advisory Council. He has lectured across Canada, the U.S. and in the Caribbean on community food security and food justice.

To register for the CSA, contact Fanis Juma Radstake, program manager at Young City Growers, at youngcitygrowers@gmail.com.

Join us for the 12th annual Ontario Farmland Forum – a unique day of networking, sharing and learning about the policy innovations and practical actions helping to make Farmland Forever a reality in Ontario. The Farmland Forum supports cross-sector dialogue about how we can work together to strengthen farmland and agricultural planning, policy development, and grassroots, permanent land protection initiatives in Ontario.

This year’s event includes presentations on:
> Provincial and municipal priorities for farmland protection planning
> Case studies of leading land protection initiatives in Ontario
> Inspiring land protection stories from the U.S.

Who Should Attend?

> Farmers

> Land Conservation Enthusiasts

> Land Use Planners

> Provincial Policy Makers

> Municipal Councillors

Forum Details

Date: Friday, April 8, 2015

Time: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Place: Bingemans Conference Centre, Kitchener

For more information……

Mairlyn Smith wants people to put Canada on their plates. The professional home economist says it’s long been her dream to write a cookbook that features all-Canadian ingredients and champions the farmers, fishers, producers and manufacturers who grow and provide the food we eat. “There’s only two per cent of Canadians who are farmers and the rest of us are eating all their food, so I just wanted to give them a shout-out,” Smith says. Read more……

Read more……

On March 1, 2016, The Programme Officer of RUAF Foundation (Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture & Food Security), Henk Renting visited Waterloo Region as part of his tour of the City-Region Food Systems Project. The City-Region Food Systems Project is funded by the CARASSO Project, FAO and Wilfrid Laurier University Centre Sustainable Food Systems. The project is currently conducting research in seven cities around the world (Utrecht in the Netherlands, Kitwe & Lusaka in Zambia, Medellin in Colombia, Quito in Ecuador,Colombo in Sri Lanka and Toronto Canada ). Femke Hoekstra, a researcher at RUAF Foundation & Ivo Haenen, an independent consultant in urban agriculture, accompanied Henk to Martin’s Family Fruit Farm (Waterloo) & Mapleton’s Organic Diary Farm (Moorefield) as part of their ongoing study on City-Region Food Systems.

Mapleton’s Organic Dairy Farm

Martin’s Family Fruit Farm