YOU’RE INVITED: Carleton Farmers’ Appreciation Breakfast Sat., Feb. 24

By Goldie Ghamari, MPP for Carleton

I hope you can set aside Saturday, February 24th on your calendars for my annual Carleton Farmers Appreciation Breakfast. The event is from 8:30am-10:30am at St. Philip’s Parish Hall, 127 Burke Street in Richmond.

Come on out and enjoy a great breakfast, learn about our local agricultural industry and the importance it has in the Carleton riding, and most importantly, have a great time, see old friends, and make new ones. It is open to the public, free and everyone is welcome!

Here are some facts about farming in Ontario:

Did you know…

• Ontario’s agri-food sector supports more than 750,000 jobs, which is more than 10 per cent of Ontario’s work force.
• Ontario’s agri-food sector also generate more than $47 billion in GDP annually.
• Agriculture and agri-food in Ontario account for approximately 30 per cent of the total GDP generated by the sector throughout Canada.
• There are nearly 50,000 farms in Ontario, more than any other Canadian province.
• There are roughly 3,500 family-run dairy farms found across the province of Ontario.
• More than 1/2 of Canada’s highest quality farmland known as “class one” farmland is in Ontario.
• The average farm in Ontario is 243 acres.
• There is approximately 11.7 million acres of farmland in Ontario.
• Ontario farmers grow more than 200 different commodities, including over 125 different fruit and vegetable crops are grown on 245,000 acres of farmland in Ontario.
• In 2021, 65 per cent of the food produced in Ontario was consumed within the province.
• Ontario is Canada’s largest producer, processor, and consumer of chicken.
• Approximately 1,100 of Canada’s 2,800 dedicated chicken farmers live in Ontario, producing more than 200 million chickens every year and 325 million kilograms of chicken meat annually.
• In 2020, half of Canada’s mushroom production was in Ontario.
• As of 2021, there were 1,064 pork-producing farms in Ontario supplying both domestic and international markets with a wide variety of pork products.
• The Ontario cattle industry is home to more than 19,000 beef farmers.
• In 2020, Ontario produced 467,000 gallons of maple syrup across an estimated 391 sugarbushes.
• Ontario farmers grow 63 per cent of our nation’s grain corn on average per year.
• Ontario farms house the most sheep in Canada, with more than 267,000 in the province.
• Ontario’s food and beverage manufacturing sector is the third largest in North America
• Ontario’s greenhouse vegetable sector leads Canada, with a 37.6 per cent share of the nation’s greenhouses.
• As of 2019, Ontario had the greatest number of sod farms in Canada, with 65.
• Ontario’s agriculture sector has the most Christmas tree farms in Canada.
• Ontario’s agriculture industry has the second most beekeepers in Canada, with 2,506 as of 2019.
• More than 1,100 farms sell their produce and goods at farmers markets.
• More than 5,200 farms sell directly to consumers, either at stands or pick-your-own.
• Ontario exports nearly $20 billion in agri-food products annually.
• 17.5% of Ontario farms generate renewable energy, including solar, bioenergy and wind power.
• 31% of farm operators are female.
• Nearly 60% of all Ontario farmers are small farms (less than $100K in revenue).

Year of the Dragon

I want to thank the Fo Guang Shan Temple of Ottawa in Richmond and the Buddha’s Light International Association of Ottawa for inviting me to take part in their celebrations for the Chinese New Year on Sun., Feb. 11.

The entire community was invited to this celebration, which featured children and youth from Fo Guang Shan Temple of Ottawa singing, dancing, and drumming to entertain the capacity crowd in the temple.

This year will mark the Year of the Dragon in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac signs.

Since its opening on Franktown Road just west of the village, Fo Guang Shan Temple of Ottawa has been a wonderful and generous partner in the community. They open their doors to everyone for events like their Chinese New Year celebration and their annual Veg Run in the summer. They have taken pride in sharing their culture and welcoming people from all religious backgrounds to join them for their events and celebrations.

The Carleton riding has a make-up of rural, suburban, and urban areas. We are a much more diverse riding than people realize or imagine.

We have Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, agnostics, atheists, and non-religious people all living within Carleton. This dynamic is very special, particularly for our children and young people, as it allows all of us to learn about and celebrate different cultures and religions from around the world.

Every single religious and cultural group we have in our riding offers something we can all learn from to become better people. The Fo Guang Shan Temple of Ottawa has become a leader in sharing their love for the planet and love for all creatures at these events.

I was born in the Year of the Ox, and I was able to learn about what that means. People born in the Years of the Ox are known for being diligent and tenacious with a strong sense of responsibility. We are capable of great courage when it is time to step up, especially when no one else will. We are driven to overcome any difficulty.

While the next Year of the Ox will not be until 2033, I am already looking forward to next year’s celebration at Fo Guang Shan as will usher in the Year of the Snake.

Growing Ontario’s Agriculture and Food Export Markets

One of the things I will likely be talking to people about at my Farmers’ Appreciation Breakfast Feb. 24 is the commitment made to help Ontario’s farms and food producers develop new markets.

The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing an additional $6 million in the Grow Ontario Market Initiative to help agri-food businesses and industry organizations expand their sales and grow their markets. The increase brings the total funding for the Initiative through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership to $12 million.

The Grow Ontario Market Initiative was launched in 2023 to provide primary producers, food processors and industry organizations with cost-share funding to help them increase sales in domestic and foreign markets through market analysis and planning, new product development and marketing.

In addition to the new funding for the Grow Ontario Market Initiative, the Ontario government has been promoting the province’s agriculture and food products outside our borders, most recently during a successful trade mission to Mexico to promote grain and bakery products.

The Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs led a delegation of agri-food businesses and organizations to meet with Mexican government, trade representatives and leading food companies. The meetings provided opportunities to promote the range and quality of Ontario bakery and grain products available to Mexican buyers, and to learn more about companies’ operations and needs.

Sustainable CAP is a five-year $3.5-billion investment by federal, provincial and territorial governments to strengthen competitiveness, innovation, and resiliency of the agriculture, agri‐food and agri‐based products sector. This includes $1 billion in federal programs and activities and a $2.5 billion commitment cost-shared 60 per cent federally and 40 per cent provincially/territorially for programs designed and delivered by the provinces and territories.

Quick Facts

• The Grow Ontario Market Initiative is delivered by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Application information can be obtained by calling 1-877-424-1300 or visiting their website at www.ontario.ca/page/grow-ontario-market-initiative-guidelines
• Sustainable CAP will help enable the goals outlined in Ontario’s Grow Ontario Strategy, which include increasing the production of food by 30 per cent over the next 10 years and growing agriculture and food exports by eight per cent annually.
• Ontario’s agri-food industry contributes $48.8 billion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the provincial economy (6.4 per cent of total Ontario GDP).
• The Ontario delegation to Mexico included Grain Farmers of Ontario, which represents 28,000 grain farmers: Baxter’s Bakery Inc., DG Global Inc., Hamilton Oshawa Port Authority, King’s Pastry, London Agricultural Commodities (LAC), and Parrish & Heimbecker.
• In 2022, Ontario-Mexico agri-food two-way trade was $2.8 billion Canadian dollars. Mexico was Ontario’s sixth largest agri-food export market in 2022.

Office Notice:

My office is open Monday to Friday, 9 am to 4 pm. If you require assistance on any matter, please contact me at any time. My staff and I will be happy to assist. Even if it’s not a provincial issue, I’ll make sure to connect you with the proper office.

Goldie

Your voice at Queen’s Park