Farmland for food production is a finite and rapidly depleting resource. Home Grown, a new advocacy campaign launched by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) aims to increase awareness of this situation. Farmland preservation and local food production are at the heart of Home Grown's mission.
Farmland preservation is critical to ensuring a strong and reliable food supply for future generations. Urban sprawl, on the other hand, is jeopardising the viability and sustainability of Ontario's productive agriculture. According to the most recent Census of Agriculture (2016), roughly 175 acres of farmland are lost to urban development every day in our province.
The harsh reality is that only 5 percent of Ontario’s landscape can support the growth of food for human consumption. With an ever-growing population, that means farmers are dealing with added pressure by having to produce more yield with less inputs and a declining land base. To properly generate food, fibre, and fuel for the province, the industry relies on farmland to efficiently and effectively produce.
Every acre of land capable of producing food for human consumption lost to development puts more strain on farmers, raises the cost of the Ontario Food Basket, and has a negative impact on the provincial and national economies says OFA.
While urban growth is inevitable, the OFA believes that agricultural impact assessments (AIAs) should be included during urban planning discussions to protect land and reduce the influence of infrastructure development on a farmer's capability to farm.
Several agriculture organizations, notably Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO), have already endorsed the campaign.