Community Meetings

Small Grains Meet-up

Thursday December 3, 11:00AM – 12:00PM

Are you a long-time small grains grower? Are you adding small grains to your rotation for the first time? EFAO’s first Small Grains Meet-up is the place to meet other farmers and learn about future events focused on small grains production and marketing. EFAO’s Field Crop Program Coordinator will share details on small grains programming and there will be time to provide input into what learning opportunities EFAO can provide to support new and experienced small grain farmers. If small grains are on your mind, this meet-up is a must!

Organizer: Maureen Balsillie, EFAO’s Field Crop Program Coordinator

 

BIPOC Farmer Meet-up and Consultation

Thursday December 3, 1:30PM – 3:00PM

Are you a racialized ecological farmer? Join fellow Black, Indigenous and other farmers of colour to network and provide feedback to the organization about how EFAO can better meet the needs of farmers and members who are currently underrepresented in the organization and the ecological farming movement at large.

This meeting is reserved for BIPOC farmers and aspiring farmers and will be led by Angel Beyde, with support from Amy Cheng. EFAO members and others interested in joining are welcome to attend.

To thank those participating in this meeting, we are happy to provide a full conference pass.

RSVP at any point until 7:30AM on Thursday December 3.  RSVP by 4pm on Saturday November 28th to receive a free full conference pass.

 

RSVP for Meet-up

 

Angel Beyde is a Black / mixed race grower of food and flowers. An Organic Master Gardener, educator and facilitator, Angel has worked in Urban Ag and eco-landscaping for many years. She is a total soil nerd and cheerleader for regenerative growing practices as key to food sovereignty and community abundance. Angel and her husband are currently looking for rural land with a home to start their organic market garden Good Fortune Farmstead in 2021.

Amy Cheng is a market garden manager and farmer at the black creek community farm (BCCF) in Toronto. BCCF’s market garden produces 1 acre of vegetables for its CSA, on-site farm store, wholesale, and BCCF’s community programming and special events. Before BCCF, she owned and operated Red Pocket Farm, a 1/4 market garden focused on Asian vegetables for market. Amy has also led various community food programs and participated in research projects focused on culturally appropriate vegetables production in the GTA since 2012.

 

 

Resilient Seed Systems: A Vegetable Farmer and Seed Grower Consultation

Thursday December 3, 4:00PM – 5:30PM

As we look to build resilient food systems, more farmers are working to integrate seed production into their operations, the number of local seed companies is growing, and new networks of seed producers are emerging. Come to this community meeting to talk about how w,can support each other in learning how to conserve, improve, and create new high quality Canadian seed. Join EFAO’s Seed Program Manager to discuss the challenges you are having in regards to this work, and share ideas of how to improve our seed work together. 

We encourage all former, existing, and prospective farmer-researchers who have been involved in the Vegetable Seed Producers Network (VSPN), the Canadian Organic Vegetable Improvement Project (CANOVI), or the Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB) program on oats, wheat and potato, to attend this meeting to discuss the challenges and opportunities of participating in these programs.

Organizer: Rebecca Ivanoff (EFAO’s Seed Program Manager)

 

EFAO Circle Process

Thursday December 3, 3:30PM – 5:00PM

We are a group of farmers who have gathered together since the winter of 2018. We gather in Circle, which is a consciously built, value-informed process that helps us share, reflect and transform how we are with one another that feels different to our normal ways of interacting with each other. Since the formal introduction of Circle to the EFAO in 2019, we have chosen to gather this way because of “…what we can do when we are deep in Circle, when we are already opened up and so can take more in.” (Heather Thoma, EFAO member and Circle participant). In Circle, we have been willing and able to begin processing issues of white-bodied privilege, the political economy of ecological farming, racism in farming, generational grief, allyship, climate grief, and much more.

Meeting will include an introduction to the EFAO Circle Process (working name), with all participants invited into the discussions we have had this year and what we hope to see emerge in 2021.

Organizer: Madeline (Maddie) Marmor (she/her) is a queer, white settler farm/food worker and Treaty person farming and living on the current lands of the Anishinabewaki, Houdenssunneega (Longhouse Conferacy), and Anttiwoneronk (Neutral), Petun and Mississauga peoples on land preceeded over by Treaty 19, 1818 and Treaty 3, 1793. She is a trained Circle Keeper and has held Circles where equity, settler-indigenous relations and grief have been central themes. 

 

 

Valuing Our Work: Employment Practice and Policy on Sustainable Farms

Thursday December 3, 3:30PM – 5:00PM

Do you want to know how farmers managed their labour needs during the COVID-19 pandemic? What are small and mid-sized farm operators saying and what are they doing to address labour supply shortages and develop sustainable employment practices? What are agricultural workers telling us they need to increase retention and to foster their continued involvement in the agroecology movement? Join the National Farmers Union – Ontario (NFU-O) farm labour project team to glean the preliminary takeaways from hundreds of discussions and survey results detailing the landscape of farm employment in the province. You can still complete the survey here. Watch the presentation, join the discussion, and share your perspectives! By participating in this EFAO community meeting you will contribute to building progressive community and policy to strengthen our local food systems.

Organizer: David Thompson (NFU-O Farm Labour Project Co-ordinator)