Via webinar 12:00 pm EDT

 Welcome: President, Daniel BriseboisIntroduction of 2011 Board of Directors: Daniel

BriseboisActivities Review: National Director Laura Telford and

Anne Macey from COG Island Natural GrowersFinancial Report: Treasurer, Sheila Hamilton and

Dennis Medaglia, Partner, Collins Barrow Ottawa, LLPPresident’s Report: Dan BriseboisGeneral discussion and questions from members

Acclaimed 2011› Tony Marshall, AB› Rochelle Eisen, BC

Returning Board Members› Sheila Hamilton, AB› Lorraine Beaudette, SK› Geneviève

Grossenbacher, QC› Daniel Brisebois, QC› Gavin Dandy, ON

Regional Representatives› Arnold Taylor, Prairie› Roxanne Beavers,

Atlantic› Vlad Skotor, ON

Policy Outreach to Farmers Markets Intelligence Markets Development Outreach to gardeners &

consumers Advocacy

Organic Standards Maintenance & Funding

Standards Interpretation Committee (Sic) Aquaculture Food Safety

› AAFC Organic Study › Agri-subcommittee Food Safety

Stakeholder Reference Group next round of Agricultural Policy

Organic Value Chain Roundtable

Promotional Opportunities Project commissioned by the OVCRT

National Plan to Increase the Participation of Organic Farmers in Food Safety Programming

Taking Back the Middle (COG PWW) Regain Control of Your Food Choices:

Build Your Local Organic Food Strategy (COG PWW)

Hosted Farm Conferences:› COG Ottawa Eco Farm Day, Cornwall, ON› Conference Committee Guelph Organic Conference,

Guelph, ON› Farmer Cooperative Symposium, Kemptville, ON

Booths at:› Western Canadian Crop Production Show, Saskatoon, SK› Eco Farm, Asilomar, CA› Toronto International Farm Show, Missassauga, ON› MOSES Organic Farming Conference, LaCrosse, WI› Guelph Organic Conference, Guelph, ON› Organic Connections, Saskatoon, SK

Webinars› Crop Planning x 2 episodes› Record Keeping x 2 episodes› Transition to Organic Livestock Production› Transitioning the Small Produce Farm

Prairie Region› Manitoba Farm Mentorship Program (COG

OFCM) 6 interns in 2009 and 2010, 20

participating “mentor farms”, 32 training events since 2009, 5 farm tours in 2010, networking and social opportunities for participants

› Completed 3-year farmer training project funded by the CWB (COG NAT)

27 workshops over 3 years in Prairies reaching close to 400 farmers

Alberta Agriculture & Rural Development

Saskatchewan Agriculture

Ontario Region› Workshops and farm tours in south western

and eastern Ontario (COG PWW and COG OTT)› Piloted transition advisor program in south-

western Ontario (COG PWW)› Developed farmer support groups to transfer

information. Two legal cooperatives have resulted from some of these farmer clusters

› New book in the COG Practical Skills Series published: Record Keeping for Organic Growers

› Two new books in the Practical Skills Series in production: Scaling Up Organically Organic Livestock Handbook Revision

COG OFCM dozens of presentations to Winnipeg child care centres. 21 have signed up for organic food

COG ING has built its GUO project into a food distribution service that delivers organic food to an elder care facility and to schools. ING is now creating the necessary infrastructure to build food self-sufficiency on Salt Spring Island

COG OTT – worked with retailers to increase locally grown organic food on the shelves

COG NAT has been working with entrepreneurs in eastern ON to map the food value chain and raise funds needed to build ‘Organic Central’- a cluster of organic processing and distribution businesses

COG Organic Directory/Chapter Directories

COG Toronto Annual Conference COG Toronto Booth @ Consumer Shows COG Ottawa Feast of Fields COG PWW Stone Soup event

Thanks to Anne Macey of COG Island Natural Growers, COG has been collecting statistical information about Canada’s organic farming and processing sectors for over 20 years

PUBPATENT lawsuit against Monsanto The Last Straw Campaign against GMO

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