HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-01-17, Page 15THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013. PAGE 15.By Nathan StevensThe Friends of the GreenbeltFoundation recently held a session
focusing on the challenges and
opportunities surrounding food
hubs. They believe that the
Greenbelt needs policies that
promote prosperous farms as well as
protect physical farmland. These
policies can help provide nutritious,
tasty food and economic opportunity
for farmers operating in the near
urban shadow. Food hubs are one of
the potential ways to achieve greater
economic prosperity for green belt
farmers.
The foundation brought in five
speakers to share their experiencesregarding food hubs from a varietyof different perspectives across the
United States. It appears that
demand is growing for local food as
the number of food hubs in the
United States affiliated with the
National Good Food Network has
more than doubled in the last five
years to a total of nearly 200 hubs.
These hubs vary widely in scale and
scope, with $1 million in gross sales
being the average and bringing a
modest number of jobs to rural
areas.
The speakers shared their thoughts
on some of the challenges and
opportunities around food hubs. Onespeaker focused on the importanceof having the right infrastructure in
place. Another focused on the
importance of having a business plan
that realistically assesses the
viability of getting a food hub off the
ground along each step of the
planning process. Finally, the
importance on focusing on
making sure your customer is
successful by choosing to do
business with you is essential to
having market access as a small
player in a big marketplace.
Ontario has the potential for food
hubs of its own, but there are
significant barriers as well. TheToronto Food Terminal placesserious, established competition on
the ground from day one. Ontario
has very limited angel investment
with a focus on the agriculture
sector. There is currently little
government support for these types
of initiatives, although Growing
Forward 2 could hold opportunities.
Finally, this type of innovation
requires farmers and processors to
work together and trust each other.
Unfortunately, the history of Ontario
agriculture is littered with instances
of acts of bad faith on the part ofboth farmers and processors.Food hubs represent an
opportunity for farmers and
processors to pool their resources to
gain market access. This type of
venture requires trust, sharing of
information and steadfast
commitment on the part of all the
partners to have a chance of success.
In an environment of growing
interest for local food, there are
opportunities for producers looking
to work together to achieve a
different kind of success.
At the annual meeting of the
Huron County Beef Producers on
Jan. 9 at the Brussels Legion, the
group named its directors for 2013.
The list looked a little different
than it has in past years as there are
no longer township directors, all
directors are just nominated at large.
Directors for 2013, listed in
alphabetical order, are: Peter Baird
of RR2, Wingham; Ron Bennett of
RR1, Gorrie; Bob Bennett of RR1,
Gorrie; Drew Black of RR7,
Lucknow; Ian Caldwell of RR1,
Belgrave; Joanne Cook of RR3,
Wingham; Paul Coultes of RR5,
Brussels; Les Falconer of RR5,
Clinton; Terry Greidanus of
Londesborough; Harvey Hoggart of
Clinton; Grant Jones of RR2,
Hensall; Tim Klopp of RR2, Zurich;
Kittie MacGregor of RR1,
Londesborough; Kevin McArter of
Exeter; Matt McCall of Brussels;
Doug Marriott of RR3, Wingham;
Elliott Miller of RR1, Lucknow;
Barry Mulvey of Wingham; Chad
Pickering of RR3, Dashwood; Alan
Powe of RR1, Exeter; Tim Prior of
RR3, Brussels; Neil Rintoul of RR2,
Lucknow; Doug Scott of RR7,
Lucknow; Ralph Scott of RR3,
Blyth; Matt Shortreed of RR1,
Walton; Ron Stevenson of RR3,
Walton; Jim Weigand of RR1,
Dashwood and Co Zondag of RR3,
Bayfield.
Delegates to the Ontario
Cattlemen’s Association’s annual
meeting in Toronto in late February
are: Baird, Ron Bennett, Bob
Bennett, Greidanus, MacGregor,
McArter, McCall, Marriott, Prior,
Rintoul, Shortreed and Weigand.
Cook, Miller, Doug Scott and
Stevenson will serve as alternates
and Harvey Hoggart was elected
once again as the group’s OCA
advisory councillor.
Food hubs present new opportunities for farmers
Making history
Aaron Armstrong, captain of the Wingham Ironmen, second from right, was presented an
award from the Western Junior C Hockey League by Convenor Steve Coulter, right, of
Brussels, to honour his new league point record. Accompanying Armstrong are the only other
two men to have broken the 100-point mark in the league, Terry Whiteside, left, and Dave
Hopkins, second from left, both of the Hanover Barons. (Jim Brown photo)
Producers name
2013 directors
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