Category Archives: Small Farm Production

Public Consultation on Chicken Allocation and Northern Ontario

From Sustain Ontario’s Flocking Options campaign:

All interested parties, farmer, processors and consumer are invited to join a consultation about the chicken quota allocation in Ontario. The purpose of this consultation is to solicit input, feedback and advice on how future growth should be distributed to farmers and processors (farmer-member allotment and processor supply distribution) so as to position the chicken industry for economic growth and success. The Chicken Farmers of Ontario (CFO) and the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission are hosting a special pan-northern consultation to hear the unique challenges and opportunities that exist in Northern Ontario.

This is your opportunity to give voice to your vision of the future of the chicken industry in Northern Ontario.

10:00 a.m. Tuesday, February 10, 2015

See the list of locations and local contact information across Northern Ontario

 See the background information provided by the CFO 

Crowdsourcing Sustainable Social Ventures to Link Rural and Urban Well-being

BEEBBEEB, Hives and Local Networks of Empowerment

We believe that to tackle the global issue of food insecurity in a sustainable way it is vital to connect rural and urban communities on low incomes. BEEB is essentially a model of information and organisation that links rural and urban well-being. The two communities escape food insecurity together. Read more

BEEB connects a cooperative of small-holder farmers directly with the slum dwellers using two simple parts: basic cold storage facilities and a mobile phone order and payment system.

Vote for BEEB online! Only 19 days left…

 

Hult Prize Global On-line Competition

The theme of the 2013 Hult Prize is global food security and will focus on how to get safe, sufficient, affordable and easily accessible food to the 200 million people who live in urban slums – a challenge personally selected by former US President Clinton. Student teams will be charged with developing a sustainable social venture that can accomplish the objective by 2018. View all of the videos for the online competition on the Hult Prize Facebook site.

 

Urban and peri-urban food: two discussions

The SUPURBFOOD project (www.supurbfood.eu) is looking to identify experiences from the global South and North with recycling of nutrients, waste and water in urban and peri-urban agriculture, short chain delivery of food in urban and peri-urban areas, and multifunctional agriculture in urban and peri-urban areas in order to enrich South-North exchange and collaboration.  We are specifically interested in innovative experiences – with a special focus on the type of business models that were applied, the role of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and their sustainability.

Read more

Empty words won’t fill hungry stomachs

There is good reason to be sceptical about the new initiatives coming out of Davos targeting smallholder farmers.

 

David Nally and Bhaskar Vira in Al Jazeera English.

Upcoming Local Food Webinars

Social Enterprises and the New Wave of Food and Farming Co-operatives
Hannah Renglich, Glenn Valliere, and Randy Whitteker
When: Wednesday, Feb 13th, 2012
Time: Noon – 1:30 pm
View the webcast here (Adobe Connect – Social Economy Centre, U of T)

 

Is Community Supported Agriculture for you?
Tarrah Young, Green Being Farm
Live! Monday, January 28 @ Noon EST
Click here to register. (AgWebinar)

 

… and one recent webinar is now available online:
Production Planning to Increase Market Efficiency:
Reducing Financial Risk Through Food Hubs – an NGFN webinar

How Millions of Farmers are Advancing Agriculture For Themselves

published by Independent Science News
Jonathan Latham (December 3rd, 2012)
http://independentsciencenews.org/un-sustainable-farming/how-millions-of-farmers-are-advancing-agriculture-for-themselves/

Synopsis: A farmer-led revolution in agriculture is underway. Small farmers
around the world are dramatically boosting their yields and productivity by
adopting a growing system called SCI (System of Crop Intensification).

Continue reading