A study that compared 10 national and international sustainability programs to two that are available in Ontario has been completed.
It's called Farm, Food & Beyond: Our Commitment to Sustainability.
The GAP analysis was put together by Deloitte and launched in 2015 through a collaboration of Ontario's farmers and food and beverage processors.
It looked at Ontario's Environmental Farm Plan, the EFP, and Growing Your Farm Profits, GYFP.
The two Ontario programs were found to have met or exceeded other sustainability programs in most areas.
Dr. Gord Surgeoner, chair of the steering committee, said that he was encouraged by the findings.
“We are very pleased with the results of this GAP analysis. We knew the Ontario programs would do well but they did very well when compared to international equivalents," says Surgeoner. "The steering committee will now use these findings to design a program that provides solutions to the gaps identified through the research.”
The next step in the project will be to hire a project manager using recently secured GF2 funding.
The manager will be tasked to begin discussions with all levels of the supply chain from producers to processors and up through retailers, food service, NGOs and consumer groups, to obtain support and commitment for the program.
A draft framework will then be designed based on the feedback received.
The report entitled Our Commitment to Sustainability is available at www.sustainablefarms.ca.
