[All] Fw: Putting Food and Water First

Wed Jun 5 23:15:29 EDT 2013

Hi folks

Here's the latest from the folks in Melancthon.  I think it would be beneficial if we could send along info regarding the Country Side Line OMB process and see if we can get an article happening in their next newsletter. Good way to build a wider support to push for provincial change. 

Lulu 

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: The Food and Water First Team <contact at outwrite.ca>
To: Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com> 
Sent: Wednesday, June 5, 2013 9:48:08 PM
Subject: Putting Food and Water First

Putting Food and Water First  
June 2013  
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Latest News
Save our farmland. Protect our water.
Not long ago, the rallying cry was “Stop the Mega Quarry”. Read Article

Food and Water First Summer Events
Pick the events you like and come show your support! Read Article

Just how bad is it?
Did you know that your average farmer must submit an environmental assessment in order to build a new shed, but not to dig a 2,000-acre quarry? Read Article

  Facebook  
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  Website        Save our farmland. Protect our water. Food and Water First!

Welcome to our first 
newsletter! Thank you for putting Food and Water First.

Not long ago, the rallying cry was “Stop the Mega Quarry”. When The Highland Companies withdrew their application to sink a 2,316 acre mega quarry into Class 1 farmland in Melancthon Township north of Orangeville, shouts for joy went up across Ontario.

We won the battle against the Mega Quarry, but not the war. There is no legislation to stop The Highland Companies or anyone else from submitting the same quarry application tomorrow...and having it approved.

That’s why Food and Water First lawn signs are popping up all over Ontario—it's our version of Spring Planting! We're happy to announce that Grand Valley, ON is the latest in a growing number of communities to endorse the Food & Water First movement. Congrats!

If you’d like a lawn sign, you’ll find a list of places that carry them on our home page. While you're at it, please urge friends and family to Take the Pledge at www.foodandwaterfirst.com (they'll get this great newsletter as a reward) and come out to one of our many information sessions.

Country & City Summer Events
We have a busy summer roster of events planned. We’re drumming up awareness with the ultimate goal of changing the way we treat farmland and source water in Ontario. Come join the fun and lend your support this summer!

If you would like more frequent updates on all things Food and Water, email Donna Tranquada and she’ll add you to her 'frequent fliers' email list.     
Food and Water First Summer Events
There’s a lot going on this summer to support Food and Water First, and more to come. Pick the events you like and come show your support!

Thursday, June 6th -- Food & Water First will be at the Big Carrot, 348 Danforth Avenue, Toronto. We'll have a table with information about the campaign along with Food & Water First lawn signs and other materials. 

Saturday, June 8th -- Carl Cosack, chair of NDACT, will be in North Bay as the keynote speaker at the Annual Meeting of the Ontario Rivers Alliance, a partner of Food & Water First.

Sunday, August 18th -- Celebrate Food & Water First in Honeywood, Melancthon Township, where the fight to stop the Highland Mega Quarry began. The event will feature delicious food prepared by local chefs, a farmers' market, music, art, and children’s activities. There are wagon rides to view the farmland saved from the Mega Quarry. 11am - 3pm. Admission - $5. Kids 5 and under are FREE. Servings $2 -$5.  Bring your own plate and fork. And bring a bike if you'd like to ride along country roads for stunning vistas of fields, forests and river valleys.

Click on the poster to enlarge the image.

There are many other happenings, small and large. To be in the know day to day and minute to minute, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or have Donna T. put you on her email list!      
Just how bad is it?
Did you know that your average farmer must submit an environmental assessment in order to build a new shed, but doesn’t need one to dig a 2,000-acre quarry?

Yes, it’s that bad. The Ontario Aggregate Resources Act (ARA) places aggregate extraction above our ability to feed ourselves and drink clean water. As they say, times change. We're here to change them.

Carl Cosack, NDACT Chair, speaks to Toronto crowd

Reform required
Each year in Ontario, prime farmland equivalent to the size of Toronto disappears. Many people are surprised to hear that we don’t have all that much of it left. The question is, what’s more important? Growing food in perpetuity on the surface, or excavating the rock below?

Prime farmland and source water in Ontario are not protected. To change this, we need to reform two pieces of legislation and pass a third: the Aggregate Resources Act, the current Provincial Policy Statement
 and a new Local Food Act.

What you can do
An Ontario government committee is busy writing its report on the state of the Aggregate Resources Act. This is your opportunity to remind MPPs involved about the importance of protecting prime farmland and source water regions.

Click here for a sample letter and MPP email addresses. We’re not against aggregate. But we are against excavating it from beneath prime farmland and in source water regions.

Are we about to run out of aggregate?
By many estimates, Ontario has at least 10 years’ worth of virgin aggregate reserves at existing sites close to the GTA—and that’s at current usage levels. Virgin aggregate is plentiful and accessible. It’s also very, very cheap.

The Ontario Government levies a fee per tonne on virgin aggregate of 11.5 cents. In the UK, that fee is equivalent to $3.22. In Ontario, 7% of aggregate production comes from recycled material. In the UK, the proportion of recycled aggregate is 21%. Think there’s a correlation?  

As Canadians, we’re under the illusion that we have an inexhaustible supply of everything: fresh air, clean water, healthy forests and fertile soil. You and I know that’s a reality that we create by making all levels of government hold industry to account.

Thank you for helping us do so!

Food and Water First is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving farmland, securing the food supply, and safeguarding ground water in Canada. Food and 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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