Ontario delivers first local food report

June 12, 2015, Toronto – Ontario has launched its first-ever Local Food Report, which includes an awareness campaign and measures the province’s progress in bringing local food to more tables across the province.

In 2013, Ontario passed the Local Food Act, 2013 which aims to increase awareness of local food, nurture local food markets and foster vibrant food-based economies across the province. The Act also commits to an annual report on the province’s local food activities, goals and accomplishments, the Ontario government said in a news release.

The inaugural Local Food Report highlights some of the actions taken by the province and the agri-food sector to promote and celebrate local food this year, including:

• Setting food literacy goals to increase the number of Ontarians who know what local foods are available, who know how and where to obtain local foods and who know how to prepare meals made with local food.
• Providing a tax credit to farmers for making food donations to food banks and student nutrition programs.
• Piloting a fundraising initiative that helps the province’s schools to fundraise by selling Ontario-grown fruits and vegetables to families.
• Distributing more than 800,000 copies of Foodland Ontario’s local food recipe calendar in 2014.

The inaugural report will help the province track future progress in meeting its local food goals, the release said.