Generation Organic gained strength at the Guelph Organic Conference at the end of January when nearly 2000 people celebrated the 30th anniversary of the original green movement.
First there were the encouraging words from Hon. Carol Mitchell, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for Ontario. She was followed by the keynote trio of Murray, Tom and Yannick Manley, who looked back over thirty years of the organic movement, and forward to the next generation. Then there were the 150-plus informative displays, from heirloom seeds and organic soaps to magazines and new farmer training, along with dozens of food samples from cheesecake to chocolate.
Surprised by the number of young people at the conference, first-time visitor Handel Callender (right, at Plan B Farm) is inspired to be part of the positive change.
“I was surprised and enlightened to see so many young people that shared my interest in good food,” says Handel Callender, a visitor from Barbados that has been volunteering at Plan B Organic Farm for the past ten months. He attended three filled-to-capacity workshops and spent much of the weekend checking out the organic expo. “It was refreshing to see so many people from farms, from the ‘burbs, and cities, working together with a shared interest.”
He was not the only newcomer in this sea of plaid-shirted optimists. After talking to food vendors who have come to know the familiar faces at the conference, Tomas Nimmo says, “There were a lot of first-time guests this year, likely due to the extensive local advertising.” The final tally is not in yet, but the conference manager concludes, “We met or exceeded our 2010 numbers, especially on Sunday where the steady flow-through crowd was better than last year.”
The four-day schedule of workshops covering topics like organic sheep, biodynamic bees, worm composting and edible weeds kept many others engaged in classrooms and lecture theatres too. Chance encounters between old friends slowed the pace for many conference-goers, while politically-charged members tending tables for Canadian Organic Growers, National Farmers Union and Ecological Farmers of Ontario gauged passers-by in animated discussions on hot-button issues.
“The trade show worked to create a critical mass that can start to reshape food policy,” Callender points out. “It is empowering to see I’m not alone in wanting positive change, and in wanting to move away from food being driven by corporations,” confides the novice farmer. “The farm and the conference make me want to take more direct control of that change.”
Callender, along with most everyone else that attended, eventually found his way to the urns of free, fair trade organic coffee, cider and tea. Hard-earned refreshment in hand, he took stock of his progress, compared notes with strangers, and wandered on his way to more enlightenment, another rendezvous, and a commitment to be part of the next generation of organic advocates.
