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Friend of the Greenbelt Award 2009

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The Greenbelt Foundation is

  • 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

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

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

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

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

  • Successfully merging social welfare initiatives with environmental concerns

  • Supporting interested Greenbelt Farmers to Go Organic

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

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

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

  • Supporting tourism initiatives including in the Niagara and Caledon areas

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Convincing Peel school boards to buy Greenbelt food for students

  • 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

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

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

  • Contributing to greater sales of Greenbelt wines at the LCBO

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

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

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

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

  • 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

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

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

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

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

  • Supporting food policy council in Durham to create food charter

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

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

  • Developing a successful culinary tourism platform for Niagara

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

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

 
Learn more about what the Greenbelt Foundation has done for you »

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