Canadian Organic Heroes Honored

Posted by Phillip Richards Feb 19, 2007

It is very encouraging to see organic growers being recognised.

In Toronto Canada, the Canadian Organic Growers (COG) formally recognised "heroes” who have advanced the cause of organic sustainable farming in Canada.

Four categories of winners were declared:

• An organic organisation hero
• An organic supporter hero
• The best restaurant serving Organic food
• Organic media hero

The executive director of COG (Laura Telford) and Chair of COG's Toronto chapter (Tanmayo Krupanszky ) presented the awards at a ceremony held in downtown Toronto at the St Lawrence Farmers Market

Laura Telford said

"Thanks to the dedication and hard work of our first ever organic heroes, more and more people are beginning to understand why organic agriculture is so important...These heroes are building a better food system for Canada"

Those named as organic heroes were:

• Ann Slater - Organic Organisation Hero
• Karen Burson and Kevin MacKay for the Bread and Roses Cafe in Hamilton
• Michael Statlander is the Organic Supporter Hero
• Jill Eisen developer of the CBC series "Organic Goes Mainstream" won the Organic Media Award section.

It is splendid to see that the worldwide organic movement is gaining such momentum. My first forays into organics were as part of a farming commune way back in 1970 - the spotty and grotty brigade. Now organic farming is nudging its way into the consciousness of more and more people as they wake up to the realities of environmental degradation .There is a long way to go before it can be said to be fully mainstream.

It was good, too, to see that the awards were held at a Farmers’ market – these markets, I believe are the backbone of the movement.