The Greenbelt Fund and the Nutrition Resource Centre (NRC) at the Ontario Public Health Association (OPHA) collaborated on a research project, in partnership with the Food Innovation & Research Studio (FIRSt) at George Brown College (GBC) and the Helderleigh Foundation, and released its final report: Current State of Local Food Awareness and Utilization in Meal and Snack Programs Targeted to Young Children in Ontario.

See also their infographic: Opportunities for Local Food and Food Literacy in Child Care and Student Nutrition Programs

Informed by industry research conducted through a targeted literature review, in-depth interviews with stakeholders from across the college foodservices supply chain, and a province-wide student survey, this report identifies a set of common challenges to local food procurement in the Ontario college system, and lays out a series of opportunities with recommended actions that will support increased local food procurement at Ontario’s 24 colleges.

Read the Research Report: Increasing Local Food Procurement at Ontario's 24 Colleges

Meal Exchange's Campus Food Report Card: Local Food on Ontario University Campuses measures the success of Ontario universities in providing locally-grown food - as rated by students, campuses themselves, and the physical food environment. It includes a review of initiatives by campus foodservice providers to provide local food to students.

Read the Campus Food Report Card - Local Food on Ontario University Campuses

Meal Exchange's Campus Food Report Card: State of Food on Ontario University Campuses measures the success of Ontario universities in providing locally-grown, sustainable, healthy, and accessible food - as rated by students and campuses themselves

Read the Campus Food Report Card: State of Food on Ontario University Campuses

The Local Food release of the Campus Food Report Card focuses on student satisfaction with local food on Ontario university campuses, as well as a look at the initiatives by campus foodservice providers to provide local food to students

Read the Campus Food Report Card: Local Food on Ontario University Campuses

This report from the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation outlines changes in agriculture over time in the Greenbelt, compared to the Greater Golden Horseshoe and Ontario. Using data from Statistics Canada’s 2001, 2006, and 2011 Census of Agriculture, the paper looks at key variables such as number of farms, area farmed, use of farmland, production levels, and farm revenue.  

Key findings from the study include:

• The Greenbelt includes 5,501 farms and 856,424 acres of farmland; it accounts for 10.6% of Ontario’s farms and 6.8% of its farmland.
• While there has been a decline in the number of farms across Ontario, the size of farms has increased. 
• In comparison to other areas of the province, the Greenbelt has several natural advantages in agriculture including climate, soil types, and geography, reflected in the specialized production in its two Specialty Crop areas.
• The Greenbelt’s proximity to the Greater Golden Horseshoe supports local food supply chains by producing a large share of Ontario’s fruits and vegetables.
• The decline in livestock in the Greenbelt largely parallels trends across the province reflecting market realities beyond farmers’ control, as well as some specific challenges related to proximity to urban development. These include complaints about odours, and constraints such as availability of supporting infrastructure and minimum acreage requirements.

Read Agriculture by the Numbers: Understanding the Greenbelt’s Unique Advantages

Check out this informative and insightful presentation by Dr. Michael Brownbridge from Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, presented on the Ontario Pavilion Stage at the 2014 CRFA Tradeshow. In the presentation, Dr. Brownbridge shares new data on the outstanding opportunities that locally grown world crops offer restaurant owners, chefs, and foodservice companies.

Read It's Not Just Cabbage And Cauliflower Anymore: Cook Global - Buy Local!

Plan to Grow is a research-based initiative of the NFU’s New Farm Project, designed to gather information from farmers, processors, retailers, buyers, and food security advocates in the Kingston area, with the goal of assisting the New Farm Project chart a path toward a sustainable local food system for Kingston and its countryside. Perspectives were gathered from over 40 food system participants about the assets, challenges and opportunities within our local food system, in order to develop priorities for action that will stimulate both the supply and demand for local food.

Engagement with participants identified the need for active coordination across many food and farm initiatives in order to better influence policy, generate funding support, and be strategic with the resources available to us. Active coordination can be achieved by working with the existing initiatives identified through our outreach, by taking advantage of existing data and studies currently being carried out, and by partnering with future studies and initiatives.

Read Plan to Grow: Scaling up Local Food in Kingston & Countryside

Chinese green onion is a popular vegetable due to its nutritional and medicinal value. With $80,685 in approved funding under the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP), the Canada-China Agriculture and Food Development Exchange Centre will assess the suitability of growing Chinese green onions in Ontario. 

Funding for these projects has been provided by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through the CAAP. In Ontario, this program is delivered by the Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC).

Read Asian Crop Research - Chinese Green Onion

Cochrane District in Northeastern Ontario has a long history of agriculture which continues to have an important presence in the area. However, this sector faces several obstacles, such as aging farm operators with limited succession planning. Therefore, action must be taken in order to ensure the sustainability of current farming operations as well as take advantage of the vast agricultural opportunities present in the area. With this in mind, this study undertook to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats inherent for agriculture in this part of Cochrane District as well as present strategic actions which could be undertaken in order to expand agriculture in the area.

Cochrane District in Northeastern Ontario has a long history of agriculture which continues to have an important presence in the area. However, this sector faces several obstacles, such as aging farm operators with limited succession planning. Therefore, action must be taken in order to ensure the sustainability of current farming operations as well as take advantage of the vast agricultural opportunities present in the area. With this in mind, this study undertook to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats inherent for agriculture in this part of Cochrane District as well as present strategic actions which could be undertaken in order to expand agriculture in the area.