In collaboration with the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation (check out their summary of the day here), the Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance held an informative workshop last month for a variety of stakeholders regarding value-added activities in Ontario. The Enabling Value-Added Agricultural Polices Workshop in Milton on Feb. 27 brought together many individuals concerned with improving the viability of our farming sector, and, to put it simply, adding value to our food system.
Many municipal planners, as well as economic development staff, farmers and agricultural organizations came together in Milton to grow the conversation on value-added activities and how to enhance the process of implementing efficient value-added agricultural policies. Value-added activities include secondary processing, agri-tourism and other related farm sales, as they are increasingly recognized as a diversification strategy that can enhance farm viability.
Value-added activities are often brought up when discussing the viability of farming and ways to improve on economic activity, but it often doesn’t get much farther than that. The workshop aimed to bring relevant people together to flush out the discussion and look closely at the opportunities and barriers. The conversation is needed as there are several bridges to gap and holes to fill; delays, additional costs and frustration are often experienced as the farmers move through the current process, particularly relating to building structures and site improvements.
Whereas the municipal planning staff feel that they use planning policy language that supports on-farm value-added activities, the farmers feel that they are faced with layers of regulations, policies and taxation that are discouraging any value-added or value-retention activities. Economic development officers are also often challenged in actual implementation of value-added activities while building department staff can feel constrained by existing policies with regards to flexibility in supporting these value-added activities.
And so February’s workshop brought together municipal staff, planners, economic development officers, and farmers, so they could share their challenges, successes, and learn from each other.
In a conscientious effort to highlight and educate either side at the heart of the value-added dilemma, municipal planners were the focus of the morning panel, while farmers took centre stage in the afternoon. The municipal planners discussed best practices from their POV, and shared stories of how they have successfully implemented policies in their respective municipalities. Under a section entitled “how much planning is too much planning”, the municipal panel consisted of Danielle De Fields from Niagara, Councillor Robert Pasuta from Hamilton, and Lidy Romanuk from Haldimand County.
After lunch, it was the farmers’ turn to share. Tom Wilson from Spirit Tree Estate Cidery in Caledon shared his ideas in a thought-provoking and organized presentation, and then Hubert Schillings from White Feather Farms in the Durham Region spoke from the heart.
Showcasing the experience of farmers aims to encourage and enable municipal planners and economic development staff to create and implement more effective, value-added land-use policies and implementation processes. It is also particularly useful for the farmers to hear the municipal side, as it gives them the opportunity to learn how to come better prepared, and in general how to better deal with and approach municipalities.
A mutually-beneficial day of education: a space for municipal planners to listen to farmers, and for farmers to listen to the planners.
Helma Geerts from OMAF also had a particularly useful part in the day, as she covered an in-depth overview of the new Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) — released on February 24 and in effect April 30, 2014 — highlighting key changes to Prime Agricultural Area policies. Helma reviewed much of the specific revised language around value-added, and what the PPS said about value-added. On a promising note, the current PPS language is more encouraging than it was in 2005. For instance, a broader range of economic opportunities are permitted on farms and in prime agricultural areas. We will have an upcoming blog post discussing the relevant PPS changes.
The day wrapped up with facilitated break-out sessions, where participants reflected on the messages shared and lessons learned, and were encouraged to think critically about how we could implement more effective value-added land-use policies in our municipalities. How can municipal planners better support farmers? Of course, a concrete answer will not come out of one day, but the goal was to start the conversation, get relevant people talking, and learn from each other to hopefully one day work toward a more efficient and supportive system. Challenges and barriers were discussed, and the next step, much more difficult, is to figure out how to address these barriers. But at least now, some lightbulbs have been turned on and ideas sprouted for how to, for instance, better approach planners. It’s not over, but it was a good first step.
The conversation has indeed been started.