Welcome to Community Harvest Ontario Thunder Bay

My name is Tony Curci, better known as the Urban Farmer.

Did you know that there are more than 6,000 local families that cannot provide adequate, daily meals? These families rely on local food banks to help feed their children. My job, as the Community Harvest Coordinator is to help feed these families by seeking agricultural resources that can supply fresh, nutritious food for distribution. Based out of the Regional Food Distribution Association here in Thunder Bay, Ontario, I am connecting with our local farmers to source fresh fruit and vegetables for our neighbours facing hunger.

Don't let anyone go hungry in our midst.

Tony Curci
Community Harvest Coordinator
(807) 622-7440
tony@communityharvest.ca

Get engaged with Community Harvest Ontario in London

With the recent economic downturn, more Ontarians are turning to food banks for help than ever before; and London has been no exception to this trend. Higher poverty levels often lead to an increase in nutrient deficient diets and obesity, which can contribute to a host of life threatening diseases. This becomes particularly important when we consider that 40% of the people who use food banks are Children.

My name is Catherine Hickey and I am the Field Manager for Community Harvest Ontario, in the London region. Our goal with this project is to help local farmers distribute their high quality, fresh, nutrient rich produce to the most vulnerable members of our community, through food banks. I am thrilled to be working with local farmers and volunteer groups toward ending hunger in our community, and I am looking forward to the coming months!

An introduction to Community Harvest Ontario in Ottawa

Howdy Folks!

My name is Jason and I'm the new Community Harvest Field Coordinator based out of the Ottawa Food Bank. How exciting to be here and to actually be making my first contribution to the Blogoshere!

Just a bit about me: My work and educational background is in Agroecology (i. e. sustainable agriculture). In the recent past, I have been fortunate to work with farmers to implement integrated pest management strategies and to co-manage a small scale organic fruit and vegetable farm.

Just a bit about the program: Community Harvest Ontario - Ottawa is an innovative program that will contribute to a more sustainable food system here in the National Capital Region. The goal of the program is to engage local farmers, agricultural organizations and volunteers in order to increase the volume of fresh, local and healthy food donations to the Ottawa Food Bank.

The Community Harvest Ontario - Ottawa program comes at such a critical and opportune time.

Why is it Critical? During the last year and a half, ever since the beginning of the recent economic recession, many concurrent forces such as unemployment, rising costs for basics, and inadequate government supports have lead to a dramatic increase in poverty across Ontario. A strong indicator of this trend has been a 19 percent spike in demand for food bank services. 375 000 Ontarians now turn to food banks each month. A greater demand for food bank services is forecast for this year.

Locally, the Ottawa Food Bank has also seen an increase in demand during the economic downturn. 43 000 people now receive emergency food assistance each month, of which 35 percent are children. Compounding the issue of increased demand is the recent relocation of an important produce distribution centre out of Ottawa. This centre was a major source of nutritious, fresh and frozen produce donations for the Food Bank.

Why is it an opportune time? Over the last 10 years there has been a constant increase in public awareness and action towards re-localizing agriculture across Canada. Farmers' markets are booming, chefs are sourcing local produce, young farmers are becoming successful entrepreneurs, community gardens are increasing in number, the list goes on and on.

Community Harvest donations will serve not only to create a stronger sense of community by building social sustainability - both through supporting our neighbours in need and by connecting volunteers with their local farms - but it will also benefit farms from greater exposure. Given the proven generosity of our local agriculturists and an increased public awareness about food, I am confident that we will see a strong interest in this program. I'm really looking forward to meeting with members of the agricultural community, volunteers and other stakeholders.

Please spread the word.

For more information regarding Poverty in Ontario, the Ottawa Food Bank and/or Community Harvest Ontario pilot projects, go to http://www.oafb.ca/cho.html and http://www.theottawafoodbank.ca/index.php

"Eating is an agricultural Act" Wendell Berry

Meet the Community Harvest Ontario Field Manager in Hamilton

With so many hungry and so many willing to help, Community Harvest Ontario is the perfect marriage of both. My name is Jennifer Ide and I am the newest member of Hamilton Food Share and one of the new Field Managers of Community Harvest Ontario. It is my great pleasure to be a part of this exciting new project and to help the local farmers of my community to share their quality product with their neighbours in need. I am excitedly looking forward to all the events and projects that will help to develop this program and sustain it into the future.

"We must give more in order to get more. It is the generous giving of ourselves that produces the generous harvest."

Orison Swett Marden - Innovative Thinker

Anna Olson Signs on to Buy Local, Share Local

We are delighted to announce that Anna Olson has signed on to be the Chief Ambassador for Buy Local, Share Local 2010. We are absolutely thrilled that she is on board! Thank you to Anna for her kind contribution of time and support to food banks across Ontario.