ELORA – Speaking to a hybrid audience of attendees at the Farm and Food Care Ontario (FFCO) annual conference on April 13, Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) Lisa Thompson announced a funding agreement contributing up to $547,200 to FFCO outreach initiatives over the next three years.
The new funding will support five of the organization’s activities, all designed to raise awareness and appreciation of Ontario farmers and food producers.
Initiatives include:
– FFCO breakfast on/from the farm events;
– farm tours for culinary students;
– multi-media productions showing migrant seasonal workers;
– garden box program; and
– digital consumer outreach.
“Ensuring Ontarians have the facts on where their food comes from, how it grows, and how it is made is key to growing the next generation of leaders for Ontario’s agri-food sector,” Thompson said. “This important investment will empower Farm and Food Care Ontario to deliver these critical programs.”
Farm and Food Care Ontario funding largely comes from agri-food stakeholders through memberships and partnerships.
The funding is the first Farm and Food Care has received from the provincial government for public trust work and will support these initiatives until 2025.
FFCO chair Bonnie den Haan responded to the announcement with excitement. “FFCO is delighted by this support from the province. FFCO has always had a reputation for doing great work on incredibly limited budgets.
“This funding is a huge show of support from the provincial government for the work we do and will really enable us to expand the reach of our initiatives.”
