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Local Food Plus

From Rustbelt to Greenbelt

Grants Made:

$207,500 - June 8, 2009

The food sector is the second largest employer in Ontario after the auto industry, employing more than 700,000 people.

http://localfoodplus.ca

Committed to creating local sustainable food systems, Local Food Plus is stepping in to boost employment in the agricultural sectors of the Greenbelt, as many Ontarians reel from job losses in Ontario’s largest industry, the automotive sector.Local Food Plus (LFP) creates new, green employment built on the Greenbelt’s food and agriculture sector while enhancing agricultural protection. Targeting the Greenbelt regions hardest hit by the loss of auto-related jobs—Hamilton, St. Catharines, and Oshawa—LFP creates local food jobs by establishing local food procurement strategies in municipalities, universities, schools and hospitals.

 

The Greenbelt Foundation is

  • Supporting interested Greenbelt Farmers to Go Organic

  • Funding the Holland Marsh Growers’ transition from an export, commodity focus to one that serves the local market with value- added products

  • Supporting the creation of new multi-cultural crops and development of ethnic local food guides in Toronto and York Region

  • Hosting the successful Tour de Greenbelt to promote Ontario’s Greenbelt as a tourism destination

  • Supporting the creation of an award-winning Greenbelt granola bar

  • Participating strategically in growing the Greenbelt by working with Toronto, Peel, Halton, and Guelph

  • Funding visionary planning processes such as the new Cootes to Escarpment Park Management Plan, and a massive reforestation plan in Rouge Park

  • Successfully merging social welfare initiatives with environmental concerns

  • Supporting food policy council in Durham to create food charter

  • Creating a network of Farmer’s Markets to help improve our local food economy

  • Assisting in designing new policies to protect Lake Simcoe through timely research

  • Engaged Hamilton schools to switch to Greenbelt food for their students

  • Supporting the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance to foster strong Greenbelt Plan implementation at the municipal level

  • Supporting the development of multi-cultural crops and training new Canadian Farmers

  • Contributing $2.65 million to Greenbelt farmers to improve their operations (leveraging millions of dollars from federal sources), and to employ the opportunities of the Green Energy Act

  • Partnering with Harbourfront Centre to tell the story of Ontario’s Greenbelt to 12 million people via a year-long, outdoor photography exhibit

  • Contributing to greater sales of Greenbelt wines at the LCBO

  • Supporting development of action plans for a variety of agricultural areas and commodities

  • Increasing amount of Greenbelt food in food share program 140%

  • Funding research and analysis on greenbelts around the globe which concluded that Ontario’s Greenbelt is the most robust in the world, with a strong legal and policy framework

  • Supporting the Credit Valley Conservation Authority to protect and restore wetlands

  • Hosted the first ever Global Greenbelts Conference in Toronto in March 2011 with speakers and delegates from over nine countries

  • Enhancing Farmers’ Markets, increasing sales for farmers in the Greenbelt and beyond

  • Funding policy changes to encourage more local food to be sold in Durham

  • Supporting tourism initiatives including in the Niagara and Caledon areas

  • Reaching over 75 million by placing 220 permanent highway and regional road signs to ensure Ontarians and visitors know about this valuable protected area

  • Building a local food economy from developing new markets to enhancing distribution channels

  • Creating Greenbeltfresh.ca, the leading electronic marketplace to source local, Greenbelt foods from over 600 producers

  • Engaging with over 170 million Ontarians directly through our marketing, events and communications activities

  • Developing a successful culinary tourism platform for Niagara

  • Identifying barriers to opening markets for Greenbelt farmers and proposing solutions

  • Securing local food procurement commitments for Peel schools, City of Toronto, City of Markham and others

  • Bridging farming and hiking interests to acknowledge environmental progress by farmers

  • Supporting changing the City of Toronto policy to adopt a local food purchasing bylaw for city facilities

  • Providing grants and support to significantly increase sales at farmers’ markets

  • Securing local food procurement commitments for Peel, U of T. City of Toronto Facilities and Markham

  • Convincing Peel school boards to buy Greenbelt food for students

  • Bringing thousands of Ontarians out into the Greenbelt each year through grantee activities and the Annual Tour de Greenbelt cycling event

 
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