Farm meeting season usually happens in the dead of winter, when the fields are quiet and there is a little more time to gather around a table. But over the past few weeks, I’ve had the privilege of attending a handful of agricultural meetings and get-togethers. It is a good reminder that even when things are at their busiest on the farm, building connections, sharing ideas, and advocating for the future of agriculture remain a top priority.
As summer winds down, we enter a season of both endings and beginnings. Harvest is underway, winter crops are being planted, and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. When you live in a place as agriculturally abundant as Haldimand-Norfolk, we have an awful lot to be grateful for. The food on our tables represents the hard work of generations of farmers who rise early, work long hours, and deal with everything from weather to markets and government policy; often all in the same day.
That is why I want to give a special shout-out to Sandy Shore Farms, which will host its second Grow and Gather on Saturday, September 19, at the Simcoe Fairgrounds from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The inaugural event was held in Delhi last year, and I was fortunate to attend. It is a wonderful community produce giveaway where surplus late-summer harvest from local farmers is shared with families who may otherwise have limited access to fresh, nourishing food.
I can’t say enough about this initiative. There is something particularly meaningful about seeing the bounty of our agricultural community shared right here at home. Good food should never go to waste when there are families who can benefit from it. Grow and Gather is a terrific example of farmers and communities coming together to make a difference.
On another note, Ontario now has a new Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agri-Business, Sam Oosterhoff, who replaces Trevor Jones, who held the portfolio since March of last year. I can imagine the frustration for our agriculture lobby. Every time there is a change at the top, farmers and commodity organizations must once again bring a new minister up to speed on the challenges facing their sectors.
Minister Oosterhoff has already heard me speak about the need for Ontario to invest more in agri-food processing. I will continue to hammer away at this issue because, everywhere I go, the message is remarkably consistent. At each farmer-led meeting I’ve attended this summer, the conversation eventually comes back to processing capacity.
We can grow the food. We have the land, the farmers, and the expertise. But if we don’t have enough processing capacity here in Ontario, we are leaving an enormous opportunity on the table.
Strengthening our domestic agri-food processing sector means creating jobs, adding value to what our farmers produce, and making Ontario more resilient when supply chains are disrupted or international trade becomes uncertain.
As we head into Thanksgiving, there is no better time to recognize the people who put food on our tables and to think seriously about how we ensure Ontario remains a strong and competitive agricultural powerhouse. This means supporting our farm families, and creating infrastructure and opportunities needed to grow Ontario’s agri-food economy for generations to come.
