What a Year! Highlights of 2021 in Farming and Food

What a year 2021 was in agriculture and food! Emily, Abdul and Paul get together to review some highlights of events in agriculture and food, from global to local. The UN Food Systems Summit made its mark. Extreme weather and climate change made their impact. Flooding in British Columbia and drought throughout western Canada and northwest Ontario prompted Government assistance to affected farmers. The cooperative Hay West also assisted. Canada’s new climate plan now includes agricultural programs that were confirmed in Budget 2021. A contested Fertilizer Canada study claimed a 30% reduction in emissions due to fertilizer use would cost farmers massive lost production. Equity and reconciliation are getting attention in agriculture. The Guelph Ministers’ statement shows direction on next federal-provincial-territorial agricultural policy framework. Farmland protection from development was a hot topic across Ontario. Locally in Guelph, we highlighted the work of Our Food Future and the SEED tackling issues of food security and food waste. Those are just a fraction of hot topics in 2021, even without COVID. More information: UN Food Systems Summit https://www.un.org/en/food-systems-summit Canada’s new climate plan https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/climate-plan/climate-plan-overview/healthy-environment-healthy-economy.html AgriRecovery funding for farmers facing extreme weather https://www.canada.ca/en/agriculture-agri-food/news/2021/08/government-of-canada-increases-total-agrirecovery-funding-to-up-to-500-million-to-support-farmers-facing-extreme-weather.html $3 million of Funding for Hay West https://www.cfa-fca.ca/2021/12/15/cfa-pleased-to-announce-3-million-of-funding-for-hay-west-from-canadian-government-but-more-funding-is-needed-for-coming-months/ Ontario's Drought Support for Northwestern Farmers https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1000835/ontario-providing-additional-drought-support-for-northwestern-farmers Farm groups issue statement on reconciliation Fertilizer Canada study https://fertilizercanada.ca/news-events/news/new-report-warns-of-potential-for-48-billion-loss-in-farm-income-if-fertilizer-reductions-are-required-of-growers/ Canada’s Ministers of Agriculture release Guelph Statement https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/agri-info/canadas-ministers-agriculture-hold-annual-meeting-and-release-guelph-statement Farmers hampered by excessive rain https://www.producer.com/news/ontario-farmers-hampered-by-excessive-rain/ Our Food Future https://foodfuture.ca/ The SEED Guelph https://theseedguelph.ca/