Ottawa Chapter
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Chapter Chair: Margaret Tourond-Townson
Program Co-Ordinator: Petra Stevenson
NEWS & COMING EVENTS - HEADLINES
- New Farming Opportunity listed
- COG Ottawa's Organic Garden Tour Sunday July 25 2010
- Feast of Fields in the Ottawa Citizen.
- The Summer 2010 Edition of Down To Earth is now available.
- Interview with Mark McAfee, founder of Organic Pastures, passionate advocate of Organic Raw Milk.
- Upper Ottawa Valley Organic Farm Tour Weekend July 10, 11 2010
- Margaret Webb on Organic Farming as a solution to Canada's Food Safety Problem's
- Shiv Chopra on the immediate need for Organic Production
- Sally Fallon's Wise Traditions UK 2010 presentation
- The Canadian Cowshare College Workshop May 1 2010
- Summer Camp 2010 offered by Growing Up Organic and GNAG
- COG Ottawa Booth volunteers needed !
- News and Event Archive
NEWS & COMING EVENTS - DETAILS
COG OTTAWA'S ORGANIC GARDEN TOUR SUNDAY JULY 25TH
This year we will visit a beautiful shady show garden in Carlsbad Springs. Mary Ann is a plant collector with a vast variety of plants. She has a pond, a herb garden and a scree bed. Come along and enjoy this lovely garden!
The second visit will be to two allotment gardens on Orient Park in Blackburn Hamlet. George Bushell and David Townson garden side by side and will both be on hand to share their love of organic gardening!
Please put Sunday, July 25th on your calendar to reserve time for this splendid tour ( click here for GoogleMap directions ):
1:00 starting at Mary Ann Van Berlo’s place: 4551 Hall Road, Carlsbad Springs, K0A 1K0
2:30 will be the start time at the Blackburn Allotment Gardens where George Bushell and David Townson garden side by side and will be pleased to show their gardens!
3:30 will see us all getting together for lemonade, cookies and a spot o’ tea at David and Margaret Townson’s home at 1465 Kamouraska, Orleans.
Please register with Dorothy Stephens at (8 1 9) 455-2260 so we have enough cookies and lemonade for everyone!
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UPPER OTTAWA VALLEY ORGANIC FARM TOUR WEEKEND JULY 10, 11 2010
After a hugely popular organic farm tour weekend in the Upper Ottawa Valley last year, Michael Ilgert is back organizing COG Ottawa Farm Tours 2010.
Please hurry and register for this fun-filled and information-packed weekend! Contact Mike as soon as possible at mike_ilgert@live.com or call (6 1 3) 625 2380 or call Margaret at 6 1 3 834 5091 & check www.cog.ca/ottawa
To book overnight accommodation, please contact Joanne at (6 1 3) 756-9515 or go to www.redcanoecafe.ca
The tour as viewed with GoogleMap Tour Directions.
Saturday, July 10 starts at 3 p.m.
A farm tour at Donegal Heritage Farm, Joanne Zomers and Tom McCullough 971 Boldt Rd, Eganville, ON K0J 1T0 This farm features organic chickens, eggs, pigs and sheep with meat & eggs for sale. www.donegalheritagefarm.blogspot.com
Local Organic Buffet Meal then starts at 5 p.m.:
hosted by Joanne and Tom at the Donegal Heritage Farm (same location) featuring entertainment by Julie Larocque and Ottawa Valley Legend singer, musician and storyteller Barnie McCaffrey. Cost: Adults $25, Children 12 and under are free.
Sunday, July 11 starts at 10 a.m:
Farm Tour will take place at: Connaught Nursery, Grant and Dorothy Dobson, 1671 Micksburg Rd, R.R. #3, Pembroke, K0J 1K0 (6 1 3) 646-2386 This is eastern Ontario's only commercial peach farm. Peaches will be ready at time of tour! Also features strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes, cucumbers and native plants. This farm is non-certified organic. Visit www.connaughtnursery.com
The Farm Tour will continue at 12:30 p.m. with Lunch at the farm of Ward and Jodi Wright, 2740 Micksburg Rd, K8A 6W4 (6 1 3) 735-6363 featuring food grown on both farms we are visiting. Cost for lunch: $5 - $7
The Farm Tour will continue at 1:30 p.m. at the same location. This farm features organic grass fed Red Angus beef for sale. The farm also has laying hens, guinea fowl, sheep and pigs, etc. A great place for kids! Ward also has a chicken processing business in the summer and does taxidermy in the winter!
Visit www.ottawavalleyfood.org and click on Wright Beef Farm
There will be no charge for just the farm tours but a small donation to COG-Ottawa would be much appreciated and put to very good use!
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MARGARET WEBB ON ORGANIC FARMING AS A SOLUTION TO CANADA'S FOOD SAFETY PROBLEMS ON BNN
BNN speaks with Margaret Webb, author of "Apples to Oysters: A Food Lover's Tour of Canadian Farms" about the controversy of agricultural biotechnology where she explains why she thinks organic farming is the answer to solving Canada's food safety problems.
Click here (9 min) to see it now.
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SHIV CHOPRA EXPOSES COMMON GMO MYTHS ON BNN -
The case for Organic Production: BNN speaks with Dr. Shiv Chopra, former Health Canada Scientist, author of "Corrupt to the Core," and Sylvain Charlebois, associate professor of marketing, from the University of Regina, where Dr. Chopra exposes the myths of GMO benefits, concluding that GMOs are dangerous and unnecessary, as he advances the argument that there is no shortage of food in the world, as world food demand now, and into the future, can be met though Organic Means.
See it here. Part 1 (9 min) Part 2 (6 min)
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SALLY FALLON'S WISE TRADITIONS UK 2010 PRESENTION
What is a healthy Diet ?
Sally Fallon from the Weston A. Price Foundation challenges many dietary beliefs, and highlights how western culture has abandoned its dietary roots by suggesting we are now "leaving it all to chance".
In her recent presentation 'Wise Traditions UK 2010', Sally leads off with compelling examples of a diverse array of healthy and highly successful diets, all of which, are based on foods with a common theme of being 'nutrient dense', organic, local and sustainable, in the Foundation's first European conference in London.
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THE CANADIAN COWSHARE COLLEGE WORKSHOP MAY 1 2010
May 1st, 2010 will be a history-making day for raw milk in Ontario as farmer, raw milk advocate, and recent COG Ottawa Fall Reflections keynote speaker Michael Schmidt ( of Glencolton Farms who's presentation was reviewed in Down To Earth ), hosts a one-day cowshare college for farmers who want to learn the methods Michael has developed for producing raw milk.
The Canadian Cowshare College is a full-day workshop that gives participants the basics for developing their own cowshare program. Aimed at producers, it covers the safe production and handling of raw milk and the logistics of cowshare programmes. Participants will learn what makes a viable program, how to structure and run a cowshare, as well as how to recruit and manage relationships with cowshare members. At the end of the session, participants will receive a certificate of completion.
For more information and to register click here
The program includes a full day of instruction; tour of a raw milk dairy operation; lunch; and copies of Raw Milk Production Handbook by Tim Wightman, The Untold Story of Milk by Ron Schmid and Safe Handling: Consumers’ Guide to Fresh, Whole, Unprocessed Milk by Peggy Beals.
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SUMMER CAMP 2010 OFFERED BY GROWING UP ORGANIC AND GLEBE NEIGHBORHOOD ACTIVITIES GROUP
Growing Up Organic, with the Glebe Neighborhood Activities Group (GNAG), is happy to offer two summer camp experiences summer 2010. For more information please contact Torry Reid at 613.627.6343 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 613.627.6343 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or GNAG at 613-564-1058 or 613-233-8713. Register online at gnag.ca, registration opens March 8th at 9:00 PM.
- FOOD & GARDEN CAMP (12 -16 years)
- Yellow tomatoes, purple carrots, edible weeds…
Canadian Organic Growers (COG), through its Growing Up Organic project, invites you to sink your teeth into the world of food. Not only will you get to prepare and eat great organic food, you’ll also learn how to grow it yourself, right here in the city. Along the way you’ll meet professional chefs, city farmers and take a trip out to Alpenblick Farm for a day with the goats. Fee includes organic food and transportation.Jul 12 - 16 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. $165
- YOUTH FARM APPRENTICESHIP CAMP (12 - 16 years)
- Canadian Organic Growers (COG), through its Growing Up Organic project, is offering its farm camp for a third year – and this time we’ll be camping for a full week while living and working out at Alpenblick Farm. Farmers Robert & Petra will teach you how to milk goats, make cheese and care for the cattle, sheep and goats that graze their 320 acre organic farm outside Stittsville. While there you’ll learn how to cook over an open fire, identify and prepare wild edible plants, participate in a land art project, and take day trips to other nearby farms. Fee includes organic meals and transportation.
Jul 5 - 9 (5 days, 4 nights) $240
NEWS AND EVENT ARCHIVE
- The Reel Food Film Festival March 18 & 25 2010
- Exploring the Co-operative Option: Strategies for Tapping into Local Markets (FREE for Farmers)
- Ontario farmer found not guilty of charges related to selling raw milk
- New Workshops For Farmers, Feb 20 & Mar 13 2010
- COG-Ottawa Organic Gardening Workshop Series 2010
- COG Ottawa E-News
- Eco Farm Day, Keeping it Local and Sustainable, Feb 26-27 2010
- Kitchen Table Classes (free of charge)
- Open Meeting for Local Farmers with Local Buyers (FREE)
- Growing up Organic Blog
- News Article Featuring Colin Lundy
- Organic food article from Ottawa Greenlife
- Alpenblick Farm featured in the February 2010 Issue of 'The Humm'
The REEL FOOD FILM FESTIVAL March 18 & 25th 2010
Main Branch (Auditorium), Ottawa Public Library, 120 Metcalfe Street Doors Open at 6:00pm, films begin at 6:30pm. Admission is free for all films - for those who can a donation of $5 is appreciated.
For more information visit: http://www.justfood.ca.
- Thursday March 18
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Alpenblick Farm: An Organic Tradition, directed by: Ben Walker & Lynda Hall, Ottawa , 2009, 5 mins
A refreshing trip out to a family-run organic farm in the Ottawa Valley . In its intimate portrayal of the bond between the farmers and their animals, it softly pleads the case for small scale farming, and the rebuilding of a more sane food system that respects the skills of farmers, and reconnects us to the source of our food. This is the first documentary in an upcoming series of farm portraits.Chez Schwartz, directed by: Garry Beitel , Canada , 2006, 83 mins.
Depicts a year in the life of Schwartz’s Deli – the unique 75-year-old landmark on Montreal ’s historic Main . Filmed through changing seasons, from the quiet of early morning preparation to the frenetic bustle of packed lunch times and never ending line-ups, to the more relaxed ambience late at night. Chez Schwartz is an evocative, cinematic portrait of a small spunky deli known worldwide equally for its atmosphere and smoked meat.
- Thursday March 25
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The Story of Food, USC Canada, Canada, 2009, 5 mins.
This short, animated film uncovers the downside of genetically modified crops, along with the problems faced by today’s family farms. Encouraging consumers to think before they buy, USC Canada identifies what’s gone wrong with our food system, and what we can do to rebuild it.Indigenous Plant Diva, directed by: Kamala Todd , Canada , 2008, 9 mins.
In the language of the Squamish Nation, Cease Wyss was given the name 'T'Uy'Tanat', meaning "Woman who travels by canoe to gather medicines for all people." In director Kamala Todd's lyrical portrait, Wyss reveals the remarkable healing powers of plants growing among the sprawling urban streets of downtown Vancouver . Whether it's the secret curl of a fiddlehead, the gentleness of comfrey, or the blood red streaks of frog leaf, plants carry with them millennia of wisdom, communicated through colour, texture and form. Cease Wyss has been listening to this unspoken language, and is now passing this ancient and intimate sense of connection to her own daughter, Senaqwila.DIRT! The Movie, directed by: Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow, USA , 2009, 86 mins.
You will be taken inside the wonders of soil. It tells the story of Earth's most valuable and underappreciated source of fertility--from its miraculous beginning to its crippling degradation. Narrated by actress Jamie Lee Curtis, this film brings to life the environmental, economic, social and political impact that the soil has. It shares the stories of experts from all over the world who study and are able to harness the beauty and power of a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with soil.
EXPLORING THE CO-OPERATIVE OPTION: STRATEGIES FOR TAPPING INTO LOCAL MARKETS (FREE FOR FARMERS)
The demand for organic food in Canada far exceeds the current supply. Canadian Organic Growers has been exploring the role that Farmers’ Co-operatives can play in increasing the production of organic food in Eastern Ontario for the commercial marketplace, while at the same time protecting farmers’ interest within that marketplace. Through farmer owned cooperatives, COG would provide resources and supports for farmers to successfully get and stay organic, and develop markets for those organic products.
If you are an ecological farmer or a conventional farmer curious about organic production for local markets, COG has organized a symposium for you to ask questions and explore these ideas. There will be three panel presentations by experts with discussions to follow on:
- Farmers’ Co-operative Development
- Organic Farming
- Organic Marketplace
The event is free for farmers. Non-farmers interested in the topic are also welcome for a registration fee of $25. Anyone interested must register in advance by March 19 for planning purposes.
Click here (pdf) to see the press release for details.
For additional information or to register click here or contact COG at 1-888-375-7383 or email office@cog.ca
Time: March 22 – 1pm to 5:30pm, informal reception until 7:30pm. Registration required by March 19 for planning purposes Location: Kemptville College
ONTARIO FARMER FOUND NOT GUILTY OF CHARGES RELATED TO SELLING ORGANIC RAW MILK
On January 21, Michael Schmidt has been found not guilty of 19 charges related to selling unpasteurized milk. As known to those who attended Fall Reflections and heard Michael's presentation, or from reading about it in the current issue of Down To Earth (PDF), Michael operates a cow-share based organic (grass-fed) raw milk co-operative ( Glencolton Farms ), which allows members to own a portion of the cow to acquire raw milk. At trial, Schmidt argued that government officials and food scientists cannot guarantee the safety of any food, and suggested informed consumers should be able to buy raw milk. CBC coverage here.
NEW WORKSHOPS FOR FARMERS
Organic farming is the fastest growing sector within Canadian agriculture. Even in this recession, demand for Certified Organic Products, especially those produced locally, far outstrips supply. Two new COG workshops will help with Organic Certification, as well as planning for Fruit and Vegetable Farmers.
Crop Planning for Vegetable Growers
Date: Feb 20, 2010 9am to 5pm
Location: Greely Community Centre, 1448 Meadow Dr, Greely ON (just south of Ottawa)
Cost: $50 ($45 for COG members) includes a copy of the COG publication Crop Planning for Vegetable Growers, a workbook and lunch.
To get more information about the workshop or to register online click here.
Click here (PDF) to see the press release
Record Keeping for Organic Farmers
Date: March 13, 2010 9am to 5pm
Location: Greely Community Centre, 1448 Meadow Dr, Greely ON (just south of Ottawa)
Cost: $50 ($45 for COG members) and includes a copy of the COG publication Record Keeping for Organic Farmers: how to get and stay certified, handouts and lunch.
To get more information about the workshop or to register online click here.
Click here (PDF) to see the press release
COG-OTTAWA ORGANIC GARDENING WORKSHOP SERIES 2010
Once again COG-Ottawa is offering a series of Organic Gardening workshops. This year there are two sessions of four workshops each. Register for individual workshops, or for the whole series.
All sessions take place 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM at the Sandy Hill Community Centre, 250 Somerset East, Ottawa.
Get all the details here (PDF).
COG OTTAWA E-NEWS
Be sure to keep an eye on your e-mail inbox because COG–Ottawa is going electronic! COG Ottawa E-News has been developed to keep our community better informed about current events. The newsletter at first will consist in very brief announcements and will be distributed occasionally. There is some speculation that E-News will eventually develop into a regular and more substantial publication.
In the near future it is likely that people will be able to subscribe to E-News via our website. The e-newsletter is an exciting step for the chapter, and we hope you will find the information useful. COG– Ottawa will work to ensure the electronic publication schedule works in harmony with that of Down to Earth and with everything that is happening in our community. For more information or to be added to the distribution list, please contact
ECO FARM DAY 2010 - KEEPING IT LOCAL AND SUSTAINABLE
Eastern Ontario's Premier Farm Conference.
The theme of Eco Farm Day 2010 is Keeping it Local and Sustainable. This message will be delivered through keynote speaker Wayne Roberts, 12 workshops, a trade show with over 30 exhibitors, and a fully organic lunch.
Date: February 26, 27th, 2010, Ramada Inn, Cornwall, Ontario
Get all the details here
KITCHEN TABLE CLASSES
- Feb. 28 1:30pm Organic Gardening Classes (two separate classes)
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- Growing grains and the end product
- How to live with solar power
- March 7 1:30pm 2hr Organic Gardening Classes
- Guest Speakers: Bruce Kneen, author of “Farmageddon” and “Tyranny of Rights” Lucie Sharratt
- March 14 1:30pm cban - Genetically Engineered Food
Please contact Norbert Weiler, Edwards Ontario, for more details and free registration @ 613-821-5894.
Back to the News ArchiveOPEN MEETING FOR LOCAL FARMERS WITH LOCAL BUYERS (FREE)
Meet with Ottawa area food buyers, including retail, daycare chefs, and restaurants/caterers and express your interest in selling organic meat and/or produce to them. Learn what retailers need when buying from local growers.
For more information, click here (pdf) for the press release
For further details or contact Colin Lundy, COG GUO’s Farmer Outreach Coordinator, at colin@cog.ca or 613-493-0020.
Time: Feb 8, 7-9pm Location: Heritage Academy, 207 Bayswater Ave, Ottawa
GROWING UP ORGANIC BLOG
Growing Up Organic Ottawa has a new blog. Keep checking all season and you can watch the 7 school gardens as they grow (and that number is going to grow too!). The site is: http://www.growinguporganic.blogspot.com
Back to the News ArchiveEASTERN ONTARIO AGRINEWS ARTICLE
There is an article in the Eastern Ontario Agrinews featuring Colin Lundy's Eco Farm Day presentation about organic farming and the future of agriculture. (Colin is COG-Ottawa's Growing Up Organic Farmer Outreach Coordinator).
Read the article online at:
http://www.agrinewsinteractive.com/page_front.htm?ShowSection=AgriProfile
ORGANIC FOOD ARTICLE FROM OTTAWA GREENLIFE
Here is an article about organic food and the Growing Up Organic Program in the Ottawa Area.
Click here for the PDF.
ALPENBLICK FARM FEATURED IN THE FEBRUARY 2010 ISSUE OF 'THE HUMM'
Petra Stevenson is COG-Ottawa's Program co-ordinator. She and her husband Robert's Alpenblick Farm is described as the closest thing to going to Switzerland one may ever experience. See the full article here (PDF).
The home page for 'The Humm' is here.
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