LCBO Food & Drink Spring 2020

FARM TO TABLE

Taking care of the earth is an important job for all of us—for those of us who eat and, especially, for those who grow our food. Farmers live off the land, relying on a healthy earth for their livelihood, so they know they need to protect it. A farmer needs to have a sustainable business and good- quality product that doesn’t deplete our natural resources.    When we plan our meals and make our shopping lists, we need to consider sustainability, too, by choosing foods grown in a responsible way. Buying local, knowing where your food comes from and how it was grown, and appreciating the food grown for us by reducing food waste are all ways we can do our part for sustainability.    We’re fortunate that our Ontario farmers—whether they produce meat, poultry, seed and grain crop, dairy, vegetables or fruit—are working hard to bring us nutritious food and making sure they’re taking care of Mother Nature in the process. Here we’re focusing on some Ontario meat farms that are innovating through research, education and ingenuity how they produce food and creating novel ways to get it to us. It’s fascinating to learn what our Ontario farmers are doing to get us food we can enjoy from field, orchard and greenhouse to plate, as they say.

Forces of nature

SHOP FROM HOME

Shining a spotlight on just a few of the Ontario farmers making a concerted effort towards sustainability—bringing us nutritious food and, in the process, making sure they’re taking care of Mother Nature.

Shop with sustainability in mind; take inven- tory of your freezer and fridge, plan meals, order or buy only what you know you’ll use. Innovation in online sales means you can have food delivered directly from Ontario farms. Look for this icon on the following pages for a few companies making it easy to shop sustainably from home.

By Jennifer M ac Kenzie

PHOTO BY CARRIE WOOLLEY

47 

FOOD & DRINK SPRING 2020