🌾 It’s Harvest Season in Simcoe County | georgianbaynews.com

The leaves are beginning to turn, fields are coming off, gardens are overflowing, and harvest season is officially underway!

It’s also the time of year when farm equipment is moving between fields. If you come up behind a slow-moving tractor, combine or wagon, give them some room – they’re doing the work that puts food on our tables.

And while we’re harvesting this year’s gardens, it’s already time to think about the next one. Fall is the season to tuck spring-flowering bulbs into the ground, divide perennials, save seeds, plant garlic – and save the date for our upcoming Community Gardening 101 webinar this winter!

Harvest season is also a good time to remember that an abundance of food in our region does not mean everyone has reliable access to it.

September is Hunger Action Month, drawing attention not only to emergency food support, but to the conditions driving hunger in the first place – including housing costs, the cost of living, and incomes that are not keeping pace. Find out about hunger in Simcoe County using Feed Ontario’s new Hunger in My Community tool.

September also brings the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, offering a time to reflect on our shared history, responsibilities, and relationships with land and one another; and a timely month to introduce our new Gdoondignaa – Dish with One Spoon Treaty webpage! 

From harvest celebrations and fall fairs to conversations about hunger, reconciliation and our shared food system, things are always busy and growing across our Simcoe County food system.

Food is a Human Right

Food banks and community food programs are an important part of our community emergency response, but hunger is ultimately a poverty issue. Long-term food security depends on adequate income, affordable housing, accessible transportation, healthy communities, and food systems that allow everyone to participate with dignity.

The Simcoe County Food Council has been reviewing and renewing our Strategic Plan to strengthen its alignment with these broader Community Safety and Well-Being priorities of Simcoe County. As part of that work, we have updated our Vision and Mission statements:

Vision:
A Simcoe County where food is acknowledged as a human right. We envision a community where everyone has dignified access to enough nutritious, safe and culturally meaningful food, supported by a sustainable local food system.

Mission:
We bring people together from across sectors and experiences to grow knowledge, share expertise, build capacity, and strengthen collaboration throughout the local food system. Guided by the Simcoe County Food Charter, the Simcoe County Food Security Framework, and the Dish with One Spoon Treaty, we align regional efforts and support community-led solutions that strengthen food security and honour our shared responsibility to the land and each other.

In this month of Truth and Reconciliation, we are also introducing our new SCFC webpage affirming the Gdoonagidnaa – The Dish With One Spoon Treaty  – a living treaty from our Great Lakes region which ensures we all share responsibility; taking only what we need, leaving enough for others, and ensuring the shared land, water and resources that sustain us remain healthy and accessible for all those who come after.