New funding is unlikely to be a component of Ontario's next round of goals to increase access to local food

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

by SUSAN MANN

The Ontario government will be asking agricultural stakeholders and the general public in the spring and summer for their thoughts on what goals should be set to ensure people have more access to local foods.

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs will be consulting in the spring/summer with interested organizations to develop the goals. It will then post them online for public comment, Christina Crowley-Arklie, press secretary to Ontario Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal, says by email. She didn’t say when that online posting would occur.

“Goals established under the Local Food Act are aspirational in nature. They provide sector proponents with a common reference point to assist in aligning their efforts,” she says.

On Feb. 16, the government signaled it would be working on “increased access to local food” as its next area of focus under the Local Food Act, according to a statement on the Ontario agriculture ministry website. Passed in 2013, the Act supports the ministry’s local food strategy, which aims to promote Ontario foods and beverages and “make them more available in markets, schools, cafeterias, grocery stores and restaurants throughout Ontario,” the statement says.

Crowley-Arklie says “access starts with food being identifiable and widely available throughout a range of distribution channels.”

The main objective of increasing access to local food “is to advance Ontario’s local food strategy, which aspires to have more Ontario consumers enjoying local food more often and in more places,” Crowley-Arklie says.

The development of goals to increase access to local food is in addition to work the ministry has already done as part of its local food strategy to help boost access. For example, the Local Food Fund, a three-year program with up to $10 million annually in funding, supported innovative local food projects that marketed and promoted local food, and strengthened regional and local food networks. It was launched in 2013 and is now completed and no longer accepting applications.

During the spring/summer consultations “it’s expected that local food proponents will bring forward additional incentives to move forward on local food access,” she says.

It’s unlikely there will be any funding accompanying the new local food access goals when they’re implemented. Crowley-Arklie says a number of programs and organizations already provide funding for local food projects, including the Greenbelt Fund’s Local Food Investment Fund and the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Leal will be releasing the second annual Local Food Report in June. The Act stipulates the agriculture minister must prepare an annual report highlighting the progress the ministry has made on local food activities. BF