Ontario Celebrates Retailers who Promote Local Food

KITCHENER - Ernie Hardeman, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, joined by Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Mike Harris, presented Sobeys #685 in Kitchener with two Foodland Retailer Awards for its outstanding displays to promote Ontario local food. In the coming weeks, Minister Hardeman and local MPPs will present the 2018 Foodland Ontario Retailer Awards to winning stores across the province.

 

"Many congratulations to Sobeys in Kitchener for creating award-winning displays to showcase Ontario's fresh and delicious fruits and vegetables," said Minister Hardeman. "Taking pride in building creative and innovative displays to showcase fresh Ontario foods supports our hardworking farmers by encouraging shoppers to take home the many good things that grow in Ontario."

 

"We all have a part to play in supporting our hardworking farmers and I'm so glad to see the amazing work done by Sobeys here in Kitchener for their beautiful displays of Ontario fruits and vegetables," said Mike Harris, MPP for Kitchener-Conestoga. "I want to thank everyone at this Sobeys and at grocery stores across the province for helping to promote our important agricultural sector."

 

"At Sobeys, proudly supporting local producers and processors has been part of our DNA for more than 112 years," said Yan Branco, Vice President Produce Merchandising at Sobeys. "Year after year, we are so pleased to partner with Foodland Ontario growers and share the bounty from local community farms in our stores across this great province."

 

"The Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers' Association appreciates the ongoing support Foodland Ontario provides to Ontario farmers," said Alison Robertson, Executive Director, Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers' Association. "The creative efforts of Ontario retailers to promote local produce to consumers helps maintain a strong domestic market for 3,500 Ontario farmers who grow fruits and vegetables valued at over $2.4 billion annually."

 

The annual Foodland Ontario Retailer Awards are the produce industry's premier competition for excellence in retail display and promotion in support of local Ontario foods. Retailers enter seasonal display contests that run from mid-April to November.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.