Land Food People Foundation

Just in from the field!!! Open tonight 'til 8.

Welcome to our new page! Local Food Plus will now be housed under the Land Food People Foundation. To learn more about the Foundation, visit our new website: www.landfoodpeople.ca

You can also follow us on twitter! https://twitter.com/localfoodplus

Land Food People Foundation

Local Food Plus enters a new chapter. Read on to see what lies ahead for Canada's food systems organization.

Local Food Plus Enters New Chapter | Local Food Plus (LFP) Check out the details for getting started on the bedrock floor of the local and sustainable food value chain.

Check out this map of Toronto Food Shares (CSAs). So great to see so many across the city! http://www.finditonindex.com/toronto/guides/farm-shares

Toronto Farm Shares (or CSAs) Boxes of fresh, local produce. Delivered across Toronto each week by local farmers to you.

A wonderful video series from National Geographic examining the future of food and the colossal challenge of feeding 9 billion people by 2050.

National Geographic Investigates the Future of Food By 2050, Earth will likely be home to more than nine billion people. That's a lot of mouths to feed. In a special eight-month series, “The Future of Food,” National Geographic investigates how to meet our growing need for nourishment without harming the planet that sustains us. Join the discussion i…

Bee-cause it's important to look after them...

Let Native Pollinators Add To Your Farm’s Bottom Line – Sustainable Farming on the Urban Fringe Pollination is vital to high–quality and high-quantity crop production. One of every three forkfuls of food we eat comes from crops pollinated by insects. The demand for pollination services is rising at the same time that pollinator abundance and diversity are declining. While native bees may not b…

The Problem With Redundant Trade

Every day, food is transported across the country and across borders, criss-crossing the entire continent. But over time, this movement of food has evolved to a point where every day trucks with the very same food are passing each other going opposite directions. This, is called redundant trade and using greenhouse tomatoes as an example, Rod MacRae of York University in Toronto, describes this common occurrence.

Another common strategy for rebuilding place-based food systems is to undertake import replacement with local products. Even in our northern climates, there are at least a few months out of each year when fresh local product of some sort could be supplied to a local market, a period that can be extended when one adds in frozen and processed products. But replacing those imports may be harder than you think. Watch this short Deconstructing Dinner video on redundant trade to learn some astonishing statistics and gain some ideas on how to go about reducing redundant trade in your foodshed.
As Rod MacRae states in the trade video, policy is part of the answer to local food systems.

The Problem With Redundant Trade

**WE’RE HIRING!** As part of The Mustard Seed’s Local Foods Strategy, we will be hiring a Marketing and Community Engagement Coordinator. This individual will be responsible for engaging Co-op members and encouraging them choose more local food. This position will work closely with our Local Food Manager to communicate The Mustard Seed’s relationships with local producers and share their stories with our members.

Interested, or know someone who might be? Read more here: http://mustardseed.coop/jobpostings/
The application deadline for this position is April 25, 2014.
**Please share!**

Interested in sustainable agriculture and near-urban farming? Albion Hills Community Farm is looking for a farm manager, interns, and volunteer board members. Check em out!

Volunteer & Career Opportunities | Albion Hills Community Farm Albion Hills Community Farm -

Migrant workers are key figures in Canadian agriculture. At LFP, we are committed to ensuring that fair working conditions are upheld in all our certified farms. Migrant labour continues to be a contentious issue. What are your thoughts?

Fill the gap: Ontario should insure injured migrant workers | Toronto Star The Ontario government should immediately provide OHIP coverage to injured migrant farm workers.

Via FarmStart: We would like to invite friends and friends of friends to:

Exploring your New Farm Dream Course

Coming up on Saturday, April 12, 2014 and Saturday, April 26, 2014. 9:30am-4:30pm in TORONTO
at the Barbara Frum Public Library Auditorium.
20 Covington Rd. Bathurst & Lawrence Area.
Please visit our site to read more and please share.

http://www.farmstart.ca/programs/training/explorer-2/locations-dates/

Locations & Dates | FarmStart When: Saturday, April 12, 2014 and Saturday, April 26, 2014. 9:30am-4:30pmWhere: Barbara Frum Public Library Auditorium. 20 Covington Rd, Toronto.Parking & DirectionsFacilitator: Angie Koch Registration: https://farmstart.ticketbud.com/farmdreamtorontoCost: $325 (+HST) per person or $520 (+HST) for...

Dr. Evan Fraser weighs in on the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report and its predictions for global food security.

IPCC Climate Change Report: Official prophecy of doom? Hundreds of experts have funneled their work into the report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that has

A great story about our partners, Harmony Organic Dairy Products in the Globe & Mail! Wonderful to see sustainable agricultural innovators covered in mainstream media.

How this organic dairy producer milks small stores for big growth Although there are more than 200 certified organic milk farmers in Canada, Harmony Organic won’t budge from its grassroots sales philosophy

How ya gonna keep ’em down on the organic farm? By investing in them, says a veteran financial strategist.

A green investor is getting people to think big about small farms Though it’s certainly easier to find local, sustainably grown meat and produce in America than it was 20 years ago, the deck nevertheless remains stacked against small farmers and sellers who would feed the steadily increasing demand for such fare. Many of our food-production system’s most dangerous...

Via Local Organic Food Co-ops Network: "The West End Well Co-op is hosting learning circles as they gear up to open. Check out Robin Turner's presentation on local sustainable food systems from their first Learning Circle."

Learning Circles - Local Food Robin Turner presents at a West End Well Learning Circle with a comparison of the global industrial and local sustainable methods of food production.

The "Promotion of Local Foods Act" will be debated in the House of Commons today! http://www.parl.gc.ca/LegisInfo/BillDetails.aspx?Mode=1&billId=6227867&Language=E

OCTA: Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance has put together a list of top Ontario food bloggers. Take a look, get inspired, and cook up some local sustainable goodness tonight!

Ontario Food Blogs We Love | Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance We thought long and hard about the food blogs we love and compiled a list of Ontario's top 10 for you!

A great article highlighting the important work being done by Aabir Dey for the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security.

"...a stronger seed supply is key to maintaining biodiversity and ensuring a secure food supply."

Sowing the Seeds of Food Security | In The Hills Everdale organic farm is at the centre of a project designed to create a self-sufficient organic seed industry in Canada.

Parkdale Seedy Sunday, this weekend!

Toronto Community Garden Network | Events 2014 / West End SS-20114

Great summer employment opportunity with a great organization in Toronto!

Spend the summer with us! It's that time of year again - the hiring of summer interns!We're looking for three outstanding students to join us in the national office in Toronto to help plan our summer events and get us ready to go for the 2014/2015 school year.Are you a jack of all trades with a passion for food?Apply to be o...

Local sustainable goodness making its way into Ryerson campuses!

Heather was busy serving samples of our delicious milk at Ryerson University campuses last week!

Event: Grow Better, Not Bigger | Join Jean-Martin Fortier, author of The Market Gardener, for a potluck and presentation in Toronto April 25th.

Event: How To Make A Living on 1.5 Acres | Local Food Plus (LFP) The inside scoop is that Local Food Plus certification standards are “the black box” of the organization. That’s where all the vital navigation information is stored.

Wonderful new developments on the local food front:

Thanks to the Local Food Fund for enabling The Mustard Seed Co-op to develop our Local Food Networks Strategy through a two-year pilot project. The $117,603 grant covers 50% of the expenses for the two year development phase, with the other 50% coming from The Mustard Seed Co-op budget.

Key components of the strategy include:
- two full-time positions : Local Foods Manager and Marketing & Community Engagement Coordinator
- proactive relationship development with local farmers and producers with a goal to work with 200 by the end of the pilot phase
- develop clear and effective communication methods on availability and benefits of local food
- help producers gauge and understand consumer demand for broad spectrum of local foods
- create and host education sessions, cooking classes, farm tours, and other food culture events
- develop, implement, and track strategies for effectively promoting local food with knowledge to be shared with partners and funders
- empower members and community to align their purchasing priorities for local by finding and stocking a full spectrum of local grocery products

We expect the Strategy to result in 4 new FTE positions + the two direct jobs in addition to the Co-op's base operational staffing. This will help grow FTE employment at The Mustard Seed to 18 after five years.

Here are a few photos from the official announcement which happened Friday, March 14 2014 at The Mustard Seed. We are so excited to see how these added resources will help out local food networks flourish!

Plant these to save the bees!

Good to know!

A major thanks to http://www.hannahrosengren.etsy.com for the image!

A sobering look at our dysfunctional global food system, second by second.

World Food Clock ...

Great discussion on local food and agriculture in Ontario in "Growing Food Resilience" on The Agenda. Sustain Ontario

Growing Food Resilience Is Ontario's food system strong enough to withstand turbulent times?

Oliver De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, explains that local food systems are key to promoting community food security.

“Food democracy must start from the bottom-up, at the level of villages, regions, cities, and municipalities,” the rights expert said.

Democracy and diversity can mend broken food systems - final diagnosis from UN right to food... [10 March 2014] GENEVA – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, today called for the world’s food systems to be radically and democratically redesigned to ensure the human right to adequate food and freedom

"It’s hard to make a permanent agriculture on the basis of an emergency strategy."

Wendell Barry talks about local farming, land stewardship, and taking a stand for what you believe in.

Wendell Berry: A Strong Voice For Local Farming and the Land by Roger Cohn: Yale Environment 360 For six decades, writer Wendell Berry has spoken out in defense of local agriculture, rural communities, and the importance of caring for the land. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, he talks about his Kentucky farm, his activism, and why he remains hopeful for the future.

From Ontariofresh.ca:
On your mark, get ready, buy local! Ten Public Institutions are stepping-up to the plate for the Greenbelt Fund's 2014 Local Food Challenge.
To play along with this year's challengers: http://www.ontariofresh.ca/about-local-food-challenge/local-food-challenge-2014
To read more about this exciting project: http://www.ontariofresh.ca/news-resources/news/press-releases/4076-your-mark-get-ready-buy-local

How Local Can You Go? The Challenge is on! Public institutions across Ontario source local for one year, with amazing results. Ten Local Food Challengers step up to the plate for ...

An important event for anyone committed to building a just and inclusive food movement: What's Race Got to Do with It? Come and listen to three leading thinkers and activists on food, diversity and inclusion discuss their work. March 19th at U of T UeaT at University of Toronto

What’s Race Got to Do with It? Food, Diversity, & Inclusion | Local Food Plus (LFP) The inside scoop is that Local Food Plus certification standards are “the black box” of the organization. That’s where all the vital navigation information is stored.

Eating local sustainable means looking forward to fresh seasonal produce... and it enjoying every minute of it.

Learn more about winter vegetables here! http://www.pinterest.com/localfoodplus/winter-food/

Image by Matthew Elliott http://dothegreenthing.tumblr.com/post/78433683245/matthewelliott

For those of you looking for a little snowy adventure this March Break:

"We have snow! Muskoka Airport reports over 20 feet (634 cm) has fallen this winter. That's lots to play in over March Break! Discover our daily tour at 1 pm, wine tasting, trails, snowshoe rentals, and even wine and cheese outdoors by the fire. We look forward to seeing you!"