RUAF Foundation visits Waterloo Region

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

Farmland Forever – Help Make it Happen!

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…from Ontario Farmland Trust: Announcing the 2016 Farmland Forum

Date: Friday, April 8, 2015
Time: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Place: Bingemans Conference Centre, Kitchener
Cost: $110 early-bird rate by March 25th (includes lunch & dinner); $90 for farm organization members (OFA, CFFO, NFU); $60 student

The 12th annual Ontario Farmland Forum supports and facilitates 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 Forum features presentations & discussion following two streams: farmland policy and hands-on farmland protection:

– Protection of Ontario Farmland & Agriculture: A Provincial Priority
– Farmland Protection in Practice: On-the-Ground Examples of Effective and Progressive Policy Implementation
– Farmland Conservation in Ontario: Case Studies of Leading Land Protection Initiatives
– Toward a Regional Land Trust in Waterloo: A Collaborative Community Dialogue
– Ontario’s Cap & Trade Initiative: Connections to Land Conservation
– Inspiring Land Protection Stories and Collaborations from the U.S.

CLICK HERE for more program information and to Register.

Honouring Cathleen Kneen

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The family, friends, and admirers of Cathleen Kneen (1943-2016) invite you to a potluck supper on International Women’s Day to honour her amazing life, work, and legacy.

When: 6-8pm, March 8 2016
Where: FoodShare Cafeteria, 90 Croatia Street, Toronto

Salads, desserts, or donations will be gratefully received. A main course will be provided. Please bring a story or memento to share, if you wish. A temporary gallery will be co-created.

Please RSVP to help us prepare by visiting: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/honouring-cathleen-kneen-1943-2016-tickets-22434581437. Cathleen Kneen

Climate Commons Roundtable: Food Politics

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Date: Thursday, March 17
Time: 3-5 p.m.
Location: 2017 Dunton Tower, Carleton University

Panelists: Andrew Spring (Wilfrid Laurier University), Leah Temper (Seeds of Survival, USC Canada) and Sonia Wesche (University of Ottawa)

Respondents: Peter Andree (Carleton University) and Jane Skapinker (Carleton University Dining Services)

Moderator: Irena Knezevic (Carleton University)

Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP here. For more information contact irena.knezevic@carleton.ca.

climatecommons.ca

Remembering Cathleen Kneen

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from CFICE, Tuesday, February 23, 2016

On February 21st, 2016, our friend and colleague, Cathleen Kneen, passed away. Cathleen has been a huge part of the CFICE community since the beginning. As the former director of Food Secure Canada, she served as community co-lead in the Community Food Security hub. Cathleen strongly believed in CFICE and in the potential power of knowledge co-creation between community researchers and academic researchers to address the many social and environmental challenges facing Canada. Her strength of vision will continue to guide us moving forward.

To find out more about Cathleen, or how to make a donation in her memory, visit our website.

Cathleen Kneen, Food Activist and Social Leader

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We are all deeply saddened by the news of Cathleen Kneen’s passing. She was a force to be reckoned with, and her vision will continue to help transform the Canadian food system. Please see Diana Bronson’s tribute to Cathleen on behalf of Food Secure Canada, and Cathleen’s facebook page for memorial service links and more details.

Ontario Farmland Trust is Hiring a New Executive Director!

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On the heels of a significant investment by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, OFT is seeking a hard-working dynamic executive leader to take Ontario farmland conservation efforts to a new level of success. This individual will bring demonstrated talent, energy and experience to the organization, particularly with respect to all fundraising programs and financial management. Find out more about OFT here.

The new Executive Director will be a superior communicator who will add leverage to existing OFT relationships and further develop strategic partnerships with other farmland conservation stakeholders. Apply today, or share with others who may be good candidates.

Key position responsibilities include:

Fundraising, communications, community outreach and donor relations
Supervision of staff and management of contract and project based staff
Financial management and annual budgeting for all programs and services
Government relations, partnership development and stakeholder networking

Applications are due by March 31st.

CALL FOR PAPER PROPOSALS. EUROPE 2020 AND BEYOND: OPPORTUNITIES AND CONSTRAINTS. Viessmann European Research Centre

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The European Union is experiencing upheaval on many fronts – security threats, acts of terror, unprecedented migration pressures, changing climate, and serious fiscal strain. The Viessmann European Research Centre is hosting a graduate student colloquium on May 5 and 6, 2016 to consider how these issues are converging and what future changes can be anticipated. The colloquium focuses on three themes:

Innovative governance. EU financial crises, social economy innovation, food security etc.
Migration. Refugee crisis, shifting borders, national security etc.
EU-Canada relations. Trade agreements, environmental policy, green energy programs etc.Of particular interest are the synergies between these complex problems for the EU, for Canada and beyond. The colloquium opens on May 5 with two workshops on knowledge mobilization and the interdisciplinary audience. On May 6, accepted papers will be presented in three sessions. Click here for more details…..

Food Security in an Urbanising Society Short Course

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This course focuses on how rural production and urban markets can be integrated to assure access to adequate quantities of nutritious food while sustaining the viability of the production areas. This year the Food Security in an Urbanizing Society short course will be given again by Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

It is possible to apply for a NUFFIC fellowship.The deadline to apply for the Nuffic fellowships for the FSUS course in 2016 is the 22 of March.

For more information on the course and fellowship applications

Help us to identify the food value chains in your region!

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The Nourishing Communities research group is conducting the second annual OMAFRA-funded survey to identify existing and potential regional food hub demand in Ontario. If you are a farmer, processor, distributor, retailer, restaurant, or institution that engages with the regionally-produced food value chain—or would like to—we need your input, so we can provide the most up-to-date summary of food hub activity in Ontario for 2015, and identify future demand.

The goal is to enable you to get more local and/or sustainable food into the hands of consumers, and develop a more accurate snapshot of your local food system. The survey results will help regional food value chain members explain their needs when applying for loans and/or grants, and help funders understand more about community and business needs, where funding or resource gaps exist, and how to effectively support operations such as yours.

We need everyone to complete this second survey so we can tell the story of how this sector is growing. Please complete this survey within the next three weeks, if at all possible!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the first survey of food hubs in 2014 – we are happy to share results. Please contact Project Manager, Mike Nagy at nagym@uoguelph.ca or at 519-829-6249.

We also conducted 25 case studies and network analyses that describe innovative value chains, food hubs and network projects as good practice examples of food hub initiatives: http://nourishingontario.ca/ontario-food-hub-case-studies-2015/

Click here for more detail or to take the survey…