Creating Ontario’s Foodbelt: City of Hamilton endorses Bill 21, Protect Our Food Act

Only 5% of Ontario's land is arable. At present, Ontario is losing 130 hectares (or 319 acres) of prime agricultural farmland every day and once this land is gone it is gone forever. For perspective, the 319 acres lost daily is sufficient land to produced 24 million apples, 1.2 million bottles of quality VQA wine, or 37 million strawberries. The agri-food industry represents a $50 billion contribution to Ontario’s GDP and employs 840,000 people. Protecting our precious farmland is clearly essential to the people of Ontario.

Leader of the Green Party of Ontario, MPP Mike Schreiner (Guelph) and MPP Bobbi Ann Brady (Haldimand—Norfolk) have jointly presented a Private Member Bill at the Ontario Legislature to protect Ontario farmlands through the establishment of an ‘Ontario Foodbelt’. If passed, the bill would establish a Foodbelt Protection Plan Advisory Committee, comprised of farmers, agricultural experts, soil scientists, professional planners, as well as food & agricultural organizations. The committee would make recommendations for a Foodbelt Protection Plan, that would ensure the preservation and enhancement of a geographically continuous land base. The bill also amends the Planning Act with respect to land that is zoned for prescribed agricultural uses, so that highly arable land cannot be rezoned of changed, unless an Agricultural Impact Assessment has been carried out. You can read the bill here.

I was proud to introduce a motion at City Council asking my colleagues to endorse the bill. Moreover, MPP Schreiner and MPP Brady came to Hamilton and delegated to the General Issues Committee on July 9, along with Drew Spoelstar, President of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. I applaud Council for the unanimous vote of support. You can read my motion to Council here.

The delegations can be viewed here:

The City of Hamilton will request, through our representatives at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), that AMO support Bill 21. Also, the City will offer support and encouragement to the Ontario Farmland Trust, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, the Christian Farmers, and the National Union of Farmers in their respective efforts to support the creation of an Ontario Foodbelt.