SHARE Ideas! SEED Box

Got an idea, thought or suggestion? Just drop us a line! It can be anything! No thought too small and no thought too large.

Here are some ideas:

Do you have land inside the city of Toronto or in the rest of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) that could be used for farming, gardening or a project to rebuild our local, organic food system?

Do you have a wonderful event idea that you’d like us to do? With your advice and guidance?

Do you need some information on local and organic food or farming? How to live sustainably? You name it? If we don’t know the answer we’ll put in touch with someone who does.

Do you know someone who’d like to learn more about local and organic farming and needs some advice on “What next?”

So we insist that WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Seriously. I mean seriously.

10 Responses to “SHARE Ideas! SEED Box”

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1 Marc Green on May 11, 2009 said:

Hi!

I hope you can help me. I am trying to find a supplier of bulk, organic soil in or near the GTA but am meeting with little success. In a perfect world, the soil would be peat-less, using coconut coir instead. However, organic is most important.

I have been told that soil from worm farms would be perfect (sounds pretty logical!) but I’ve not been able to find a worm farmer near the GTA.

Can you lend me your insights into this dilemma? Organic soil, preferably sans peat (although not necessarily) and relatively local to the GTA.

I would really appreciate your help with this one!

Marc Green
The Backyard Urban Farm Company
(416) 450-3899

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- 2 shadowphenyx on January 22, 2010 said:
  
  FoodCycles (http://foodcycles.org) is a not for profit city farm in the process of building up its worm farm. They’re still not at the state that can help you at a large scale. There’s the Greener Side that you could try. work 416.877.2560, info@thegreenerside.ca.
  
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3 angus footman on December 29, 2009 said:

We operate a premium show jumping stable in Erin, Ontario only 10 minutes from Georgetown and 18 mins from Brampton. We have a large quantity of composted horse manure. The manure is picked from the stalls daily and is mixed with premium soft wood shavings. The manure is available free of charge presently and we have a loader available that can load the manure into trucks. Please contact me at 416 648 1323 if interested. Angus Footman

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- 4 shadowphenyx on January 22, 2010 said:
  
  Angus, thanks so much for the information. Don’t know if it could be used as is because it usually takes some composting before its ready for gardens and farms. FoodCycles city farm (http://foodcycles.org) might be interested at some future date.
  
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5 Seymore Applebaum on January 22, 2010 said:

Now that the GTA and surrounding region has been confirmed as the site for the 2015 Pan Am Games there could be an opportunity to promote the benefits of local organic produce. It is not too early to start looking into this opportunity. Since there will be a need for healthy food for the athletes and all others associated with that major event, the availability of local organic produce should be emphasized. The time will pass quickly because the organizers have a lot to accomplish and they may not realize that they can help the organic agriculture sector unless political initiatives are undertaken. This could turn into a great opportunity to promote local organic agriculture and help it atain sustainability and growth in public awareness. Please contact me if you want to disucss this matter further.
PS: There will be a link to the 2015 Pan Am Games on Facebook. It is not my link. It’s the organization’s link and it may be a place to raise the issue of Food Policy for the 2015 Pan Am Games. There is an extensive food policy for the 2012 London, Olympic Games on the Internet. I can provide a link and some comments on that if there is sufficient interest.

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- 6 shadowphenyx on January 22, 2010 said:
  
  Seymore, thanks for the idea. If you have the Facebook link to the Games it could be useful to readers and anyone who might want to take up the idea. Likewise with the London 2012 policy.
  
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7 Seymore Applebaum on January 23, 2010 said:

Hi Sunny:

Here’s the facebook link for the 2015 Pan Am Games http://www.facebook.com/pages/Toronto-2015-Pan-American-Parapan-American-Games/274416746634?v=wall
I hope that works. I don’t think they are ready to address issue like their food policy quite yet. Any inquiries are likely to get a response that they haven’t got their staff in place yet. Nevertheless, it will be important to monitor what happens as the organization for the 2015 Pan Am Games developes. Key City of Toronto contacts who may have connections or were involved with the Toronto/Ontario (regional) bid should be developed so when the time comes to address food policy related issues there is an “inclusive” process. Some of these decisions are left to late in the process and leave little time for debate/discussion. That’s what may have happened with the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games where McDonald’s “won” the right to be the official restaurant and possibly one of the key food suppliers too.
Related to this strategy look at what opportunity the G8 and G20 meetings in Muskoka and Toronto present. Again the City of Toronto and the Ontario government will be in position to determine what the food policy/services are. If local food can get a foothold and some visibility it can be good for the local food industry and the health of the participants.
I’ll send a separate page link for the 2012 London Olympics Food Policy on a separate submission.
I hope a possitive relationship can be nurtured with the event organizers so that it doesn’t become a hostile relationship. A positive relationship could open doors and provide a good public impression about local food in Ontario. As you know we already import way too much food and we can supply more of our local needs with local food. I think you’ll find that the 2012 London Olympic Games committee tried to do this in their food policy.

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8 Seymore Applebaum on January 23, 2010 said:

OK here’s the link describing the 2012 London Olympic Games food policy.
http://www.london2012.com/press/media-releases/2009/12/london-2012-to-showcase-the-best-of-british-food-in-2012.php
Again, I hope this link works. Let me know if it doesn’t work.
Even though the London 2012 documentation on food issues emphaszes British Food sources, it looks like they’ve still gone and used McDonald’s as major food supplier. I think they got McDonald’s to add some healthy food choices to their menu. Nevertheless, McDonald’s makes their profit off of thei unhealthy junk food. There’s plenty of documentation on the Internet about the unhealthiness of many of the “foods” sold at McDonald’s and other fast food outlets that are likely to have key outlet locations at the games. Those companies pay the Olympic Committee significant dollars to have access to the people attending those games.
The food politics involved in these events can be very challenging. I’m sure that there are many people in England who are not pleased with the choice of McDonald’s as the official food supplier of the 2012 London Olympic games. It may take some further research to find out what the critics had to say.
Anyway, in Ontario we should be able to promote local Ontario produce in a possitive way without necessarily attacking others. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. I think Local Food Plus should be active in supporting Ontario producers and helping ensure that they get a significant opportunity to showcase the quality of Ontario products.
I hope this stimulates discussion and maybe even a working group.

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9 claudia on April 2, 2010 said:

Interested in opening my own grocery organic store in Ajax Ontario any idea where should i start from implementing my plan. Would appreciate any answer. Thank you

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10 kate on May 9, 2010 said:

Hello there,
I’m the market coordinator for a new farmers’ market launching July 1st in Etobicoke. I would be very interested in talking to any farmers or small producers (back yard hobby gardners?) who would be interested in selling with us. Some but not all of our vendors will be certified organic, but the emphasis is on vendor-producers, rather than any resale. Vendor fees will be very low and we welcome people who want to come to market only once or twice or those who wish to commit to a full season. I can be reached at khill4@toronto.ca.
Thanks.

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