OFA: Six by Sixteen launches social media Photo My Food contest (2016)

High school students, local politicians and industry partners took part in a unique food literacy classroom demonstration today to learn about the new SixbySixteen.me resource and find out about a new Photo My Food social media contest.

SixbySixteen.me – a site developed by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) – took over the nutrition class of Grade 10 students at Thorold Secondary School in Thorold, Ontario. Students watched a cooking demonstration and presentation by Chef Derek Roberts and local food forager Jackie Fraser of Fraberts Fine Foods in Fergus, learning about the resources available on SixbySixteen.me to help young people learn how to cook, find local food and make healthy choices for lifelong health.

Good food is best shared, and OFA also launched a new Photo My Food social media contest at the event to encourage students to make a meal and enter a photo of it for a chance to win an iPad mini.

“Food literacy needs to start at a young age,” says Neil Currie. “It helps young people establish healthy food habits that serve them well for life. And Ontario’s agri-food sector provides more than 200 healthy food choices.”

SixbySixteen.me is a new food literacy resource, developed by the OFA and launched in March 2016. The site serves as a hub to the extensive resources of the more than 20 industry partners involved in the food literacy project that aims to teach young people to plan and prepare six nutritious, locally sourced meals by the time they are 16.  

The new Photo My Food contest (hosted at SixbySixteen.me/photomyfood) encourages young people to find a recipe on the new SixbySixteen.me site, make it at home and take a picture of it, then post it on the SixbySixteen.me/photomyfood page for a chance to win an iPad mini.

Food literacy is a key objective in the National Food Strategy, developed by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture with OFA.

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture is the largest general farm organization in Ontario, representing 36,000 farm families across the province. As a dynamic farmer-led organization based in Guelph, OFA works to represent and champion the interests of Ontario farmers through government relations, farm policy recommendations, research, lobby efforts, community representation, media relations and more. OFA is the leading advocate for Ontario’s farmers and is Ontario’s voice of the farmer.


Source: OFA