It’s Local Food Week—and Ontario greens are in season, in stock, and tasting better than ever. Romaine. Kale (green and black). Dandelion. Collards. Spinach. Hello flavour. Bye bye imports.
These beauties come from hardworking farms like G. Durocher & Sons (Lasalle) and Collins Farm Produce (Puslinch)—the kind of operations we’re proud to support.
But the farms that fill our shelves are just one piece of a much bigger picture.
Food Sovereignty is National Sovereignty
And this week, we’re tipping our hats to Ontario Farmland Trust—an organization working to protect the land that feeds us.
Ontario has 48,000 farms, supporting 871,000 jobs and contributing nearly $51 billion to the economy. That’s more than the province’s auto sector.
So when people talk about sovereignty—about Canadians shaping their own future—we think of this:
Farmers growing what we eat, on land they control.
As Ontario Farmland Trust says:
“A strong local food system safeguards against external disruptions, keeping food accessible and affordable while reinforcing Ontario’s rural economies.”
But a strong local food system needs farmland. And we’re running out.
Local Food Needs Local Farms
In just 35 years, Ontario has lost 2.8 million acres of farmland. That’s 18% of our food-growing land, swallowed up by subdivisions, highways, and gravel pits.
That’s like paving over Prince Edward Island—twice.
And once farmland is gone, it’s gone.
Developers make offers. Aging farmers, without successors, take the money. And soil that once grew food becomes asphalt.
That’s where Ontario Farmland Trust comes in.
They work with farmers to create farmland easements—legal agreements that permanently protect land for agriculture, no matter who owns it next. So far, they’ve helped protect 2,700 acres across 26 farms.
Land stays in the hands of farmers. For good.
One of the first was Wilmot Orchards in Newcastle—just minutes from the 401, on land that could’ve been sold off for development.
Instead, the Stevens family chose a different legacy.
“We know how good the soil is,” said Courtney Stevens, CEO.
“Farming on this land will continue. It’s not just about a family legacy. It’s more than that.”
Stories like that are worth celebrating. Because if we want to continue enjoying local blueberries, strawberries, tomatoes, corn, and peaches, we need to protect the land they grow on.
Yes, Ontario needs housing.
But we also need fresh, local food.
So this week, we raise a bunch of dandelion greens in salute to the farmers, the farmland, and the folks protecting both.
Happy Local Food Week. Come grab your greens while they’re fresh.