In 2012, the Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance released a 10-year Action Plan designed to strategically guide the vision for cross-sectoral development of the local food and farming cluster that thrives in this unique environment. Comprised of the Regions of Durham, Halton, Niagara, Peel, York and the Cities of Hamilton and Toronto, the Golden Horseshoe produces over 200 different types of agricultural crops and contains the majority of Ontario’s food processing operations, head offices of major food retail merchandisers, Canadian headquarters of global consumer branded food companies and Ontario’s food distribution centres, not to mention thousands of ambitious food and farming entrepreneurs. The collaborative effort from the Alliance’s constituents supports the resilience and growth of this food and farming cluster to maintain its indispensable contribution to the provincial and national economies.
Over the summer, we will be profiling good news stories about the Alliance members’ diverse programs and projects, from asset mapping projects to business retention and expansion studies, food processing training programs to agri-tourism development, all kinds of inspiring opportunities from the various sectors of the cluster.
Each initiative relates to at least one of the five broad opportunities for change identified in the Action Plan:
A. Grow the Cluster by improving infrastructure and cultivating new markets so that it becomes the leading food and farming cluster in the world, renowned for healthy and safe food products.
B. Link Food, Farming and Health to educate current and future consumers about the importance of locally-sourced food and farming products for enhancing their health and well-being.
C. Foster Innovation by encouraging and supporting innovation that will enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of the Cluster by strategically positioning the agriculture, food processing, retail and service sectors as “the place to do business.”
D. Enable the Cluster by aligning policy tools and their application to enable food and farming businesses to be increasingly competitive and profitable.
E. Cultivate New Approaches by piloting new approaches to support food and farming in the Golden Horseshoe by being a leader in developing research and programs.
Explore the blog for weekly project highlights to learn about the various ways that the Action Plan is being implemented across the Golden Horseshoe.