Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Toronto Overlooks Local Food Production. Do they care or just want the lowest prices? Should Ontario farmers be concerned?

Canada’s Largest City Overlooks Local Food Production


By Bette Jean Crews
President
Ontario Federation of Agriculture


As Canadians celebrate our nation’s 144th birthday this weekend, it’s an appropriate time to consider what it means for each of us to be Canadian.

As farmers, it doesn’t matter what day of the year it is, we are never more proud than when our fellow Canadians enjoy the produce and food grown right here at home. This Canada Day long weekend farmers everywhere are especially grateful for Canadian consumers choosing to feed their families with locally-grown food.

Unfortunately not everyone shares that same pride and social responsibility. In fact, a City of Toronto committee recently refused to adopt a policy that would direct City staff to buy local food, when appropriate, instead of imported food that may come from thousands of miles away. A final decision on the policy will go to Toronto City Council in two weeks for further debate.

This decision is an example of why the development and implementation of a National Food Strategy is so important. Canadians, and certainly the City of Toronto, need a long-term strategy to preserve the existing contributions agriculture and the agri-food industry makes, while maintaining the production of safe, healthy and affordable food. Future generations of Canadians may not have the same healthy and accessible benefits local food provides if our industry and governments don’t take action now to adopt a National Food Strategy.

Ontario’s agri-food industry contributes $33 billion to the provincial economy every year and provides jobs for 700,000 people. Much of that economic contribution comes from the agri-food industry, specifically the food processing sector in the Greater Toronto Area. In fact, Toronto is home to a large cluster of food processing facilities that contributes significantly to the Toronto economy. Toronto is also surrounded by some of the best farm land in Canada – a logical source for local food when you consider that every one of Ontario’s 60,000 farmers can produce enough food to feed 120 people every year, local food has never been more plentiful or available.

The decision by a City of Toronto committee not to source local food was made with limited vision and reinforces why developing a National Food Strategy is so important. Canadians need to be able to source and enjoy local food; they need the economic contributions made by the agriculture and agri-food industry to continue and most of all we all need a safe, sustainable food system because that’s one of the many reasons we are all proud to be Canadians.

Happy Canada Day from the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and our 37,000 farm family members, we are proud to be Canadian farmers providing the freshest, safest, healthiest and most affordable food in the world.

Source: OFA

Views: 86

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Here is an interview we did regarding local.

 

 

 

 

Reply to Discussion

RSS

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Secretary Rollins Takes Decisive Action and Shuts Down U.S. Southern Border Ports to Livestock Trade due to further Northward Spread of New World Screwworm in Mexico

Yesterday, Mexico’s National Service of Agro-Alimentary Health, Safety, and Quality (SENASICA) reported a new case of New World Screwworm (NWS) in Ixhuatlan de Madero, Veracruz in Mexico, which is approximately 160 miles northward of the current sterile fly dispersal grid, on the eastern side of the country and 370 miles south of the U.S./Mexico border. This new northward detection comes approximately two months after northern detections were reported in Oaxaca and Veracruz, less than 700 miles away from the U.S. border, which triggered the closure of our ports to Mexican cattle, bison, and horses on May 11, 2025. While USDA announced a risk-based phased port re-opening strategy for cattle, bison, and equine from Mexico beginning as early as July 7, 2025, this newly reported NWS case raises significant concern about the previously reported information shared by Mexican officials and severely compromises the outlined port reopening schedule of five ports from July 7-September 15. There

University of Manitoba appoints Dr. Filiz Koksel as Manitoba Strategic Research Chair in Sustainable Protein

The University of Manitoba is pleased to welcome Dr. Filiz Koksel as the new Manitoba Strategic Research Chair in Sustainable Protein, a role that continues to advance sustainable agri-food innovation and leadership in plant and animal protein research and innovation. Dr. Koksel, an associate professor in the Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, leads an interdisciplinary research program that aligns closely with Manitoba’s Protein Advantage Strategy. She holds BSc and MSc degrees in Food Engineering and earned her PhD in Food Science from the University of Manitoba.  “My vision for this Chair is to position Manitoba as a global leader in sustainable protein innovation by uniting scientific discovery with industry partnerships,” said Dr. Koksel. “Together, we will create solutions that advance food security and climate resilience for generations to come.” Dr Koksel’s current work focuses on developing novel, environmentally friendly protein ingredients from crops such

Support staff recognized for contributions to Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences

Each year the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences calls for nominations of a support staff member or team who have made outstanding contributions in support of the teaching, research, service and outreach goals of the Faculty. At a celebratory barbecue to celebrate all nominees held on July 9, six individuals and four teams were recognized for their service to the Faculty. Sheldon Beichter, Technician, Carman Research Station Becky Dueck, Technician, Department of Plant Science Atanas Karamanov, Technician, Richardson Centre for Food Technology and Research Minami Maeda, Technician, Department of Biosystems Engineering Finley Makila, Technician, Richardson Centre for Food Technology and Research Donna Ryland, Technician, Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences Charlene Hawryluk, Wajiha Shahzad, Uldis Bourne, Jennifer St. Laurent, Dianne Dugald and Vanessa Ryplanski, Departments of Animal Science & Entomology and Glenlea Research Station Minami Maeda, Daniel Benedet an

Some crops look good and other not so good in Saskatchewan

A drive around Saskatchewan provides a wide range of crop conditions, based on rainfall received. Timely thunderstorms, combined with spring rain, are producing decent-looking crops in some locations, particularly the southeast. The poorest crops are in the southwest, but there are areas across the northern grainbelt that are much drier than normal as well. Saskatchewan Agriculture’s weekly crop report puts provincial cropland topsoil moisture conditions at 55 percent adequate, 33 percent short and 12 percent very short. Many fields are at relatively uniform stages, but there is some inconsistent staging which is making spray timing challenging. Areas that have received moderate to high rainfall over the last few weeks are applying fungicides to some of their pulse, cereal and oilseed crops.

AGRI-FOOD 2050 Industry Event

The Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC) is bringing industry leaders together to envision the future of agri-food in Ontario. The inaugural Agri-food 2050 Event will draw attendees from across the broader agri-food sector including representatives from primary agriculture, agri-business, food processing, agri-food research, and government.

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service