The 8th annual Municipal Agriculture Economic Development Forum was held on November 2 & 3rd in Caledon at both the Millcroft Inn and Spa in Alton and the Caledon Pan Am Equestrian Park in Palgrave respectfully.
Delegates came from across Ontario with disciplines in both municipal planning, tourism and local economic development with agriculture and food (farming, food processing, agri-tourism, equine/agri-business sector, and agri-entrepreneurship) as part of their portfolio.
A group of more than 50 , including the Mayor of Caledon, Allan Thompson, embarked on a local food bus tour. Lunch was hosted by Spirit Tree Cidery and Heatherlea Farm Store. The group was then treated to a full tour of the Everdale Organic Learning Farm and Adamo Estate Winery.
Beyond beautiful! Caledon’s Headwaters Region boasts having some of the most successful and passionate leaders in the equine, value-add agriculture, food and beverage sectors. The group had many questions, and learned a tremendous amount from seasoned experts.
Networking, sharing successes and experiencing the “tastes” and sites of Caledon continued on into the evening with a presentation from Dana McCauley, the Executive Director of Food Starter, who spoke on Accelerating Food Entrepreneurship in Your Community.
Day two was held in Palgrave at the Caledon Equestrian Park. The day began with a tour of the facility from Craig Collins, followed by a presentation from the dynamic and passionate, Michele Harris, Executive Director of Headwaters Tourism.
Forum participants were then introduced to “Ignite presentations” – a colourful, quick and riveting array of close to 20 individual presentations that supported 20 plus slides, each sharing their individual Economic Development Success Stories in 5 to 10 min!
For more information and to see all the presentation please go to: http://www.slideshare.net/eolfc2013/presentations
The conference was hosted in partnership with the Town of Caledon, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs with additional sponsorship from Foodland Ontario.
Where’s next years’ Forum..TBA. Stay in touch.
Susan Powell, Agriculture & Rural Economic Development Advisor
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