Largest organic food conference of its kind comes to Halifax
Vincent Dieras has worked for Halifax Seed Company for the past 25 years, and says more and more people are coming in asking for organic seeds.
“Health care is really going down hill, so the beginning is really to eat properly. (Food) is the foundation of our health,” he said Wednesday.
Dieras was only one of nearly 650 participants in Food Secure Canada’s 8th Annual National Assembly, taking place at the Marriott Harbourfront Hotel from Nov. 13 to 16. The three-day conference, co-hosted by the Food Action Research Centre (FoodARC), the Nova Scotia Food Security Network and the Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network (ACORN), brings together organic producers, retailers and experts from across the eastern provinces to discuss innovative ways to improve our current food system.
Diana Bronson, executive director of Food Secure Canada called the event the largest local food gathering of its kind in the region.
Bronson, along with several other speakers said the conference will tackle a variety of food security issues, from supporting new farmers to lobbying for the creation of a national food policy.
“Organic agriculture is the future of farming in Canada,” Theresa Richards, Executive Director of ACORN, told reporters.
She said organic agriculture is the fastest growing sector of farming in the country, with sales that have tripled between 2006 to 2012, which “means 20 million Canadians are buying organic every week.”
Richards said Nova Scotia is home to 65 certified organic farms, with hundreds more producers growing their food without adding chemicals or pesticides.
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