Food & Water First: fighting the larger battle

April 9, 2014 · 0 Comments

Food and Water First, the legacy campaign born from the battlefield of the North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce (or NDACT) fight against the mega quarry, hosted a public meeting on April 5th. The goal of the campaign is to provide support to communities facing new land use applications that pose a threat to farmland and source water, and press provincial politicians to implement regulations that protect both throughout the province. Saturday’s meeting, which attracted a full house at the Centre Dufferin Recreation Complex, facilitated an opportunity for the community to hear from experts on food evolution, soil and agricultural economics.

The master of ceremonies, Dale Goldhawk of Zoomer radio’s “Goldhawk Fights Back,” spoke to me about Food & Water First as an example of movements that come out of hard fought battles like the mega quarry or the defeated dump at Simcoe’s Site 41. People come together for a single cause and “stick around to make sure politicians are acting for the citizens – to fight the larger battle. It is what democracy is all about,” he said. Guest speaker Rene Van Acker, a soil expert and Associate Dean at Guelph University, said the Food & Water First movement was providing leadership in the “evolution of food culture”, which he likened to the environmental movement of the 70’s and 80’s. “Protecting the land is noble,” he said, “food comes from the land, we are the food we eat, and therefore, we are the land.”

Only 11 per cent of Canada is farmable, and only 0.5 per cent of that is Class 1 Prime Farmland, with over half in Ontario. A precious piece of that prime land lies in the rain fed Honeywood silt loam soil that NDACT supporters rescued from the Highland Companies’ 2300 acre aggregate proposal. Van Acker emphasized that there is a direct relation between the wealthiest nations in the world and their abundance of rain fed agricultural land. Despite this, urban sprawl and development continue to consume Ontario’s farmland at an average of 350 acres a day. Van Acker warned that the farmland we eliminate is not replaceable, “There is no new farmland available… it is not man made… top soil cannot be restored by simply pushing soil back after aggregate extraction.”

These issues continue to motivate the Food & Water First movement. Currently they are pushing back against the provincial review of the Aggregate Resources Act (ARA), which, despite avid participation in the process from the public and agricultural stakeholders, failed to implement their proposed changes to protect farmland and source water. This is unacceptable to NDACT Chair Carl Cosack, who reminded the audience, that Baupost, the hedge fund that backed the Highland Companies’ mega mine proposal, is on record as stating, “We chose Melancthon Township because Ontario has the weakest regulatory environment for resource extraction projects in North America.”

After months of review, the ARA continues to utilize vague language to loosely request dubious land rehabilitation by the aggregate industry with phrasing such as “shall act to restore land, where practical” – a virtual ‘get out of jail free card’ for the Ontario Sand, Stone & Gravel Association. If we are to understand Rene Van Acker on soil rehabilitation after aggregate extraction, it will never be “practical,” because it is not possible.

Vice Chair of Food & Water First, Shirley Boxem, wants to see “permanent protection on prime land and source water” in both the ARA and the Provincial Policy Statement.

Steve Peters, Executive Director of the Alliance of Ontario Food Processors, who also took the stage Saturday, said that the food industry is the “fuel that feeds the economy,” generating $39 billion a year in Ontario. Over the past five years, Peters said, “there has been a $5 billion increase in imported foods,” and he believes that as “consumers with a lot of power,” we must support local food producers and rebuild our once thriving food processing sector.

Highly anticipated speaker, Tom Eisenhauer, CEO of Bonnefield, a farmland investment company that now owns 6500 acres of Melancthon farmland previously held by the Highland Companies, also spoke in terms of farming as an economic force. For most in the audience, it was the first face to face with Eisenhauer since the Melancthon acquisition; he was received with a mixture of welcomed relief, guarded optimism, and a healthy dose of skepticism. He told the audience that Bonnefield, which has raised $320 million from Canadian investors since 2010 to reinvest in Canadian farmers, intends to “preserve farmland for farming.”

As of December, Highland Companies is gone as a lease holder, and all the land parcels have new tenants; most will be seeding potatoes this spring with a few planting row groups of corn, soy, and wheat. Eisenhauer feels “the ultimate protection” for agricultural land is to “start talking about farming as economic policy, not social policy,” and to improve regulations so farmers can be profitable. He is keen to support Food & Water First, “to raise awareness of how valuable Canada’s farmland is; the rest of the world already knows this…that’s why they want it.”

By Marni Walsh

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Professor Van Acker spoke eloquently about the rare soil we rely on to grow our food. “Food is of the land, we are the food we eat, therefore we are of the land.” He also pointed out that because of our regular rainfall, Ontario’s prime farmland is more productive and valuable than in other parts of the world. “Studies from across the globe show us that high-income countries have generally more land suitable for rain-fed agriculture, and that arable rain-fed farmland per person is also highest in developed and middle income countries.” Professor Van Acker told the audience that defending our farmland “is not only noble, but fundamentally necessary.”

Steve Peters, a former Agriculture Minister and Speaker of the Ontario Legislature outlined the size and importance of the province’s food processing sector. Ontario processes 40 percent of the food processed in Canada. He explained that this province has a great reputation for its food and water resources. “We’re not just feeding ourselves, we’re feeding the world.” But Steve Peters also warned that we must become more conscious of where our food comes from, that we have the “opportunity to better support local food producers” and should not rely on cheaper imports.

The final speaker, Tom Eisenhauer, described what Bonnefield has done with the 6,500-acres of farmland it purchased from Highland last summer. Six farmers are leasing the bulk of the land; some houses and smaller acreages have been sold; some homes are being rebuilt; all of the farmers and investors in Bonnefield are Canadian. Tom Eisenhauer also told the meeting that his investors “are not looking for mining” opportunities and not interested in wind turbines. He said while Bonnefield can’t guarantee the land will be farmed forever, he said the best way to keep it in food production is to “keep farmers profitable.” He stressed that “farming should be discussed as economic policy, not social policy.”