[All] Fw: Food & Water First December News!

Mon Dec 2 10:34:38 EST 2013

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: The Food and Water First Team <megaquarrynews at gmail.com>
To: Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com> 
Sent: Monday, December 2, 2013 10:18:43 AM
Subject: Food & Water First December News!

Food & Water First December News!  
December 2013  
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Latest News

Food & Water First Hero! Our favourite rancher in the familiar white cowboy hat is a Local Hero. In the Hills magazine has singled out Carl Cosack for his hard work protecting farmland and water. Congrats, Carl!  In the Hills article

Red Carpet for Taters not Craters! Toronto's NOW magazine has chosen the Stop the Mega Quarry movement as the Best Activist Campaign of 2013! Cue the applause! NOW magazine Awards

Our Vanishing Farmland: The Guelph Mercury reports on the continuing loss of Ontario's prime farmland. Guelph Mercury article

ARA report slammed: Food & Water First supporters weren't the only ones disappointed in the review of the Aggregate Resources Act. Orangeville Banner editorial

Great Stocking Stuffers!

Foodstock T-shirts are great Christmas gifts for everyone in the family! Made by Roots and worn with pride to defend the land that feeds us. Order one today! $10. Contact Shirley at shirley.boxem at gmail.com 

Pickering Lands

Food & Water First connected with many groups this year including Land Over Landings. The citizens' movement is trying to protect 13,000-acres of Class 1 farmland in the Pickering area from being paved over for a new airport and other development.  Learn more here: Pickering Lands article

The Pickering Lands video, narrated by Bill Lishman, outlines the great potential of the land 40 years after it was expropriated by Ottawa. Click on the photo! 

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  Website        2013: A very good year! 

The Food & Water First campaign is celebrating many achievements in its inaugural year. The bonds forged between rural and urban communities during the fight to stop the Mega Quarry grew stronger. Rural townships and the largest city in Canada became Food & Water First municipalities. And a Hollywood star appeared alongside local farmers in our Food & Water First videos! Click on the photos below to watch:

2013 began on a wary note. At the start of the year, we were still processing the unexpected decision by the Highland Companies last November to withdraw its Mega Quarry application. Would it return in a few months with a fresh application for a smaller quarry? Were the Melancthon fields and its aquifer really safe? Was our long fight over?

Unbeknownst to us, Bonnefield Financial - a farmland investment firm - was already in discussions with Highland's backers, the $27-billion Baupost Group in Boston. In July, Bonnefield announced it had purchased all 6,500-acres of Highland's Class 1 farmland. The rarest soil in Ontario is now being leased back to local farmers instead of threatened by the country's largest quarry. 

The purchase of the Melancthon fields should also send a signal to the provincial government. Bonnefield is not alone in investing in prime farmland. The states of Pennsylvania and New York are buying prime farmland to protect it for farming in the future. Pennsylvania leads the U.S. in farmland preservation. If investors and our competitors across the border recognize the importance of keeping rare agricultural land in production in perpetuity, when will Queen's Park do the same?

Food & Water First ends 2013 with much accomplished, but much more to be done. Thanks to the hundreds of people who've written our MPPs and planted Food & Water First lawn signs. Thanks to our many new Partners for standing up for Ontario's farmland and water. Thanks to our tireless and dedicated volunteers! 

Have a safe and wonderful Christmas!  

ARA: A Missed Opportunity

Two years ago, in response to the outcry over the proposed Mega Quarry, the province ordered a review of the Aggregate Resources Act. We believed there would be a comprehensive and balanced review of the ARA. We believed the many detailed recommendations presented by the agriculture sector would be acknowledged. Sadly, the all-party Standing Committee on General Government ignored them.

Earlier this fall, the Report on the Review of the ARA was tabled in the Ontario legislature and it is extremely disappointing.   The calls from agricultural stakeholders for the protection of prime farmland from pits and quarries were dismissed. Instead, the ARA report focuses on rehabilitating aggregate sites to agriculture after extraction. The Committee sided with the aggregate industry and was given private tours of aggregate sites during the 2012 public hearings. It declined an invitation to visit the farmland adjacent to the most controversial aggregate application in Ontario history.  

The recommendations in the ARA report would still allow a quarry of any size on prime farmland or in source water regions. Fortunately, the report is not binding. You can still speak up for our farmland and water by clicking here: CALL TO ACTION! 

We Soared to New Heights!

What's that in the sky?! On August 18th, we hosted Celebrate Food & Water First in the village of Honeywood and a famous aviator flew in for the party. Bill Lishman - Father Goose - piloted his ultralight in a symbolic flight for Food & Water First. He linked the 13,000-acre Pickering Lands threatened by a new airport to the Melancthon fields saved from the Mega Quarry. (Above photo by Dan Sinclair)

Toronto: A Food & Water First city!

While Toronto and its Mayor made headlines around the world this fall, there was some great news that wasn't shared by Jon Stewart or Saturday Night Live! Toronto city council voted unanimously in October to support the Food & Water First campaign. No scandal there! 

If your community, business or organization would like to support Food & Water First, whether it’s financial, an in-kind donation or just a vote of confidence, let us know! (Above photo by Natalia Shields)

Connect with us on  Twitter, Facebook or visit our website  http://foodandwaterfirst.com/

Food & Water First is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving Class 1 farmland and source water regions in Ontario. Food & Water First uses your contact information to send you information on topics and events that may be of interest to you. We do not share your contact information with any outside parties.

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