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Mega Quarry Rally at Queen’s Park - PROTECT OUR WATER

Well it's happing again but this time LOTS more people know about this crazy plan that has been proposed!  You can live days with out food but without water your DEAD!

Friday, September 30^th, 3:30 to 5:30 pm, Queen’s Park, Toronto

Toronto, ON – The grassroots movement opposed to a proposed mega quarry north of Toronto is holding a rally at Queen’s Park this Friday at 3:30 pm.

 In just six months, the Stop the Mega Quarry movement has blossomed from a core group of farmers and residents from Melancthon Township in Dufferin County to downtown Toronto, as a growing number of Ontarians raise concerns about the impact the proposed mega quarry would have on water, farmland and the environment.

 “Tens of thousands of Ontarians made history when the province’s Minister of the Environment announced an unprecedented Environmental Assessment for the proposed mega quarry,” says rancher Carl Cosack, vice-chairman of NDACT. “We’ve also united country and city on this critical issue. This is a big issue, now backed by a big movement.”

Friday’s rally will celebrate how far the Stop the Mega Quarry organization has come in the six months since the application for the proposed mega quarry was filed, but it will also draw people together for the long fight ahead. And, with one week before Ontario votes, it will remind all parties the campaign to stop the proposed mega quarry will continue.

 On March 11, 2011, the Highland Companies—backed by Boston hedge fund Baupost Group – applied for a license to excavate the largest quarry in the country. It would span 2,316 acres north of Orangeville, destroying Class 1 farmland. The quarry would plunge 200 feet below the water table in a recharge area for the headwaters of five rivers. 600-million-litres of water would need to be pumped from the mega quarry each day in perpetuity.

“If you care about the food you eat, the farmland that produces it, or what happens to our clean, pure water, come join us on Friday,” says Sandi Wong, an artist involved in the movement.

The speakers' list includes farmers, local food advocates, chefs, First Nations and the Council of Canadians. Broadcaster Dale Goldhawk will act as Master of Ceremonies. A partial list of speakers includes: Rancher Carl Cosack, Brent Preston of the New Farm, Bernard Pope of the Ontario Farmland Preservation Organization, Danny Beaton and Mark Calzavara of the Council of Canadians. Hobo Wally will also be performing.

This rally will occur simultaneously with one held by Ontario Farmland Preservation—details {here}.

 

FOODSTOCK 2011 - Save The Land That Feeds Us Event!

On October 16th, Michael Stadtländer and The Canadian Chef’s Congress, will be presenting Foodstock; an outdoor, pay what you can public celebration of Ontario’s bounty in solidarity with the movement to Stop the Mega Quarry. Get your tickets Here.

It will be a day for the history books, a once in a lifetime gathering in support of Ontario farmland featuring food, music, art, and speakers. Over seventy of Canada’s best chefs and local farmers will share the local bounty with thousands of Ontarians to help save the land that feeds us all.

Foodstock will be a day-long event that will take place on 4 of farms that refused to sell to the quarry. While it will be a celebration of local food in Ontario we also hope that it will serve as a display of public interest as it relates to the security of our local food, water and wider environmental resources.

Blog post is meant as a call to arms to both individuals and businesses to get involved and help provide the funding and leadership required to amend current government policy and to refocus our societies values on the things that we can, and should protect.

 

 

Michael Stadtländer Letter to Ontario

If you have ever seen the film Avatar, James Cameron’s story about the futuristic destruction of an alien planet’s environment by humans hungry for natural resources, you’ll be surprised to learn that such an exploitation has been proposed right in my backyard!

Highland Companies, funded by US hedge-fund Baupost Group, has purchased approximately 8,000 acres of prime farmland on either side of highway 124. They intend to dig a 2,300 acre limestone quarry, the 2nd largest in North America, that will extend 200 feet below the water table.

The proposed mega quarry threatens not only the watersheds of many rivers and the water supply to over one million Canadians, but also viable, high yield farmland in close proximity to Canada’s most dense population.

On October 16th, the Canadian Chefs' Congress, of which I’m the President, will present Foodstock, a once in a lifetime event where thousands of Canadian citizens will gather on 4 farms that did not sell to Highland Companies to celebrate local food and fresh water, and to voice their objections to this proposal.

I have invited over 70 Canadian chefs (from Nunavut to Nova Scotia to BC) to cook with ingredients from local farms, so that all who attend may taste the bounty of the land threatened by the proposed mega quarry. The day will also include a rich variety of programming with music, art and speakers.

We are constantly faced with environmental challenges and it is our responsibility, as ambassadors of the future, to work to protect our shared resources. We cannot afford to lose this farmland or allow the destruction of our fragile watersheds.

You are receiving this package because I feel we share the same ideals and values. I hope you will consider supporting this event either through financial donation or participation.

 

 

Download Foodstock Poster with Map

Download Foodstock Sponsorship Package

Download Foodstock Poster with Map Letter Size 8X11

Map of the Event

Booster Juice Comes To Orangeville's West End Neighbourhood

Orangeville Real Estate Video Blog #10 - August 23, 2010

David Waters video blogs about a new business just opened up on the west side of Orangeville called Booster Juice and how nice it is to have some healthy choices available in the west end. If you want to voice your opinion or if you don't care for David's comments please email your feedback to [email protected] and visit www.watersadvantage.com for all the David Waters Real Estate Video Blogs.