Without Berwick’s Tom Manley leading the charge, the organic, natural, local food movement in Eastern Ontario would certainly not be as far advanced as it is these days.
It’s going gangbusters, spreading into all nooks and crannies of the region and gaining new adherents on a weekly basis.
No more clearly is this reflected than at Eco Farm Day which – despite the title – is in fact a two-day semi bilingual conference focusing on workshops with intriguing titles such as “Growing up Organic” and “Identifying and Managing Grassy Weeds”.
With Manley chairing it, the latest edition of the conference was held Feb. 27-28 at Cornwall’s Ramada Inn.
Manley owns and operates Homestead Organics, the largest organic crop processing business in the area. He comes from a farm family which began implementing organic principles decades before they became fashionable.
You could say Eco Farm Day and Homestead are in lock-step. In other words, as the organic industry has gone in Eastern Ontario, so has the conference, becoming an excellent harbinger of the increasing popularity of the now mainstream approach to producing food.
Manley pointed out that his chosen industry is more family oriented, younger, more local, and with a 40-60 female to male ratio rather than the 10-90 of traditional agriculture.
“When you look around the conference, everyone has a smile on his or her face. It’s an optimistic industry not bearing the burden of difficulties faced by conventional farming.”
This year, the conference was “bursting at the seams”, with a record of more than 400 participants and 43 exhibitors, making it the largest agricultural conference of any type held on a regular basis in the greater Ottawa area.
It has become so popular that Manley and his committee are considering capping attendance next year in order to remain at the same venue where meeting facilities are overcrowded, guest rooms are sold out, and parking is extremely tight.
On the other hand, Manley said the hotel staff has been extremely cooperative over the five years since the conference was moved there from Morrisburg, including making organic meals for those taking part.
It’s an issue of cost, size and location. Outside of Ottawa, the Ramada is one of the largest conference centres available. There’s one bigger in Cornwall, but it’s considerably more expensive and less community oriented; and Ottawa is being avoided to prevent the conference from being overtaken by consumers rather than dominated by organic producers as it is now.
Perhaps a solid but less widely known keynote speaker will be selected next year in an attempt to cut down on the numbers, Manley suggested. This year, it was Eliot Coleman, a huge draw, author of three books, with 40 years of experience in organic farming, including field and greenhouse vegetables, rotational grazing of sheep and cattle, and range poultry.
Eco Farm Day is sponsored by Canadian Organic Growers, Ottawa Chapter, which has as mission to lead communities towards sustainable organic stewardship of land, food and fibre while respecting nature, upholding social justice and protecting natural resources.
It’s the event in Eastern Ontario which organic, transitional and even conventional farmers rely upon for best training, information and commerce opportunities. They also attend for the networking, the socializing – including gala organic dinner – and the positive atmosphere.
Eco Farm Day didn’t start out big. When Manley took over as chief organizer about eight years ago, it was a one-day event held within Farm Week at Kemptville Campus of the University of Guelph. Organizers were content to get 100 people out.
Then Farm Week broke up and its various components began to be staged independently. Eco Farm Day moved first to a conference centre in Morrisburg where it swelled to about 200 participants. About five years ago, it relocated to the Ramada where it has continued to expand in leaps and bounds.
“It’s worth coming for the food alone,” said annual attendee Cindy Saucier, a member of the Russell Township Environmental Committee.
