Tag: Local Food
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Recap: Always in Season Community of Practice Session
On August 20, 2020 the Agriculture Economic Development and Planning Community of Practice webinar highlighted the new Always in Season Toolkit. Participants heard how different communities have introduced initiatives to help strengthen their agri-food sector. The Always in Season toolkit is designed to help guide communities through potential activities, key performance metrics, funding opportunities, and…
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Celebrating Direct Marketing this Local Food Week
For the very first time, the 2016 Census of Agriculture asked, “did this operation sell any agricultural products directly to consumers for human consumption?” With this simple question, we now have a glimpse into direct sales of Ontario’s local foods that we’ve never had before! Ontario leads the country with 7,474 farms reporting direct-to-consumer sales,…
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Food Entrepreneurship Success in Central Ontario Expands to Provincial Conference
The week of October 25, 2015 was declared Food Entrepreneurship Week in Simcoe County to celebrate those gastronomic entrepreneurs who make a business out of growing, processing, and selling food-related products across the region. To celebrate the declaration (Oct. 26 and 28) Georgian College and community partners welcomed over 200 food entrepreneurs to the Orillia and…
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Local Food Conference Ignite Session (2 of 2)
The second day of the Eastern Ontario Local Foods Conference on November 5th turned out to be just as exciting as the first. An “Ignite” session featured 10 local food presentations on a range of informative topics that included: Bruce Enloe, Two Rivers Food Hub spoke about community collaboration Kim Leadbeater, Northumberland Food Policy Committee described…
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A look back at the Eastern Ontario Local Food Conference Part 1 of 2
The Cities of Belleville and Quinte West hosted the 5th annual Eastern Ontario Local Food Conference, November 4th and 5th in the City of Belleville. The theme for the conference set the tone for an exceptional offering of information, inspiration and local food experiences (Creativity + Collaboration = Action). More than 200 delegates, speakers and mentors…
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Local Food ‘Destination Quinte Region’ Tour a Hit
The recently held 5th annual Eastern Ontario Local Food Conference ‘Destination Quinte Region’ tour was hit with delegates. There were six delicious stops on the tour, highlighting some of the region’s local food diversity and success stories, and providing a closer view of their operations. The first stop included a tour and delicious sampling of…
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New $6M Investment in Local Food
The Ontario government is providing $6 million over three years to increase sales of local food by making it more widely available and building awareness of the variety of food grown and produced in Ontario. This funding is not restricted to the Greenbelt, and is available to organizations across Ontario. The funds will be administered…
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Two ways to Explore Value-Added Opportunities
In spring of 2015, Regional Economic Development and Business Management Unit of OMAFRA, Harvest Hastings and the Small Business Centre delivered the ‘Starting or Growing your Food Business?‘ two-part series workshop in Stirling. Part one was ‘Exploring Value-Added Opportunities (EVAO)’ and part-two was ‘Market Considerations’.
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Ontario Releases First Annual Local Food Report
Ontario has launched its first-ever Local Food Report, which measures the province’s progress in bringing local food to more tables across the province In 2013, Ontario passed the Local Food Act, 2013 which aims to increase awareness of local food, nurture local food markets and foster vibrant food-based economies across the province. The Act also commits…
