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
