Check out this article in Macleans… land grabbing is happening close to home:
Betting the farm – and winning Investors are buying up our farmland and making traditionalists nervous
- Write your Member of Parliament one last time to ask them to vote for Bill C-474 on Feb 9th, and ask them to participate in the debate on Feb 8th. Send a letter from: http://www.cban.ca/474action
- The Liberal Party must support the Bill! Write the Liberals instantly from: http://www.cban.ca/liberalact474
- Call your MP on Monday, Tuesday or even Wednesday! You can search for your MP’s phone number at http://www.parl.gc.ca Read more…
Learn about services and programs to spearhead your business/product idea or expand into new markets.
* special focus on healthy foods and food safety*
FREE Info Sessions are offered province wide.
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Pre-registration is required. Visit the Food Centre to find out more.
I recently visited the Maine Farmland Trust and was incredibly inspired by the organization and all it is managing to do to make farming a viable and vibrant option in Maine.
I picked up a a very well done documentary that they have put together profiling some of Maine’s farmers. Check out this collection of short films online: http://meetyourfarmer.org/
We checked out Chase’s Daily, one of the farm-run cafes featured in the documentary-quite a cool place. An inspiring project on all levels: the Trust, the documentary, and the farms.
The widespread use of glyphosate is causing negative impacts on soil and plants as well as possibly animal and human health. These are key findings of Don Huber, emeritus professor of plant pathology, Purdue University.
We arrived in Cancun Sunday afternoon, partway through the second day of the Global Forum for Life, Environmental, and Social Justice, organized by La Via Campesina (LVC). The Forum was organized as a people’s forum to parallel the official United Nations climate change conference COP16. Read more…
Canada’s farmers represent less than 2% of our population, yet they play a critical role in the country’s economic system, they are the cornerstone of our rural culture and provide an essential service to the rest of the country. Here are 5 reasons why we need more farmers in Canada:
1) Food Safety
Farmers are accountable for the food they produce. Large corporations have maneuvered around the accountability for their products resulting in widespread epidemics such as swine and avian flu, BSE and listeriosis. Food safety requires more than government regulations, it requires real people who care about what they’re producing, it requires farmers. Read more…
In a statement released on Tuesday, European Civil Society Organisations are asking the European Union to reshape the CAP – Key Proposals for a new Common Agriculture and Food Policy that meets European and Global Challenges.
SUPPORT THE PRESENCE OF La Vía Campesina
AT THE CLIMATE SUMMIT IN CANCUN 2010
HELP THOUSANDS OF PEASANTS AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES MAKE OUR VOICE HEARD
We are peasants, family farmers and indigenous peoples from Mexico and the world.
- Our sustainable farming practices cool the planet
- We defend the Mother Earth
- Help us say NO to false solutions to climate change!
La Vía Campesina is the global movement of organizations of peasants, family farmers, indigenous peoples, farm workers, the landless, rural women and rural youth. We are an autonomous, plural, multicultural, independent movement without political, economic, or any other type of affiliation. The organizations that form La Vía Campesina come from 69 countries from Asia, Africa, Europe and the American continent.
Summer is on the fast track out and we’re gearing up for another harvest season! Check out our August Newsletter that follows Upper Canada Heritage Farm on their search for new farmers.
“This summer, we caught up with Barbara Schaefer who owns Upper Canada Heritage Meat. Barbara, her two teenage children and two full time workers are busy taking care of this unique farm which includes pastured Large Black Pigs, Lincoln Red cattle as well as heritage ducks and chickens on 100 acres close to Merrickville, Ontario. What makes this farm even more unique is Barbara’s approach to solving a problem common on many farms today, too much farm and not enough farmers. Barbara is currently on a search for a couple to come farm with her. Not only as apprentices or employees though, Barbara Schaefer is opening her farm up to new farmers who could potentially make their own full time living on this land.” …read more
Campaign for New Farmers 