For immediate release: 29 September 2006
Agriculture Week Celebrates Farmers
Thanksgiving Perfect Time To Buy Local, Support Ontario
Farmers
Guelph - Ontario Agriculture Week is an excellent
opportunity to buy food grown by local farmers, Leona Dombrowsky,
Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said today.
"Thanksgiving is the perfect time to be grateful
for the hard work of farmers, who put high-quality food on our table
every day," said Dombrowsky. "I encourage every Ontarian
to buy locally produced food and to be sure to thank a farmer."
Farmers and food processors throughout Ontario contribute
to a vibrant industry that generates $30 billion a year for the economy,
employs 650,000 people, and ships more than $8.5 billion in exports
every year. Ontario's food industry includes such sectors as cereal
and flour, meat and poultry, beverages, fruit and vegetables, dairy,
bakery, and other food products.
Recent initiatives that show that the McGuinty government
is on the side of farmers and families in rural Ontario include:
- Consulting industry leaders on a branding and marketing strategy
for Ontario agriculture, to help Ontarians buy local every week
of the year
- Providing $910 million in provincial funding for farm income support
since taking office, including $110 million announced at the International
Plowing Match
- Recognizing innovation in the province's agriculture sector by
launching the $2.5-million Premier's Awards for Agri-Food Innovation
Excellence
- Investing up to $520 million over 12 years to help build a successful
ethanol industry in Ontario.
The week leading up to Thanksgiving is celebrated as Ontario Agriculture
Week. This year it takes place October 2 to 8, 2006.
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Contact:
Chris Flavelle
Minister's Office
(416) 326-3072
Backgrounder
Ontario Agri-Food Facts…did you know?
More than 200 commodities are produced in Ontario including
fruits, vegetables, livestock, dairy, poultry, grains and oilseeds.
There are approximately 56,000 farms in Ontario and
each farmer produces enough food to feed 120 people every year! These
farms have more than $9 billion in cash receipts - that's approximately
one quarter of all farm revenue in Canada.
More than half of Canada's prime agricultural land is
in Ontario.
Ontario's agri-food industry contributes more than $30
billion to the provincial economy annually, and employs more than
650,000 people.
Approximately 3,700 food and beverage processors are
located in Ontario.
Ontario leads the country in agri-food exports. In 2005,
we shipped $8.6 billion in agri-food products around the world. Exports
to the U.S. totaled $7.1 billion in 2005.
The province accounts for more than 40 per cent of Canadian
food and beverage industry shipments.
Agriculture is more than food to eat. Some cloth and
textiles begin in the barnyard, as wool, and in the field, with hemp.
Hemp, an experimental crop, is also used to make paper and a variety
of industrial products.
Ontario's greenhouse sector represents more than half
of the country's greenhouse industry. In 2005 the value of greenhouse
plant production was approximately $1.2 billion.
Corn is processed into road de-icers, windshield washer
fluid, ethanol fuel, soap, toothpaste, paint, varnish and spark plugs
to name a few.
Ontario is a world leader in food technology research
and development with more than 75 per cent of agri-food exports being
value-added.
Farmers in the province have reduced their pesticide
use by more than 50 per cent in the last two decades.
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Contact:
Chris Flavelle
Minister's Office
(416) 326-3072
