Longo’s celebrates Local Food Week at Queen’s Park

The  Queen’s Park Farmers’ Market on June 4, was just one of many events taking place during the second Local Food Week.

This event was a great opportunity to showcase locally produced foods and flowers, and the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers and Longo’s participated this year.

Consumers were able to sample and savour the best of Ontario.

As well, Ontario launched its first-ever Local Food Report, which measures the province’s progress in bringing local food to more tables across the province.

“The Local Food Report marks a major milestone for Ontario’s agri-food sector. The launch of this report helps us benchmark where our industry is and track future progress to better guide our efforts as we work to ensure that more Ontarians are able to identify, access and prepare Ontario-grown food,” said Jeff Leal, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

In 2013, Ontario passed the Local Food Act, 2013 which aims to increase awareness of local food, nurture local food markets and foster vibrant food-based economies across the province. The Act also commits to an annual report on the province’s local food activities, goals and accomplishments.

The first ever Local Food Report highlights some of the actions taken by the province and the agri-food sector to promote and celebrate local food this year, including:

• Setting food literacy goals to increase the number of Ontarians who know what local foods are available, who know how and where to obtain local foods and who know how to prepare meals made with local food.
• Providing a tax credit to farmers for making food donations to food banks and student nutrition programs.
• Piloting a fundraising initiative that helps the province’s schools to fundraise by selling Ontario-grown fruits and vegetables to families.
• Distributing more than 800,000 copies of Foodland Ontario’s local food recipe calendar in 2014.

The inaugural report will help the province track future progress in meeting its local food goals.

Supporting local food and strengthening the province’s agri-food sector is part of the government’s economic plan for Ontario. The four-part plan is building Ontario up by investing in people’s talents and skills, making the largest public infrastructure investment in Ontario’s history, creating a dynamic, innovative environment where business thrives, and building a secure retirement savings plan.