Beef Farmers of Ontario wins Paul Mistele Memorial Award

Farm and Food Care Ontario’s Harvest Gala had a capacity crowd of farmers and agribusiness leaders from across the province to celebrate agricultural excellence in Guelph Nov. 18.

As part of the agenda, Feed Ontario, the province’s largest collective of hunger relief organizations, presented the 2022 Paul Mistele Memorial Award to Beef Farmers of Ontario. The award is named for the late farm leader who founded Ontario Pork’s Donate-A-Hog program in 1998. 

The award recognizes agricultural partners who have shown a significant and enduring commitment to ending hunger in Ontario. It was accepted by BFO president Jack Chaffe and executive director Richard Horne. In a press release, Feed Ontario said BFO was chosen for its steadfast and longstanding commitment to the Feed Ontario Beef Program. 

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Why it matters: The annual Harvest Gala, hosted by Farm and Food Care Ontario is an annual celebration of the growing season and of Ontario agriculture.

Despite increased costs, processing capacity backlogs, supply chain and market disruptions, Ontario beef farmers continue to ensure families facing hunger throughout the province had access to nutritious food.

“The Beef Farmers of Ontario provided 52,000 servings of beef to Feed Ontario member food banks across Ontario this year and an incredible 750,000 servings since the program began in 2014,” said Feed Ontario executive director Carolyn Stewart.

“As food banks continue to do their best to ensure there is sufficient, nutritious food to meet the growing need in our province, we could not do what we do with the support and generosity of our incredible partners like the Beef Farmers of Ontario.”

Chaffe said the organization was honoured to receive the award and BFO will “continue to be committed to our beef program to supply food banks with ground beef, and finding ways in which we can help address food security to support our communities and those in need across the province.”

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Agri-food Champion awards

In celebration of its 10th anniversary year, Farm and Food Care Ontario invited its top level members to nominate Agri-Food Champions who represented excellence in their industry and in building consumer connections on behalf of food and farming.

Those recognized included:

• Ashley Brown of Browndale Farm and Market in Paris. Brown was nominated by the Dairy Farmers of Ontario for her work promoting local food through social media and her family’s on-farm market.
• Gary West of Shakespeare was nominated by the Egg Farmers of Ontario. West started a program to end student hunger by providing peeled and packaged hard-cooked eggs to schools. He started with two schools in Perth County and expanded to more than 150 schools across Waterloo, Huron, Perth and Oxford counties, donating about 1,000 eggs per week.
• The Dibble family of Dibhurst Farms in Ingersoll was nominated by Beef Farmers of Ontario. Gordon and Melanie Dibble were honoured for their commitment to responsible and sustainable beef production and their efforts toward consumer and public engagement work.
• Amanda Dooney of Suncrest Orchards near Simcoe was nominated by the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association. Dooney was recognized for her willingness to host tours, participate in events highlighting the importance of seasonal agricultural workers to her industry and answer the tough questions about agriculture that come her way.
• Donna Rogers of Waterloo was nominated by Farm and Food Care Ontario (FFCO.) Rogers is recognized for her lifetime of dedication to the industry, both professionally and her volunteer work for FFCO and the Waterloo Rural Women organization.

With FFCO, she serves as a volunteer photographer, capturing thousands of images at events across the province.

Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Lisa Thompson and parliamentary assistant Trevor Jones, MPP for Chatham-Kent-Leamington, also attended the gala. Thompson praised FFCO for the work it does on behalf of Ontario’s agri-food industry.

“Whether it’s the farm tours for culinary students, the garden-in-a-box program, or sharing stories of international agri-food workers in Ontario, Farm and Food Care Ontario continues to be a champion at raising awareness and increasing public trust in our provincial food system,” said Thompson.

“This event was an opportunity for us to come together as the agriculture community in Ontario and celebrate some of the unsung heroes that make this industry exceptional,” FFCO chair Bonnie den Haan said in a release.

“Making agriculture accessible to Ontarians and providing both information and entertainment to those who eat the food we make is a shared goal of the agriculture sector and we are so proud to do that through FFCO.”