Farming in the Park
Farming in the Park
How to Make Sustainable Agriculture Work on Conservation Lands
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
10am-4pm
Black Creek Pioneer Village, Toronto
$50 (includes lunch)/$30 for farmers
Optional tour of the McVean Incubator Farm Monday, May 16, 2-4 pm.
To register: Click Here
Hosted by FarmStart, FarmLINK and the Ontario Farmland Trust.
Sponsored by the National Capital Commission.
Within the next ten years over half of Ontario's farmers will near retirement - and three-quarters of these farmers have no established successors. We need to come up with creative solutions to ensure that our productive farmlands will be cared for by a new generation of farmers. These farmers hold the potential to rejuvenate the social fabric of our rural communities and ensure the long-term stewardship of our farmlands.
Fortunately, we have begun to witness a strong resurgence of interest in healthy food and farming. Increasing numbers of young people from farm and non-farm backgrounds, new immigrants and second-career farmers are interested in building entrepreneurial, economically viable and ecologically sustainable farm enterprises. There are many challenges facing these new entrants, yet there are also new opportunities. They bring skills, connections and passion that can lead to innovation and renewal.
A great deal of farmland is within the stewardship of Parks, Conservation Authorities, and Public ownership. Much of this land is located within urbanizing and near urban areas, close to growing markets. Many of the landholders in these areas are looking for compatible and beneficial relationships between their conservation goals and agricultural use.
Join FarmStart, FarmLINK and the Ontario Farmland Trust for a day as we explore how these farmers and farmland owners can turn their challenges into opportunities by working together.
We will learn from two leaders how a successful initiative between the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP), and Countryside Conservancy in Ohio has brought a vibrant diversified farming culture back to the park.
We will also explore the FarmStart and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority's partnership to bring sustainable agriculture to the McVean Farm in Brampton, as well as the many opportunities that may exist in the communities that you live and work in.
Darwin Kelsey, the Executive Director of the Countryside Conservancy and Darlene Kelbach, the Program Manager for the Countryside Initiative at the US National Parks Service will spend the day with us, exploring the ins and outs of how they made sustainable agriculture work on conservation lands.
"The Countryside Initiative is an ambitious effort, begun in 1999, to rehabilitate and revitalize 20 or so of the picturesque old farms which operated in the Cuyahoga Valley from the 19th century to the mid 20th - thereby restoring for public use and enjoyment many of the historic, scenic, natural and recreational values for which Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) was created, particularly the Valley's "rural landscape and rural character."
The Countryside Initiative involves a creative three-way partnership between Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP), the Conservancy and private sector farmers. CVNP rehabilitates the old farms, and retains "ownership control" of their operation and management. The Conservancy provides technical information and guidance on sustainable agriculture practices to CVNP as well as potential and actual farm lessees. Rehabilitated farms are offered for long-term lease (up to 60 years) through a competitive process called a Request for Proposals (RFP)."
Click here to read biographies of Darwin Kelsey, the Executive Director of the Countryside Conservancy and Darlene Kelbach, the Program Manager for the Countryside Initiative at the US National Parks Service.
