Mega Quarry Down: Big Celebration!

Celebrate Food & Water First! Sunday Aug. 18th in Honeywood ON
NDACT release August 14th 2013
After more than four years of struggle, the fight against the proposed Mega Quarry north of Orangeville ended abruptly last month. Farmland trust investment firm Bonnefield Financial bought the land from the Highland Companies—the U.S. hedge fund-backed firm that wanted to excavate a 2,300-acre quarry on Class 1 farmland, sparking a massive grassroots movement to protect farmland and water in Ontario.
The Class 1 farmland in Melancthon Township is safe—for the time being—so it’s time to Celebrate Food & Water First!

Remember Foodstock? Soupstock? This is the next installment in a string of successful events to celebrate and protect farmland and water resources. Celebrate the bounty and talent of North Dufferin County, and support the Food & Water First campaign to preserve Ontario’s vital agricultural land and source water regions. The event is being held in Honeywood, the same community that hosted Foodstock and was at the heart of the fight to stop the proposed mega quarry.
Details:
·   11am to 3pm, Sunday August 18th
·   Honeywood Arena, Honeywood ON
·   $5 admission, children 5 and under free
·   Bring a plate, fork and cup
Local celebrities:
·   Dale Goldhawk of Goldhawk Fights Back
·   The Armstrong family: 4 living generations of a local farm family, here since the 1850s!
·   ‘Father Goose’ Bill Lishman, flying his ultralight from the Pickering Lands to Honeywood
·   Carl Cosack, Chair of the North Dufferin Agricultural & Community Taskforce
Featured:
·  Live music including the band Harlan Pepper
·  40 vendors: local chefs, fresh produce, milk, meat, honey & treats!
·  Art exhibit
·  Wagon rides to a beautiful vista of the prime farmland saved from the mega quarry—see Artists Against the Mega Quarry at their easels!
.  Kids’ activities and face-painting
Note: bring a fork, plate and cup. This is a bottled water-free event. Quench Buggy on site!
Food & Water First: Changing land use laws in Ontario
Food & Water First is the legacy of the Stop the Mega Quarry movement. While the Melancthon fields are now back in the hands of farmers, Ontario’s prime farmland and source water regions are still vulnerable to non-farming development of all kinds.
Food & Water First is a grassroots movement campaigning for changes to the Aggregate Resources Act and other land-use planning policies. We believe Ontario’s rare agricultural land and water resources should be protected in perpetuity, not squandered in perpetuity.
Food & Water First partners include the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, David Suzuki Foundation Ontario Farmland Trust, Ontario Rivers’ Alliance, Toronto Food Policy Council as well as several municipalities. For more information, visit http://foodandwaterfirst.com
Celebrity profiles
·  Bill Lishman 20 years ago, Bill led geese on a migration route to the U-S using his ultralight plane and that adventure inspired the movie “Fly Away Home.” He will speak in the Honeywood arena at noon and then conduct a flypast over the Hills of Headwaters to show his support for Food & Water First, and to symbolically link the Class 1 farmland in Dufferin County to the Class 1 farmland in Pickering that’s slated for a new airport.
“The most precious thing we have is the land that sustains us,” says Bill. “To permanently destroy prime growing land, for whatever cause, is tantamount to theft from our offspring.”
·  The Armstrong Family Members of the Armstrong family have been stewards of their land in Melancthon for the past 160 years. They understand its true value, and so when the Highland Companies tried to purchase their farm, Ralph and Mary Lynne Armstrong refused and helped lead the battle to stop the proposed Mega Quarry. “Seven generations of Armstrongs have farmed this beautiful soil and cherished its life-giving properties,” says daughter Kate, who will be selling Armstrong beef, pork and lamb at Celebrate Food & Water First inside the Honeywood arena.
·   Dale Goldhawk is a journalist, author and broadcaster with more than 45 years of experience in newspapers, radio, and television. He has been a tremendous supporter of the No Mega Quarry fight over the years. Currently, Goldhawk hosts Goldhawk LIVE, a public affairs show on Rogers TV in Toronto. He is also the host of Goldhawk Fights Back For You, a daily citizen advocacy show on Zoomer radio.