Saturday August 28: Tractor convoy coming to proposed mega-quarry site

News release August 23, 2011

TORONTO – The proposed mega-quarry project north of Toronto near Shelburne is drawing fire from the pro-farming movement. 

John Varty, a professor of agriculture and environmental history from McMaster University in Hamilton, is driving a tractor from Charlottetown, P.E.I. to the Pacific Ocean to learn and raise awareness about farming issues in Canada. Varty has altered his route to make a special stopover in Melancthon Township to draw attention to this critical farming and food-related issue.

The Melancthon mega quarry proposal put forward by The Highland Companies, a Canadian corporation backed by Boston-based hedge fund the Baupost Group, would plunge 200 feet below the water table removing forever thousands of acres of prime, Class 1 food-producing soil known as Honeywood Silt Loam. At 2,316 acres, it would be Canada’s largest open pit mine. Honeywood loam is a specialty vegetable soil now covering the area, producing many kinds of vegetables in addition to approximately 50% of the Toronto market for potatoes, both for direct consumption and food processing needs. 

“Only three per cent of Canadians farm, but 100 per cent of Canadians eat,” says Varty. That’s why it’s a really important story.” Ravenna Nuaimy-Barker, Director of Sustain Ontario, the Alliance for Healthy Food and Farming, agrees. But she also acknowledges the disastrous social and long-term economic impacts of such a quarry on local communities. “The proposed quarry is a short-term initiative,” she says, “that will destroy the fabric of the community and impact food access in Ontario for centuries if not forever. No more farming, no more community, no more food.”  

The tractor convoy, passing through Hastings County, Ontario at time of writing, is on track to arrive in Melancthon on Sunday, August 28th. The convoy will leave Primrose, Ontario at 12:00 on the 28th, proceeding north on Highway124 and arriving at Wallace Farm, #625007 County Road 15 west of Hwy 124, on the precipice of the proposed quarry site. 

There will be live music featuring performer Tom Barlow and a free farmer’s potluck dinner at approximately 5:00 pm to celebrate. All are invited, and asked to bring tractors of all ages and sizes; horses and ponies. 

Find out more about the tractor convoy here: http://www.tractorcanada.com