MORE WAYS TO BUY ONTARIO FOOD
LONDON – Ontario farmers can again drive job-creation in our province – if the small businesses they supply can get better access to Ontario-grown produce, PC Leader Tim Hudak and Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Critic Ernie Hardeman said today.
Hudak and Hardeman’s comments come prior to the launch of a Paths to Prosperity on agriculture– the 12th in a series on building our economy to create jobs. A key proposal is for a regional food terminal in addition to the existing facility in Toronto, where smaller grocery chains, restaurants, convenience stores and garden centres have one-stop access to wholesale produce from Ontario farms.
“It’s time for a second, regional food terminal to help connect our farmers with small food processors, restaurants and retailers, and to augment the Toronto facility – so successful, it’s called ‘the stock exchange’ for Ontario produce,” Hudak said.
Hardeman said that a regional food terminal would create jobs, increase markets for our farmers and provide small processors with a reliable supply. “It would improve the distribution of fresh Ontario food – and it would be entirely self-financing.”
Hudak said Ontario’s agriculture sector has been held back by an urban-based government that views farming as an antique of the 20th century. “The Liberals don’t grasp that food processing alone is a $40 billion industry that rivals the auto sector in importance to our overall economy.
“If they did, they would have created a second food terminal themselves in the past decade. The fact that they didn’t shows this government doesn’t think about rural Ontario.”
For further information, contact Christine Bujold (416) 325-1330 christine.bujold@pc.ola.org
View and share the Paths to Prosperity published to date, at www.ontariopc.com/paths