FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 9, 2017
MOHAWK COLLEGE RECEIVES LOCAL FOOD CHAMPION AWARD FROM GREENBELT FUND
Local Food Champion Award presented to Mohawk College at Local Food Symposium
At the Greenbelt Fund Local Food Symposium on November 8, Mohawk College received the Local Food Champion Award in recognition of its outstanding leadership in identifying and addressing systemic barriers to getting more local food into Ontario colleges. The award was presented by Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Jeff Leal.
Selected by the Greenbelt Fund, Local Food Champion Awards are presented to people and organizations in the agri-food sector for demonstrating leadership and innovation to create systemic change to get more Ontario food to Ontarians' plates. Mohawk College was recognized for their local food procurement project.
The project included extensive analysis to understand the barriers and challenges to local food procurement in colleges. The practical application pilot phase engaged four additional Ontario colleges to implement the research findings and evaluate the success of different strategies to increase local food served on campus. The learnings are replicable across the college sector to make widespread change.
"Mohawk College has demonstrated tremendous leadership in the College sector, seizing an opportunity to dramatically increase local food sales in Ontario," said Edward McDonnell, CEO of the Greenbelt Fund. "The Greenbelt Fund is very pleased to recognize Mohawk College's outstanding project with the Local Food Champion Award."
“Being a leader in environmental sustainability is a strategic priority for Mohawk,” said Deborah Brown, Vice President of Corporate Services at Mohawk College. “We are proud to lead this initiative and we hope the framework we’ve created will become the model for increasing local food procurement at all Ontario campuses.”
“I would like to congratulate Mohawk College on receiving a Local Food Champion Award from the Greenbelt Fund. You are developing innovative solutions that will help increase the availability of local food within the communities you serve. I salute our Local Food Champions who have gone the extra mile to help get more local food on Ontarians’ plates,” said Jeff Leal, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
The Greenbelt Fund also recognized Dan Munshaw from the City of Thunder Bay for his work in implementing local food policies at the municipal level, as well as Flanagan Foodservice and Local Line for their collaboration in modernizing local food procurement with an online ordering tool.
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About The Greenbelt Fund:
The Greenbelt Fund changes the way we eat food in Ontario. The Fund’s innovative investments get more local food onto the plates of Ontarians. We work with business, institutions and NGOs to make Ontario’s farmers the first choice for consumers. The Fund’s work has generated a 13-fold return on our investments, permanently changed the food value chain and improved local food awareness and education around the province. As a non-for-profit, the Greenbelt Fund is supported by public and private sources. The Local Food Investment Fund is supported by the Government of Ontario.
Contact:
Erica Woods
Communications Manager
Greenbelt Fund
Phone: (416) 960-0001 ext. 306
[email protected]