Roots supports fight against proposed mega quarry in southwestern Ontario
In mid-October, some 28,000 people flocked to a large farm near the rural town of Honeywood, Ontario to participate in Foodstock. The outdoor, pay-what-you-can public food and music event was held to raise awareness and funds to fight against a proposed mega quarry in the region. If allowed to proceed, the quarry would destroy thousands of acres of fertile farmland and threaten four major watersheds that supply drinking water for residents of southern Ontario.
Drawing on the event’s slogan, “Save the land that feeds us,” close to 100 of Canada’s top chefs cooked dishes using locally-grown produce from Melancthon County, the area of the proposed quarry. The event took place in the fields of a local farm just over 100 km north of Toronto, appropriately on World Food Day. Foodstock also included performances by supportive Canadian musicians including Ron Sexsmith, Sarah Harmer, Jim Cuddy, Jeremy Taggart of Our Lady Peace, Cuff the Duke, Hayden and Tom Barlow.
Roots Co-Founder Don Green is a strong supporter of the movement. The company donated 1,000 custom-designed, organic cotton Foodstock T-shirts, which were sold from its booth at the event. The T-shirts were a hit with Foodstock-goers, who took to Twitter to express their appreciation of Roots’ support. Roots donated 100 percent of the proceeds to the fight against the proposed quarry. Prior to the event, the company worked with organizers of Stop the Mega Quarry to put Foodstock flyers in all its Ontario stores.
“It's very important to speak up when you feel something is not right,” says Don. “In this case, some of Ontario’s most beautiful land is going to be torn apart in order to dig a quarry deeper than Niagara Falls. The ground water will be greatly affected and this pristine water is used by over a million Ontarians. There will be thousands of heavy trucks jamming our already over-used roads. There will be blasting 24/7, which will endanger wildlife, create lots of dust and of course noise pollution for miles around. It makes me upset that a wealthy hedge fund can come to Canada and dupe our innocent farmers into selling their land by promising them they will keep the farming going. These are reasons I feel Roots should throw its weight behind the grassroots movement to stop the mega quarry.”
The Stop the Mega Quarry movement began after it was uncovered that Highland Companies, which is backed by a Boston hedge fund, had purchased more than 7,000 acres of rich farmland intending to turn it into a limestone quarry. After leading the community to believe it would continue to use the land for potato farming, the company proposed to blast a 2,316-acre pit to extract the stone, which would make it the largest quarry in Canadian history. Due to mounting public pressure, Ontario’s Environment Minister announced on Sept. 1 that a full environmental assessment would be required before the project could proceed. The assessment will likely delay a decision on the quarry proposal for several years.
• For more information about Stop the Mega Quarry, visit nomegaquarry.com; ndact.com or citizensalliance.ca.
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