A copy of OHEA's cookbook 'Homegrown' sold for $200 on March 15th at a live charity auction held at the 91st annual Ottawa Valley Farm Show.

The sale raised $15,000 for CHEO's Neonatal Unit in one short hour.

Mary Carver, P.H.Ec. of the OHEA Board presents the buyer Mark Groen of Monsanto Canada with his copy of the book which celebrates foods that we grow, raise or produce in Canada.  
​
Bravo to the Ottawa Valley Farm Show, all auction donors and buyers.  Bravo to homegrown Canadian food and the farmers that produce it.

Farm to Cafeteria Canada is pleased to announce that we are partnering with the Whole Kids Foundation, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Public Health Association of BC, Sustain Ontario, Equiterre, Food First NL, and Quebec En Forme to deliver Farm to School Canada Grants to Schools in 4 provinces – BC, ON, QC, and NL. ​​The grants valued at up to $10,000 are designed to establish or enhance efforts to bring more of the local harvest into schools where it is featured in a salad bar meal service. We want to see more students and school communities engaged in growing, purchasing, harvesting, cooking, serving, learning about, and eating healthy local foods at school.

September is the time of year when the skills and talents of many Ottawa Home Economics Association members’ are put to great use volunteering for the students at Algonquin College. Tuesday, September 5 (Orientation Day) marked the start of the Fall 2017 intake of new Algonquin College Culinary and Baking Students, and the 5th Pant-a-Thon held at the school. ​

​OHEA & Ottawa HEA members who contributed to make this event a success include: Linda Robbins, Lynn Stewart, Mary Johnston, Ellen Boynton, Ellie Topp, Linda Reasbeck, Anne-Marie Ellis, Cathy Enright, Betty Young, Audrey Schryer, and Gisele Aucoin (former member).

From: Health Canada
Original post here: www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/programs/call-for-info-sodium-reduction-foodservices-sector.html
Current status: Open
You're invited to provide feedback on sodium reduction in the foodservices sector.

PETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

• It’s 2017, and Canadian women continue to make just 73.5 cents for every dollar a man makes. These numbers are even lower for Indigenous and women of colour. On a global scale, the gender pay gap in Canada is more than twice the global average, according to research firm Catalyst Canada, the Canadian pay gap is on average $8,000, while globally it's at $4,000;
• Although the Government of Canada and Canadian culture as a whole has an emphasis on all aspects of diversity, Canada has been quite slow to deal with the gender pay gap. In fall of 2016, the Government of Canada promised a new pay-equity legislation, but it won’t be introduced until the end of 2018. This runs the risk of law not being passed before the next federal election; and
• There have been studies that argue the gender pay gap is lower in the public sector vs. the private one, but a gap is still a gap. Pay equity is a human right under the Canadian Human Rights Act. Canada needs to close that gap immediately, and once again be a role model on a global scale in the area of human rights.

Click HERE to read more and to sign the petition.

Health Canada wants to restrict the amount of marketing of unhealthy food and beverages to children. They need the feedback of all Canadians to help decide on what kind of marketing and advertisement will be allowed. 

Health Canada is looking for feedback from Canadians who are consumers, work in industry, work in universities, work in health organizations, are interested in healthy eating, work in any level of government or work in non-government organizations. Anyone can participate. 

The consultation document is available online between June 10 and July 25, 2017. Click HERE to participate in the online consultation and help take a step towards a healthier environment for our children!

Last week was Local Food Week, and some of our OHEA members had the opportunity to visit local farms and learn about how our food is grown and raised. The tour was hosted by Farm & Food Care Ontario with support from CropLife Canada, Turkey Farmers of Ontario and Greenbelt.

A big thank you to Michele McAdoo, Erin MacGregor & Heather Grebler for sharing their photos and information from the tour.

The morning started at Weber Turkey Farm where the group learned about turkey production in Canada and put on white suits (pictured below) to respect the bio security of the turkey farm. There are 180 turkey producers and 300 farms across the country. Canada produces 170 million kg of turkey meat each year, 80 million kg of that right here in Ontario!

Next they visited Vaughn Agricultural Research Services and learned about the development of new crop protection services (pesticides). After testing is completed on site, and at another site at The University of Guelph, Health Canada has the final approval for new pesticides. Something interesting that the group learned about pesticides - more often people get sick from E. coli on fruits and veggies from natural fertilizers (organic or otherwise) than from trace pesticides, so be sure to always wash your produce but organic doesn't always mean it's safer than non-organic!

​They also enjoyed a local lunch with an awesome centrepiece, pictured below.

Comment and let us know what you did to celebrate Local Food Week!