Mr. Jeff Leal, MPP
Room 184, Main Legislative Building
Queen’s Park
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1A4
Dear Mr. Leal:
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture is pleased to support your “Back to the Farm Day” resolution encouraging Members of the Ontario Legislative Assembly to spend one day a year on the farm and to report back on their experiences.
Although farmers are one of the top three most trusted professions in Canada, Ontario farmers have encountered confusion and ambivalence from governments, urban consumers and others due to their conflicting feelings and opinions about the romantic vision of the farmer and the practical realities of farming.
The OFA is working hard to address this by communicating farmers’ efforts at running efficient, technologically advanced, environmentally sound businesses that fill an important economic and social role in Ontario.
Ontario depends on its farmers not just to grow and provide food, but also to work as the responsible caretakers of the largest part of the province’s land base.
Ontario’s landscape is beautiful and reassures every person in Ontario that the land supports them. The outlook and independence of Ontario’s residents rests on their knowledge that they have freedom to make choices because the abundance of the farmland is supporting them. The new immigrant family in Toronto can think about their own business for next year, because they know they can afford to eat today. Most citizens of Ontario can enjoy their standard of living for the very same reasons.
That Ontario farming has come this far is owing to the hard work, careful planning and the care given to our bountiful resources. Farmers did not do this alone. In the past, farmers were supported by their governments, their customers and fellow citizens. As many people are now generations away from a family farm, we must work to ensure the future of farming and farm families is guided by our successful past.
I thank you for your resolution. The OFA is encouraged by the interest of the legislative assembly in farmers and farming. We would be pleased to facilitate any such farm visits and ask that MPP’s call on us for this.
A farm visit will go a very long way to informing the important work of legislators in their decision-making and their policy development. This important work should never be done in a knowledge vacuum. The more our elected representatives know about the diversity, economic importance and community support provided by farmers, the more informed their policy development.
There has never been a prosperous, stable and flourishing society that depended on others for its food.
Once again, thank you.
Sincerely,
Ron Bonnett, President
c.c. Hon. Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario