Dear Editor:
There is a saying: “if you have eaten today, thank a farmer.”
We have always protected farmland and our ability to grow food for our communities. Always.
The new proposals by the Ontario government are a threat to this very basic human need, our ability to grow food, and to raise animals for our food source.
I know we need housing, I get it. But depleting our farmland is not a viable answer.
The Ontario government needs to consult with our municipal governments and our farm groups; they will have the proper guidance on how to best proceed.
We need to be responsible for ourselves. Has COVID taught us nothing? Showing us how quickly our world can change.
We need to have land to grow our food. This truly is so basic.
If three, one-acre lots were severed from each farm in our surrounding area, we would lose 27,478 acres of fertile ground that grows everything from lettuce to grain to soy beans.
This could mean you would possibly have 82,000 homes locally on prime agriculture land – land that will no longer provide food for us and to raise our animals.
Once the province embarks on such a scary and dangerous direction, it can not be reversed. Think about it. This action can not be reversed.
The province has granted themselves powers that have never existed, to bypass working with council and local agriculture groups.
This is bad legislation and needs to be revisited.
Brenda Chamberlain,
Elora