Tag Archives: Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable

Fortnightly Feast – vol. 24

EVENTS

Does Toronto need a bold food strategy?

Big Ideas live chat: Tuesday September 2 at 1 pm EST
Is there a robust food strategy for Toronto that can expand access to healthy food, combat food deserts and reduce barriers to increasing urban agriculture on private and public land? The next Toronto Star Big Ideas live chat focuses on what a bold food strategy could mean for our city.

Join FoodShare Executive Director Debbie Field, and The Stop Community Food Centre Executive Director Rachel Gray, as they participate in a live chat moderated by Christopher Hume. Read More

Whole Hog! (5 Chefs, 5 Pigs and a Blues Band)

The 1st Annual Fergus Whole Hog BBQ
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Come listen to blues music, talk to local chefs about how they have prepared and cooked their heritage-breed, locally raised pigs and savour the flavours of their craft. Take a walk through the grounds where local students are learning about sustainable agriculture and visit the historic farmhouse that now acts as a school house for this innovative program. Read more

A New Way to Farm

Join Mark Shepard -restoration agriculturalist, landscape designer and agroecologist- who is coming to the Waterloo region for a series of events put on by Our Farm.
Public seminar: October 2, 2014
Perennial polyculture workshop: October 3-4, 2014
Read more

2014 Practical Farming Conference

Joel Salatin and Greg Judy coming to Ontario October 2014

Practical Advice for Practical Farming
Learn about planned grazing and planned sustainability from the renowned Greg Judy and Joel Salatin. This first annual conference series showcases two of the most successful sustainable farmers of this era, complimented by experts from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the University of Guelph. Including Large Industry Trade Show 

Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms will speak on October 4 at the University of Guelph, Rozanski Hall, Guelph, Ontario. Greg Judy of Green Pastures Farm will speak on October 18 at Arthur Community Centre, Arthur, Ontario. Read more and register

CAMPAIGNS

Food Spaces, Vibrant Places

Food Spaces, Vibrant Places is a community-based campaign created to support more temporary farmers’ markets and community gardens in Kitchener, Cambridge, and Waterloo. Temporary farmers’ markets and community gardens need to be located within walking and transit access of where people live, work, and play. This will help strengthen neighbourhoods, build community, and keep families healthy. Read more

WEBINARS

Putting Local on the Menu: Five Best Practices and a Cost Calculator Training – an NGFN webinar

Thursday, September 4, 2014 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM EDT

Several institutional cafeterias and mid-priced restaurants are using clever techniques to source substantial amounts of local food, while maintaining their own affordability and profitability. This webinar, led by Anthony Flaccavento, will present the results of SCALE Inc.’s research into how these kitchens are successfully putting local on the menu, while staying within their tight budgets. Read more and register

…GENERAL INTEREST

ShelfLife Foods: Slowing the clock on time sensitive food

Our mission is to provide an online food network where local food producers can connect with buyers to market time sensitive food product. The food industry lacks a proper marketplace that can effectively coordinate and align sellers, buyers and distribution channels. Because of the time sensitivity and lack of coordination, food producers focus on larger buyers that can purchase large amounts. This is inefficient and forces food producers to focus on a select group of buyers and offer significant discounts as the product approaches its expiry. Our marketplace will seek to better align buyers and sellers to efficient distribution channels and open up the market to more buyers. Read more

Fortnightly Feast – vol. 14

EVENTS

Conference provides forum for innovative cross-sectoral approaches to food system issues facing Ontario

Sustain Ontario and its presenting partners are proud to announce the launch of registration for the 2013 Bring Food Home Conference. Taking place in Windsor, Ontario on November 17-18-19, Bring Food Home is Ontario’s sustainable food system conference. With dozens of workshops and presentations by producers, educators, chefs, poverty advocates, First Nations’ leaders, and more, the three-day conference offers a forum to share experiences and expertise in assisting and directing the development of a better food system for the province.  Read more

Planning for Food-Friendly Municipalities

The Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable is calling on Foodies in Waterloo Region to join in the work of advocating for more food-friendly municipalities in Waterloo Region. The first organizing meeting will be held Wednesday, October 2nd. It will focus on a new report by Krista Long which outlines ways to create more supportive environments for community gardens and temporary farmers’ markets in Waterloo Region.  Read More

 

IN THE NEWS

Group exploring food hub for Grey County

Grey County farmers may soon have a hub where they can drop off their product to be distributed to markets across Southern Ontario. The Grey County Chefs’ Forum is currently working on creating a food hub in southern Grey County that would link the wares of local farmers with buyers in both the Grey-Bruce region as well as those in the GTA and beyond. Sun Times, Owen Sound.
Read more

The 2013 National Food Hub Survey, conducted by MSU’s Center for Regional Food Systems and the Wallace Center at Winrock International, show that hubs throughout the United States continue to develop as financially viable businesses providing locally produced food to restaurants, schools, grocery stores and other wholesale customers. Food hubs may also provide much needed size-appropriate infrastructure and marketing opportunities for local food produced by small and midsized farms and ranches.
Read more

Further Releases from the Holland Marsh

“The autumn wind is a pirate. Blustering in from sea with rollicking song, he sweeps along swaggering boisterously. His face is weather beaten, he wears a hooded sash with a silver hat about his head . . . the autumn wind is a raider, pillaging just for fun.”
A reminder, if you will, that all good things come to an end – as will this video series, which has only one more week after this. We sincerely hope that you have enjoyed this educational series about life in Ontario’s crown jewel – the Holland Marsh.

Video clips – for this week:
Confronting Climate Change       +        Bonus Clip

Projet de loi pour les aliments locaux / Bill to Promote Local Food

On June 17, I introduced Bill C-539 in an effort to promote local foods.  The goal is to come up with a Canada-wide-buy-local strategy and to develop a local procurement policy for all federal institutions. This will help support Canadian farmers, create jobs and reduce transportation-related pollution. Read more