Carrot Cache is, once again, offering a $1,000 prize for innovative, low cost solutions to planting, harvesting, and managing food grown on an Ontario urban or rural organic farm. Farmers can share proven, creative ways already in use on-farm to build financial and environmental sustainability.
Feel free to send details about the Innovation Prize to anyone you think has an innovation worth sharing. Know someone who is too humble to nominate their own innovations? You can nominate a fellow farmer-innovator. We’d love to see any tried-and-tested innovations.
Ideas will be displayed at the conference and winners will be selected by conference attendees. Winner will be posted after lunch on Friday, December 2nd.
To enter, send a short description (2 paragraphs or less), at least one photo, and an estimated cost breakdown of the project describing your or your nominee’s innovation and how it has been used for saving time, money or energy on an Ontario urban or rural organic farm. Information should be sent in a Word document titled “innovation prize_farm name” to rebekka@carrrotcache.com with innovation prize in the subject field.
Carrot Cache is a small foundation that funds co-operatives, local organic food initiatives and community food strategies in Ontario. Top ideas will be shared on www.carrotcache.com, the Carrot Cache Facebook page and in the EFAO newsletter and blog.
Email submissions are due by Monday, November 28th, 2016. Conference attendees can alternately bring 2 copies of a 1 page printout to submit at registration by Thursday morning, December 1st by 8:30am.
Important note: The Innovation Prize is not a bursary, and you do not need to attend the conference to enter. It’s a $1,000 cash prize from The Carrot Cache that will be awarded at the conference.
2015 Winner!
In 2015, Ahren Hughes of Blackshire Gardens won the $1000 Innovation Prize provided by Carrot Cache for his flour sifter.
From his nominator, Leslie Moskovitz of Cedar Down Farm: “A flour sifter brought brand new or even used costs a minimum of $2500 and requires an involved set-up. For our sifter, Ahren refurbished an antique (100 year old) seed cleaner and turned it into a sifter capable of processing varied types of grain flour from rye, spelt and wheat flour to cornmeal and grits. The total cost to build the machine was about $600 including parts and hardware, sifting screens. For our monthly grain CSA drop-offs, we sift a minimum of 650lbs of flour in about 8 hours. Ahren’s vision and skill is admirable – the seed cleaner that he converted was sitting in a barn, waiting to be thrown out. Now this antique machine has been converted into a functional tool for our grain CSA.For our sifter, Ahren refurbished an antique (100 year old) seed cleaner and turned it into a sifter capable of processing varied types of grain flour from rye, spelt and wheat flour to cornmeal and grits. The total cost to build the machine was about $600 including parts and hardware, sifting screens. For our monthly grain CSA drop-offs, we sift a minimum of 650lbs of flour in about 8 hours. Ahren’s vision and skill is admirable – the seed cleaner that he converted was sitting in a barn, waiting to be thrown out. Now this antique machine has been converted into a functional tool for our grain CSA.”
