75,000 turn out for maple festival - ObserverXtra

THE OBSERVER | SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013
ROBERTS: Public is looking for meaningful engagement in discussing future of our food
froM | 18
about food and health.
With support from the
federal Canadian Institutes
of Health Research,
organizers from the University
of Guelph’s colleges
of arts, social and applied
human science and management
and economics
purposefully held forums
off campus, for better engagement.
“The whole idea with
this approach is to run
events in the community,
for the community,” says
College of Management
and Economics acting
dean Sylvain Charlebois.
He says the overwhelming
mood among the 70
participants was that for
the food industry to win
the public’s trust, it must
better police itself when
it comes to nutrition. An
example was salt. Maybe
it’s legal for industry to
pour tonnes of salt into
Canadians’ prepared food,
but it sure isn’t moral.
Said co-organizer Diane
Dobbins: “A few attendees
told me immediately following
the event they went
home and looked at the
food cupboards, examining
the sodium levels in
foods they thought were
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Intentional living.
“ We really want to honour God
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about our mortgage.”
Joshua Hall, Kitchener member
healthy. What an eye
opener for them when
they realized that their can
of chick peas was full of
sodium.”
And on another frontier,
in agriculturally rich
Waterloo Region, people
have rallied to create the
region’s first food charter.
It was accepted by the
regional council’s community
services committee
Monday.
The charter’s sponsor,
the Waterloo Region Food
System Roundtable, calls
the five-point document
“a statement of values and
principles that are mutual-
hOmE haRDwaRE: Making it a tradition
froM | 18
shelves because we were
growing so quickly.”
The semi-annual market
has jumped around various
Woolwich locations
during its existence, but
currently has a permanent
home at Home Hardware’s
large facilities on Henry
Street. While the market
is only open to industry
professionals and not the
general public, its presence
is felt emphatically.
Studies have shown that
visitors rent an average
of 3,000 hotel rooms, and
have pumped $13 million
into the local economy
over the past 20 years.
Indeed, Home Hardware’s
markets have earned it the
first Corporate Tourism
Ambassador Award from
the Waterloo Regional
Tourism Marketing Corporation.
All of which, of course,
is incidental to Home
Hardware’s main mission
statement, which Straus
continues to take to heart.
“From day-one, our mission
was to help the independent
dealers compete
with these large discount
stores that were coming to
Canada. One of the things
we haven’t strayed from is
that mission.”
And, pulling out a bright,
red bowtie as if on cue,
Straus added, “Walter
Hachborn, the founder,
was known for his bowties.
And like the bowtie hasn’t
gone out of style, our mission
hasn’t gone out of
style.
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ly accepted by food system
stakeholders.”
Over the past several
months, roundtable members
have been taking the
community’s pulse to see
what those stakeholders
want out of their regional
food system. The operative
words, they concluded, are
healthy, just and sustainable.
Roundtable co-chair
Brendan Wylie-Toal said
he hopes the endorsement
guides the regional
government’s decisions
on everything from farmland
preservation to waste
management to economic
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development.
This is more than an attempt
to join the local food
parade. Waterloo Region’s
history of food production
runs deep, with some of
the country’s top farmers’
markets and local and ethnic
food economies.
To celebrate that culture,
next Monday night,
for the seventh year, an
event called A Taste of
Woolwich will be held at
the Breslau Mennonite
Church. Forty farmers will
come together with what
is expected to be a crowd
of several hundred people,
for three hours of food
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VENTURE | 19
sampling, conversation
and workshops, including
one on the food charter.
A Taste of Woolwich is in
support of Healthy Communities
Month, which
traditionally hasn’t meant
much to farmers. But this
year, the timing’s great.
Unlike the public protests
earlier this week, it offers
up a chance for farmers
and consumers to speak in
measured tones, and move
to a new level of dialogue.
It’s yet one more example
of peaceful, meaningful
public engagement.
And I believe that’s what
most people want.
Paul Straus at Home Hardware’s St. Jacobs head office with Tonia Boerner, Cindy Battle, Barbara-Anne Seip and Stacy Seiling.
[will sloan / the obgserver]