The Local Dish – Calling All Foodies
The Local Dish is a campaign with a big dream – to create Toronto’s largest collection of local food recipes on Pinterest with the help of foodies just like you. We welcome all kinds of recipes – your own original recipes, and recipes created by others. Our goal is to make it easy for people to choose locally-grown food more often – both at home and on the go. Fresh, delicious and local – what’s not to love? Website.
InstaBuggy delivery service launches in Toronto
It just got even faster for consumers to have groceries delivered in downtown Toronto. A startup called InstaBuggy launched its grocery delivery service on Monday. Now in pilot stage, the service says it will get groceries to customers’ homes or offices in one hour. To order groceries, users visit InstaBuggy’s website or use its app, put in their postal code and choose which store they’d like their groceries from. Users can pick from a selection of stores in their area. InstaBuggy’s online portal contains more than 10,000 SKUs to shop. Once an order is made, groceries are delivered in an hour. Canadian Grocer story.
Grocery Gateway to start delivering wine, spirits
Starting Thursday, Grocery Gateway will deliver wine and spirits to your door, providing you also order $45 worth of groceries before taxes. “Introducing LCBO wines and spirits to Grocery Gateway really completes our vision of delivering everything a shopper wants to enjoy a great meal,” said Anthony Longo, president and chief executive officer, Longo’s, which owns Grocery Gateway. The wine-and-spirits delivery service is set to debut on the same day the provincial Liberals deliver the budget, which is expected to include details of how beer sales in grocery stores will work. Toronto Star story.
Gardens Aren’t Farms
Bartholomew developed ‘square foot gardening’. This new design is more efficient as less space, time, and money are wasted, and more effective as the harvest is more continuous[1]. Square foot gardening is ideal for city dwellers in the Waterloo Region who are growing only a few crops in a small space like a backyard or community garden plot. Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable blog.
How Ag & Food Can Help Ontario Health And Wellness
Scott Graham argues there are direct connections between our health and the food we eat. Graham is Chair of the President’s Council – a broadly based coalition of 35 Ontario agriculture and food groups. The Council recently released a report called Agri-food For Health Strategy. It makes specific recommendations on how agriculture and food production in Ontario can help provincial health and wellness initiatives. The strategy suggests Ontario residents can be healthier if the province’s farm and food sectors commit to increased collaboration. It also calls for improved food literacy and skills, innovation for healthy food availability and increased nutritional awareness. Blackburn AgriMedia story. Report.
Woodstock-Area Cheese-Maker Among National Winners
Four Ontario cheese companies were among the winners in this year’s Canadian Cheese Grand Prix. Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese from the Woodstock area had the top Farmhouse Cheese in the competition. Local Dairy Products from Ingersoll had the top Mozzarella. The best Fresh Cheese in the competition came from Quality Cheese in Vaughn. And the St. Albert Cheese Cooperative had the best Aged Cheddar, more than three years, in the competition. Blackburn AgriMedia story.
Avian Influenza Concerns Postpone Breakfast On The Farm
The Breakfast On The Farm event scheduled for June has been postponed because of the recent cases of Avian Influenza in Oxford County. While Breakfast On The Farm offers a significant outreach opportunity for the province’s farm community, organisers decided the risk to the poultry industry outweighs any potential benefits. Almost 900 tickets had already been reserved for the Oxford county event. Blackburn AgriMedia story.
ALUS Program Earns Minister’s Award for Environmental Excellence.
The Alternative Land Use Services program was one of nine Ontario entities to earn the 2013 Minister’s Award for Environment Excellence in January. The honour was designated to those demonstrating a strong commitment to environmental excellence. Recipients of the award collaborated with communities and local volunteers to restore wildlife habitat, conserve water and energy, and prevent pollutants and nutrients from entering the Great Lakes. As an incentive-based program, ALUS helps farmers and ranchers improve their crops and livestock, while conserving and restoring native habitats. Farmers are rewarded for land management practices that create productive agricultural systems and a healthy countryside. Alternative Land Use Services post.
Creating Dialogue About Farmers Ongoing Stewardship Commitment
It’s a chance to showcase farmers ongoing stewardship commitment. CleanFarms is running the Great Ontario Clean Farms Challenge this year. General Manager Barry Friesen says the challenge is designed to help create a dialogue about the on-farm innovations that help farmers reduce, reuse and recycle agricultural waste. The winner gets a 5 thousand dollar cash prize. Blackburn AgriMedia story. CleanFarms Website.
Permitted uses in Ontario’s Prime Agricultural Land
The Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation and the Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance’s feedback session on OMAFRA’s PPS Guidelines on Permitted Uses in Ontario’s Prime Agricultural Areas attracted a crowd on March 20. Hosting tourists at an on-farm bed and breakfast, making pies with farm apples, processing hops from neighbouring farms, and other “value-added” activities are an asset to rural communities and a treat for tourists, but understanding which of these activities are allowed where can be challenging for farmers, other rural land-owners, and municipal staff. To respond to this challenge, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) has developed draft guidelines on what is permitted in prime agricultural areas, to help in interpreting the policies in the 2014 Provincial Policy Statement on the range of uses permitted in prime agricultural areas. Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation post.
AND IF YOU HAVE TIME
Ending hunger in our lifetimes
The 10th Annual Summit of “Universities Fighting World Hunger” will be held in Guelph, Ontario, Canada on 20-22nd February 2015. Now is the time to review our successes and challenges and to look forward to the next decade of achievement. Therefore, the theme for the Summit is “Pushing towards the next decade”. Website.
Local Food News 