Hamilton, March 2, 2009 – Hamilton Community Foundation (HCF) today announced $1 million in new grant opportunities to support its ongoing work to reduce poverty in Hamilton. Some $150,000 of the funds will go to responding to needs created by the economic downturn.

The funds represent a second year of granting available through HCF’s Tackling Poverty Together (TPT) program, a five-year, $5 million initiative. The grant opportunities will continue to focus on anti- poverty work in six key neighbourhoods, and broader programs to address systems and policies that prevent people from moving out of poverty.

Toronto, March 18, 2009 – It’s true – you can never have too many friends, which is why the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation is pleased to announce the addition of two new Board members. Seaton McLean, co-founder of Atlantis Films, and Carolyn Milne, President and CEO of the Hamilton Community Foundation, recently joined the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation’s Board of Directors to help steer important grant-making decisions benefiting agricultural and environmental initiatives in Ontario’s Greenbelt.   

Queenston, March 6, 2009 - On March 5th and March 12th a group of Niagara’s farm and rural based entrepreneurs will meet at the Ball’s Falls Centre for Conservation Education Room in Jordan to take part in a two-day workshop called “Growing Your Opportunities – Quest for New Farm Value.”   

Toronto, February 28, 2009 - Ontario's Greenbelt needs to grow if it is to live up to its promise of curbing urban sprawl and protecting significant agricultural lands, water resources and natural heritage systems, the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance said today on the fourth anniversary of the Greenbelt's creation. The Greenbelt Alliance released its vision today for Greenbelt expansion, called Greenbelt 2.0, including a detailed map of how the Greenbelt should grow. With the proposed expansion, the Greenbelt would grow by about 60% or 1.2 million acres (480, 000 ha).

Oak Ridges Moraine, March 2, 2009 - The Oak Ridges Trail Association (ORTA) proudly announces the return of the Moraine for Life Adventure Relay, June 20 and 21.

Toronto, February 27, 2009 – On the fourth anniversary of the Greenbelt Act and Plan, it’s clear that Ontarians are proud of what its 1.8 million acres have to offer: clean water for their families and local food from hard-working farmers. A recent public opinion poll conducted by Environics, in partnership with the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, shows 93% of Ontarians support the Greenbelt – an all-time high for the green initiative.

December 2008

There is a strong demand for local food, because local means greater freshness, ripeness, taste, and often, nutritional value. However, the market is not yet delivering local food to the extent that consumers want. From laws, regulations to international agreements, this paper examines the barriers to local food supply. [The seventh installment in the Occasional Paper Series presented by the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation.]"Bringing Local Food Home: Legal, Regulatory and Institutional Barriers to Local Food" by Maureen Carter-Whitney of the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy (CIELAP).

Queenston, January 26, 2009 - Niagara Culinary Trail members are working together to showcase our region’s local food and cuisine at the “Taste of Ontario” reception for the Economic Development Council of Ontario on February 4th, 2009 between 5pm and 7pm at the Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Center.

Guelph, January 12, 2009 - 4-H Ontario and Me to We, a division of Free the Children, are seeking rural and urban high school students in grades 10 and 11 for the second annual Greenbelt Youth Forum. 

The children in grade four at Hickory Wood Public School in Brampton join thousands of other aspiring ecologists in helping to restore a species gone from Lake Ontario for over a century.

Brampton, January 23, 2009 - The children in grade four at Hickory Wood Public School in Brampton will soon join thousands of other aspiring ecologists in helping to restore a species gone from Lake Ontario for over a century, thanks to an $84,000 grant from the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation.