Host: Mary Wiens

Mary Wiens, of Metro Morning, CBC Radio Toronto will be hosting the day.

Keynote Speaker: Wendy Mesley

Wendy Mesley former co-host of CBC News: Marketplace, CBC Television's award-winning prime-time investigative consumer show & currently hosting the new CBC show: Underdogs.

Mesley was most recently diagnosed with and treated for cancer, prompting her to air a piece on the environmental causes of this prevalent disease. What she found were traces to our current chemical-laden food system.

Speaker: Rick Smith, PhD

Toxic Nation or Why Kids Need More Organic Food! (pdf)

Hear the presentation via Kootenay Coop Radio

Dr. Rick Smith is Executive Director of Environmental Defence, a position he has held since 2003. Environmental Defence is a national charity dedicated to protecting the environment and human health. Its innovative campaigns such as the Toxic Nation project – which involves testing people for measurable levels of pollutants in their blood – are aimed at creating a personal connection between Canadians and the pressing environmental challenges we face. Prior to joining Environmental Defence, Rick served as Executive Director of the Canadian and UK offices of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Rick received his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Guelph in 1999, and is a prominent commentator on environmental issues at both the national and provincial levels. He and his family live in Toronto and eat organic food whenever possible.

Speaker: Kathleen Cooper

Environmental Threats to Children's Health - Science, Policy and Precaution (pdf)

Kathleen Cooper has worked in environmental research positions for over twenty years and joined the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) in 1987. As Senior Researcher at CELA she provides casework support to environmental litigation files and has directed several major law reform campaigns on the subjects of toxic substances, pesticides and land use planning. She has written extensively on the subject of environmental policy and children's health with a particular focus in recent years on federal law and policy concerning toxic substances and pesticides. She chairs the steering committee of the Canadian Partnership for Children's Health and Environment (CPCHE), an innovative forum to facilitate collaboration among health, environment and child care professionals promoting children's environmental health in Canada and has recently authored CPCHE's Child Health and the Environment - A Primer as well as a companion technical report for Toronto Public Health.

Speaker: Thomas Pawlick

Our Children’s Food, Our Children’s Survival

Hear the presentation via Kootenay Coop Radio

Thomas Pawlick, a veteran newspaper and magazine journalist with more than 30 years experience in Canada and abroad, has worked for the Detroit News, the Associated Press, the Montreal Gazette, Harrowsmith Magazine and many other national and international publications, winning numerous awards. After more than 10 years in Africa, the Middle East and Europe, including several years with the United Nations, he returned to Canada to earn a graduate degree, and embarked on a career in teaching. He taught at Carleton University, the Higher Colleges of Technology (in the United Arab Emirates), Algonquin College and the University of Detroit. He is the author of several books, including The Invisible Farm, a study of agricultural journalism. His research interests include science writing, the environment, agriculture, and international news media systems.

He is the author of The End of Food: How the Food Industry is Destroying Our Food Supply--And What We Can Do About It published last year.  Thomas Pawlick's book is full of very scary facts on how modern industrial farming techniques have reduced the available nutrients. For instance, since 1950 supermarket potatoes in Canada no longer contain Vitamin A, their iron quotient has been reduced by 57% along with their Vitamin C. Meanwhile, tomatoes have lost 61.5% of their calcium, 35.5% of their iron and 50% of their Vitamin A while gaining 200% more sodium! The End of Food shows how it's not enough simply to eat a salad, consumers need to think carefully about who grew the ingredients in it and how and where. And that's not even getting into what's put into our livestock. Gremolata's Malcolm Jolley caught up with the author recently in Toronto. Pawlick is currently helping his son start an organic farm near Kingston, ON.

Moderator: Julie Daniluk

Julie Daniluk, co-owner and in-store nutritionist of Toronto's The Big Carrot. After four years of rigorous theatre arts training and two national stage tours, Julie found herself reading more about nutrition than about Shakespeare. She had an insatiable appetite for figuring out how and why food affected us so profoundly. After graduating from the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition, she became co-owner of one of Canada's largest heath food stores in Toronto, The Big Carrot. As the chief in-store nutritionist she teaches workshops on immunity and detoxification. Her activism for pure food has led her to speak to Parliament on the potential health risks of genetically modified food. In order to bring food advocacy issues to a wider audience Julie has been the Event Producer for festivals such as Bio-Diversity with David Suzuki and FoodShare's Field.

Speaker: Phil Warman, PhD, PAg

The Nutrient Content of Organically and Conventionally Grown Horticultural Crops (pdf)

Hear the presentation via the Kootenay Coop Radio

Dr. Warman has a BSc degree in Agronomy and MSc and PhD degrees in Soil Biochemistry from the University of Guelph. In the 1970’s, he was an ‘organic’ fruit and vegetable farmer near Tavistock, Ontario and Rigaud, Quebec. In 1978, he was hired as Interdisciplinary Research Coordinator at Macdonald College of McGill University where he also taught soil science courses and was the Director of the Blair Farm. In 1981, Dr. Warman joined the Chemistry Dept. (now Environmental Science Dept.) at NSAC where he was full Professor of Soil Science until his retirement on Feb. 29 2004. In 1994 he was awarded Forschheimer Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Agriculture, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was the second recipient of NSAC’s Lifetime Research Award (1997).

Dr. Warman is author or co-author of more than 90 scientific and technical papers and 15 technical reports including over 30 papers on compost and composting. His research interests include soil biochemistry, soil-plant relations, heavy metal bioavailability, composting of agricultural and industrial wastes (with emphasis on compost quality parameters) and the analysis and application of alternative fertilizers to soils and crops. He is the President and CEO of Coastal BioAgresearch Ltd. (CBA), a federally incorporated research and development company.

Through CBA, Dr. Warman was Co-Chair and Co-Editor of the International Composting Symposium 1999 and their Proceedings. In addition to his research and teaching duties, he was a member and twice the chair of the NSAC Research Committee (Comm.), the NS Sustainable Agriculture Comm., Atlantic Provinces Soil and Climate Comm., the NS Soils Institute, & NSAC Seminar Comm. Dr. Warman was a member of the Board of Directors of The Composting Council of Canada (1995-1997), a member of the Canadian National Sub-Committee of Methods of Analysis for Compost, a voting member on the Canadian Organic Standards Certification Comm., and Board of Directors & First Chair of the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada.

Dr. Warman is now Adjunct Professor at NSAC and Dalhousie University where he supervises post-graduate students and instructs grad modules. He is an active researcher of organic methods for growing berry and vegetable crops, primarily at his property at Boutiliers Pt., NS., where he has asparagus, strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, half-high blueberry, elderberry and cranberry plots. He has taught organic gardening extension courses at three colleges/universities since 1975.

Speaker & Panelist: Ellen Desjardins, MHSc, RD

Eat up! It's good for you! - what the scientific literature says about the health benefits of organics

Hear the presentation via the Kootenay Coop Radio

Ellen has done a thorough review of the literature on the nutritional content of organic vs conventional food; her talk will focus on the results of this review.

Ellen Desjardins is a public health Nutritionist and Registered Dietitian who has worked in various programs throughout the province and at the federal level for the past 20 years. Ellen has worked with the Health Determinants, Planning and Evaluation division at the Region of Waterloo Public Health, as well as Toronto Public Health, coordinating the Healthiest Babies Possible program, and with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care to help develop the Healthy Babies, Healthy Children program in 1997. Ellen has co-authored numerous articles in the area of food security. She has also chaired workgroups and prepared position papers for the Ontario Public Health Association on food systems, public health concerns about food biotechnology, and mercury in fish. In 2005, Ellen was a founding member of the new national organization Food Secure Canada. Originating from the Netherlands , Ellen grew up in rural Saskatchewan , and has lived in Vancouver , Toronto and Waterloo .

Speaker: Tony Marshall

Organics and Healthful Living - a Farmer's Perspective

Tony Marshall is the co-owner of Highwood Crossing Farm Ltd., a certified organic, 107 year old family farm located south of Calgary near High River.

In addition to their field crops and chef’s gardens, Tony and his wife Penny also run a certified organic on-farm processing facility where they process and add value to the crops that they grow at Highwood Crossing Farm. The “Highwood Crossing Organic Foods” label can be found on the shelves of leading natural and health food stores across Canada. As well, their products are featured on the menus of numerous up-scale restaurants and hotels nation-wide.

Tony is very market focused and in so being has created a market niche, well-defined brand and small value-chain. He is an active advocate for organic agriculture and is a member of the national Expert Committee of Organic Agriculture.

Highwood Crossing Farm was recently presented with a Growing Alberta “Innovation In Agriculture Award ” which recognized the Marshall ’s efforts in developing on-farm value-added food products and for marketing these items on a national level.

Speaker: Nadine Bachand, MSc

Organic Day Care: Eating and Growing UpPromoting responsible eating within institutions (pdf)

For over ten years, a profound concern for the protection of the environment has brought Nadine to work with various environmental organizations.  She is particularily dedicated to working on issues related to the current food system.  She has worked on awareness campaigns regarding the impacts of GMOs and the link between the food system, the environment, health, society and food security.  In the context of her Master's research in Environmental Sciences, Nadine focused on the use of pesticides in urban contexts.  Nadine has been with Equiterre since March 2003 and is currently project coordinator in Ecological Agriculture, working to develop relationships between local organic farms and social institutions (daycares, school, hospital, collective kitchens).

Speakers: Real Food for Real Kids

Kim Crosby, Real Food for Real Kids, runs a food program making healthful food available to schoolchildren in Toronto.

Speaker: Linda Bonnefoy

Alligator Pie Preschool - Organic Programming

Linda has a background in mental health counseling and curriculum development.  She created and runs a mentorship program at Alligator Pie Preschool in the Yukon based on hands-on organic gardening.  With the help of experts and farmers from the community and territory, children learn how vegetables are grown and the real value of food.

Panel Moderator: Wayne Roberts

The Panel will be addressing the question: " Is organics worth the price? " 

Hear it via Kootenay Coop Radio: Deconstructing Dinner

Wayne is Coordinator of the Toronto Food Policy Council and senior author of “Real Food for a Change” and "Get a Life".

Panelist: Ann Clark, PhD

Dr. Clark is an Associate Professor in Plant Agriculture at the University of Guelph ,  the proud mother of a 17 year old son, and an avid organic gardener.  Her research program encompasses pasture and grazing management and organic agriculture, as well as risk assessment of genetically modified crops.  A native Californian, she studied at the University of California at Davis and at Iowa State University , including an 18 month stint at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Colombia . 

Her academic career started at the University of Alberta , but she has been at Guelph since 1983.  In a career spanning 26 years, she has authored 15 books or chapters in books, presented papers at more than 50 conferences and symposia, and published 25 refereed journal and 150 technical and extension articles.  She currently teaches Crop Ecology, Crops in Land Reclamation, Managed Grasslands, and several courses in Organic Agriculture, and coordinates the new Major in Organic Agriculture  www.organicag.uoguelph.ca at Guelph .

In addition to her teaching and research responsibilities, she is also a frequent invited speaker at scholarly and producer conferences.  Recent talks in the areas of risks of GM crops and organic production systems may be found on at http://www.plant.uoguelph.ca/research/homepages/eclark/  

Panelist: Peter McLeod

Peter J. MacLeod is the Executive Director of Crop Protection Chemistry at CropLife Canada . CropLife Canada is a trade association representing the developers, manufacturers and distributors of plant science innovations – pest control products and plant biotechnology – for use in agriculture, urban and public health settings. CropLife Canada stands for safety and innovation supported by a foundation of continuous research and a strong commitment to stewardship.

Peter MacLeod has spent his career in the field scientific research and regulatory affairs. His research activity has mainly focused on the degradation of pesticides in soil and water but he has also managed environmental toxicology studies and food residue studies. Two of the reduced risk pest control technologies that Peter was involved in the research and development of were awarded the prestigious United States Presidential Green Chemistry Award.

Peter is an active participant on the Pesticide Management Advisory Committee to the Federal Minister of Health and has served on many panels on pesticides and risk management. Peter’s collective experience of 17 years in the crop protection industry gives him a broad base of technical regulatory science and government relations knowledge.

Born in Yarmouth , Nova Scotia his fondness for Agriculture and Science led him to attend the Nova Scotia Agricultural College . He graduated in 1987 with a B.Sc. (Agr.) Hon., Dalhousie University . Peter has additional Environmental Science training from the University of Maryland and Toxicology training from the University of Kansas .

Speaker & Panelist: Ellen Desjardins, MHSc, RD

(see above)