Newsbites Archive

Accessing Good Food in Ottawa through the FoodLink Directory

In collaboration with Just Food, Ottawa Pubic Health has launched the new FoodLink Directory on Good Food Ottawa. The FoodLink Directory is an online hub for food and nutritional programs and services in Ottawa, providing those who may be experiencing food insecurity with a comprehensive directory on where to find good food. To us, good food meaning food that is affordable, healthy, nutritious, local when possible, and culturally appropriate.

Ottawa Public Health has also just released its annual Nutritional Food Basket survey for 2019. This survey measures the cost of basic healthy eating for families in Ottawa. The Nutritional Food Basket found that roughly 1 in 7 households in Ottawa reported being marginally to severely food insecure. This would mean that one or more members of the households could not afford balanced meals; are going hungry due to skipped meals or eating less; or could not afford the food they need. The survey notes this food insecurity as a major public health issue as it can lead to poor mental health, heart disease, and diabetes.

Some findings from the 2019 Nutritional Food Basket showed that :

• The monthly cost to feed a family of four in Ottawa was $901 (based on the costs of 67 food items in 10 grocery stores)
• The cost of the Nutritional Food Basket has risen 22% since 2009
• Canadian single mothers had the highest percentage of food insecurity with 33.5% of households reporting marginal to severe food insecurity

The survey concluded that poverty was the underlying cause of food insecurity. Once rent is subtracted from monthly income, there are many remaining expenses with little left over to cover them. The budget for basic expenses such as transportation, heat, hydro, childcare and medications, becomes increasingly smaller once rent and nutritional food are allocated.

As a means of alleviating the root cause of food insecurity, Ottawa Public Health recommends income-based strategies such as basic income guarantee, increased social assistance rates and strengthening employment standards.

In light of the findings from the 2019 Nutritional Food Basket survey, the need for access to healthy food in Ottawa is loud and clear. To find where and how to access nutritious food in your community, check out the FoodLink Directory.

Fermentation Training in Ottawa 2019 and 2020

For Restaurants, Food Processors and Farms on How to Incorporate Fermentation into Your Business

This fermentation training will focus on non-alcohol fermentation and its potential for incorporating into your existing food/farm business. To ask questions, contact: info@justfood.ca

Two identical courses, maximum 15 people each:

First Session: Two Saturdays, November 30 & December 7, 2019, @ 10:00 am – 3:30 pm

• Cost: $110 + HST 
• Where:  Just Food Farm (2391 Pépin Court, Ottawa – Bus #25 and free parking) 
• To register and pay for the first session click here 

Second Session: Three Thursday evenings, January 23, 30, & February 6, 2020, @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

• Cost: $110 + Hst
• Where:  Just Food Farm (2391 Pépin Court, Ottawa – Bus #25 and free parking) 
• To register and pay for the second session click here 

Topics include:

• Lacto-fermentation such as making kimchi and tabasco style hot sauce
• Fermenting beans and peas for making miso and tempeh
• Grain fermentation varieties, including no-sweetener-added desserts such as sweet rice ferment or jiuniang, and using grains in vegetable lacto-fermentation
• Dairy ferment such as kefir
• Fermented drinks using SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast) or the likes, such as kombucha and ginger soda
• History and background on fermentation 
• Health perspectives and science – connection of fermented food and human microflora/microbiome
• Kitchen setup, equipment and specialty utensils
• Food safety and regulatory framework
• Worldwide applications and innovations in using fermentation in farms and food businesses
• Canadian market and potential 
• Tasting and demonstrations

The goal of the workshops is to inspire local farm and food businesses to innovate – by using the ancient art of fermentation to transform local and fresh produce into new products and ingredients that taste great, are good for health, and contribute to stronger businesses in this region.

Trainers:

Presented by Chi Garden, with additional guest fermentation business.

The trainers – Sun Shan and Li Bo of Chi Garden – both grew up with rich family traditions for making fermentation. Equipped with education in biology and biomedical research, being world travelers and now farmers in Canada, plus years of practice making various ferments and bringing fermented vegetables to the farm market in Ontario, the trainers will deliver an interactive training to inform and inspire a new generation of fermentation practitioners and businesses.  

Interested in fermentation training for your home?

This training is designed for local food businesses, including restaurants, processors and farms only. We will offer hands-on training geared towards eaters and home chefs later in the season.  Please send us a message at info@justfood.ca if you are interested, and we will contact you directly when the courses are coming out.

Healthy Diets for World Food Day

It’s World Food Day, and this year’s theme—Healthy Diets for a #ZeroHunger World—reminds us of the complexity of the task in front of us. A Healthy Diet demands “sufficient, safe, nutritious and diverse foods”, but also fresh, locally produced foods—foods that support farm families, and enable them to produce food for their communities in a manner that regenerates biodiversity, soil and water.

Seek out these farms on your regional Buy Local Food Guide, because Healthy Diets aren’t just healthy for today, they are healthy for generations, and they enable the farmers who supply the food to build viable, stable enterprises, and supply healthy diets for generations. As we discussed in our Bring Food Home event last week, ‘sustainable diets’ must include the long-term health of the ecology, community, farmer and eater, which is why our conversation about “good food” must go beyond the essential components of nutrition, accessibility, affordability and cultural relevance. 

The UN World Food Day backgrounder concludes “nutritious foods that constitute a healthy diet are not available or affordable for many people”. That is the case in our local communities as well. Healthy Diets for a #ZeroHunger World asks us to take concrete actions that encourage transformation toward a food system where healthy, nutritious diets and universal access are accepted as the basic standards by which our communities are measured, standards that brook no exceptions. Take action! 

http://www.fao.org/world-food-day/take-action/en/

Nov 12 | WORKSHOP How to Start a Community Garden

Join us on Nov 12 and learn about the steps involved in starting a community garden. How to search for land, what is essential when starting a community garden, the supports that are available, tips for organizing the garden, and much more!

The attendance of at least one garden coordinator at a How to Start a Community Garden workshop is a requirement in order to receive funding through the Community Garden Development Fund.  The coordinator must have attended a workshop in one of the past 3 years.

Registration is required as space is limited.
When: Tuesday, November 12, 2019 from 6:00pm-8:00pm
Where: Just Food Farm in the Big Red Barn | 2391 Pépin Court
RSVP: Email communitygardening@justfood.ca
*on RSVP please identify the general area where you plan to set up a community garden, and summarize your work to date, if applicable.

Absolutely Beautiful and Rare Organic Farm For Sale

95 Acre Beautiful Organic Farm with Mature Forest For Sale

32 years of organic farmland and white pine forest, close to Ottawa.

Shovel-ready! Get ready to farm for your 2020 season! A rare find, top-notch organic 95.3-acre property with a 5-bedroom, 1344 square ft bungalow house, 1 1/2 baths, wood stove and new furnace, 2-car garage, gorgeous 40-ft hardwood beam century barn with hydro and water, two barns in one measures 2900 square ft.; 65 acres well-maintained farmland with Grenville loam soil, 14 tree-lined fields, 22 acres of 30-year-old mature white pine plantation. Possibility to include a 12-head tame cattle herd trained to the land as part of the sale – they are the best-trained cattle you can find! Farming equipments purchase can be considered.

On the edge of and only 25 minutes to Ottawa, in Crysler, Ontario.

For 32 years, the Kelly Farm has been managing the land organically, with diverse livestock, including cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, turkeys, etc. The seeds and feed were purchased from Homestead Organics, and the 65-acre fields were maintained and rotated exceptionally well and used for pasture and hay. Beautiful Grenville loam soil all over rich in organic matters, these fields are ready for diversified farming of all kinds. There are many possibilities of organic farming and permaculture – vegetables, perennials, chickens, poultry, seed production, orchard… The farm is confirmed pesticide and herbicide free since 1987, and probably before that! All the records are well-kept, and the farm could be certified organic shortly.

One highlight is the 22-acre of 30-year-old white pine forest, both tranquil and full of potentials! There are also many productive fruit trees – wild apples, butternuts, berries, and more! A rare find in this area, the land and forest as a healthy ecosystem provides numerous possible uses, as apiary, food forest, silvopasture, agroforestry, retreat, for mushrooms, woodland plants, and more!

Testimony from the farmer:

“I have farmed the land at N1/2 Lot 5 Con 10 N Stormont for 32 yrs using approved organic methods. To fertilizer the fields, I used the manure from my animals, beef cows, sheep, pigs, layer hens, and meat chickens. My animals had free access to shelter and the outdoors. My fields are tree-lined. I bought seed for crops and hay from Homestead Organic Mill, Berwick Ont. I bought feed for my animals and chickens from this same mill. After Homestead Organic Mill closed, I bought certified organic grain from the feed store in Finch and Metcalfe.” Larry Kelly

Ideally, the current owners are looking for a buyer who fully appreciates the rarity and value of this chemical-free land and the value of the forests. The owners wish to sell to another farm family who is interested in keeping the farm in organic production. The owners are very willing to train and pass on their knowledge, including keeping the cattles so their herd can stay on the land.

Location

14390 Concession Rd 10 & 11, Chrysler, ON K0A 1R0

The farm is 5 minutes to Crysler, an active bilingual community, with elementary schools, public library, community centre, and churches. It is 15 minutes to Embrun and Casselman, larger towns with grocery stores, department stores, gyms, and highschools. 25 minutes will bring you into Ottawa. Close to Highway 417, which connects Ottawa and Montreal, which makes the farm location ideal for agrotourism. The farm is 5 minutes away to Cannamore Orchard, and 10 minutes away to St. Albert Cheese Co-op, two of the most popular agrotourism destinations in the area.

The property has:

• Primary residence: 1344 square ft 1975 bungalow, measures 28’x48′, with three bedrooms on the main floor and two bedrooms in the basement. Basement unfinished with 2 finished bedrooms. 1 1/2 baths. All appliances included. Woodstove on the main floor, and backup new propane furnace (January 2019). Two drilled wells with very good water – never dry.
• Garage: two car 728 square ft detached garage. 
• Barn: the barn is an older framed one, with 40-ft hardwood beams, used for hay storage and shelter for the animals. It is 2 barns in one, measures 50’x30′ and 36’x39′. Has hydro and water.
• 14 fields, totaling 65 acres, are tree-lined, rich with well-maintained Granville loam and organic matter, ready for diversified farming of all kinds;
• 22-acre 30 year-old pine plantation and walkable forest;
• 12 head cattle herd is an option as part of sale (6 shorthorn adults, + 6 yearlings + 1 calf all with some Shorthorn and/or Speckled Park)
• Some equipment may also be an option to be part of sale.

Business and income possibilities

• Organic commercial market garden
• Organic cattle, sheep, chickens, other poultry, pigs, and other livestock.
• Food forest products – apples, berries, mushroom, herb.
• Forest school.
• Forest retreat. Healing garden.

Price: $799,999*

*+ HST with the following note:

Selling Farmland to a Person Who Is Not Registered for the HST 

If the purchaser of the farmland is not registered for the HST, the seller is required to collect the HST generated by the sale and remit it to the Canada Revenue Agency. If farmland will be used in a farming business, the purchaser can register for the HST and claim an input tax credit in order to recover the HST paid on the purchase of the farmland. Normally, Canada Revenue Agency will backdate a registration for up to 30 days. http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/busdev/facts/11-053.htm

If you have been thinking of buying a farm for organic production, contact us (info@justfood.ca) as this is indeed a rare find. JustFood.ca can support farms in the regions if you need information and/or support to start-up farmers.