By Drew Spoelstra, President, Ontario Federation of Agriculture

Buying local and supporting local farmers and food producers is a priority for many Ontarians. As farmers, we appreciate the enthusiasm in this province for buying local and for the support you give our farms and businesses.

I’m one of those farmers, growing crops, raising horses and producing high quality milk and beef near Binbrook in the city of Hamilton.

Ontario farmers are proud to celebrate local food, farm products and farmers all year long, but especially this week, when we’re marking Local Food Week in Ontario. It’s an ideal time to focus on the locally grown and produced items that are coming available as spring slowly starts to inch towards summer.

Locally grown plants, shrubs and flowers are available at markets, garden centres and supermarkets, farmers’ markets are opening up for the season, and some of our earliest local food crops – like asparagus, radishes and even a few strawberries – are ready for us to enjoy.

Local Food Week is also a time to think about what goes into bringing all these fabulous food and farm products to market.

At the root of it all – pardon the pun – is our farmland. We’re lucky to have a lot of it here in Ontario and it’s some of the best in the world, but it’s also a critical resource that’s under threat.

Ontario’s farmland is more than picturesque countryside — it’s what feeds our families, supports our economy, and sustains our rural communities. As our population grows, so too does the pressure on this limited resource.

Farmland underpins Ontario’s ability to produce food, fibre, fuel, and flowers for markets here at home and around the world. Yet from 1996 to 2021, Ontario lost 1.7 million acres of farmland.

Today, we are losing an average of 319 acres – or about four times the size of Canada’s Wonderland — to urban sprawl and other uses outside of agriculture and food production every day.

Less than five per cent of Ontario’s land is suitable for agricultural production of any kind and once it’s paved over, it’s gone forever. If we don’t act now to preserve farmland, we’re putting Ontario’s long-term food security and economic resilience at risk.

At the same time, we know that our province needs land for housing, for job creation and economic growth, for critical infrastructure, and for renewable energy to meet electrification and decarbonization targets.

We also know we can’t lose our ability to produce food. That’s why, at Ontario Federation of Agriculture, we’ve long been champions of farmland preservation – and why Ontario needs responsible land use planning that strikes the right balance between urban development and farmland preservation.

We must intensify growth within existing urban footprints through measures like in-fill development and higher-density housing. These kinds of smart planning solutions accommodate population growth while preserving prime agricultural lands.

The OFA supports intensification strategies that not only address housing and industrial needs, but also foster economic growth and job creation, support municipal infrastructure systems, promote environmental sustainability and safeguard our food supply.

This includes the concept of establishing an “Ontario Foodbelt” as proposed under the recently introduced private member’s bill Bill 21, Protect our Food Act 2025.

We are so lucky in Ontario to be blessed with some of the world’s best farmland that lets us grow and raise almost anything – both for ourselves here at home and for people around the world.

Our stewardship of this precious resource for ourselves and for future generations isn’t just about drawing lines on a map. It’s about keeping farms and farmers viable and rural communities strong and reinforces the importance of protecting our food-producing capacity before it’s too late.

We urge all levels of government to focus on balanced and responsible land use planning that will keep farms and farm families thriving while also meeting the growth goals our province needs to thrive.

For more information, contact:

Tyler Brooks
Director of Communications and Stakeholder Relations
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
519-994-2578
comms@ofa.on.ca