Niagara Agricultural Education Day

For many kids, this is a unique opportunity to get out into the country and speak with farmers about the important work that they do, deepening their understanding about our rural communities and lifestyles and helping them share with their families the importance of supporting healthy, local food systems.

The Lincoln County Fair has been around for over 150 years, but its newest addition, the Niagara Agri-Education Day, has already been successful in spreading valuable agricultural information to school children for the past three years.

From a delicious maple syrup tasting to a chat with beekeepers and a chance to see the baby animals up close, 400 students learn first-hand about agriculture in the Greenbelt during a special school day at the Lincoln Fair.

The David Suzuki Foundation will complete an economic assessment of the non-market value of the Greenbelt’s natural capital or “ecological goods and services,” providing an economic rationale for maintaining the Greenbelt in the Ontario landscape permanently. It will be a great contribution not only in support for the protection of the Greenbelt but for its expansion.

Greenbelt Field to Fork Celebration

The day-long event features top chefs, a farmers' market, workshops, exhibits, and cultural performances, all celebrating Greenbelt foods.

The World’s Largest Multicultural Salad

This grass-roots organization creates a food festival and media event with the participation of over 50 Scarborough restaurants. Catering chefs, culinary students and volunteers create the “World’s Largest Multicultural Salad” made from local produce to serve 15,000 people at the Taste of Scarborough Festival on July 7, 2007 and to share with the Second Harvest Food Bank. The 200 foot-long salad incorporates seven distinct cuisines from regions around the world, reflecting Scarborough’s status as Toronto’s most multicultural community.

Wine Council of Ontario

The Wine Council of Ontario represents 78 wineries in Ontario’s four major wine regions, including the Greenbelt’s tender fruit specialty crop area of Niagara. The first of its kind in Canada, this comprehensive sustainability program helps wineries and vineyard owners in the Greenbelt and beyond adopt best practices for environmental stewardship. It sets benchmarks for the entire Ontario wine industry around the usage of water, waste management, wastewater treatments, nutrient management, noise level, and air emissions.

The Milton District Hospital Strawberry Fair is a fun spot for children and adults alike. There are lots of scrumptious strawberries for picking at the farm or, if you prefer, waiting for you already picked. For the family, strawberry lemonade and chocolate dipped strawberries will tantalize your tastebuds. For wine lovers, Strawberry Fields off-dry wine and Strawberry Sunsation dessert style are freshly bottled and waiting to be free-sampled.

Better farming practices reduce greenhouse gas emissions, taking 125,000 cars off the road Guelph, Ontario, June 5, 2007 - A new study, Caring for the Land – Our Farm Environmental Commitment, shows that Ontario’s farmers are environmental leaders. Greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by the equivalent of taking 125,000 cars off the road through improved soil conservation measures.Farmers have spent at least $600 million on environmental improvements and 300,000 days in environmental training. Over 70% of them have voluntarily participated in the Environmental Farm Plan program.

Toronto, June 5, 2007 - The Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce & Visitor and Convention Bureau and its partners launched the Pilot Year of the Toronto-Niagara Bike Train with a media event at Union Station on Tuesday, June 5. The Bike Train is a new tourism initiative that will be introducing bike racks onboard VIA Rail Canada service between Toronto and the Niagara Region this summer.

Greenbelt Youth Leaders

Of the many successes from the Greenbelt Youth Leaders program, an annual Green Day was established at Niagara College, building awareness of environmental issues and recruiting members for the next year’s Environmental Corps.

The Greenbelt Youth Leaders program has been introduced by the Niagara Environmental Corps, which was created in September 2006 to increase environmental awareness at Niagara College and to empower students to solve environmental problems and build healthy communities.

Niagara College, in collaboration with Durham’s Fleming College, has developed a sustainable model of student-led environmental action. The Greenbelt Youth Leaders learn to increase public environmental awareness, assist companies and non-profit community organizations to develop and test environmental solutions to problems, and gives the students experience in applied research activities.

The Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation is traveling to more than 30 festivals and events across the Greenbelt this summer and we need your help to spread the word about what the Greenbelt has to offer. If you are interested in volunteering in your own community or traveling with us to some of the fun summer events going on in our living countryside, email us with your name, resumé, complete contact information and availability to info -at- ourgreenbelt.ca, subject: Summer Volunteer.