Agri-Food Sector Development

As the regional agri-food network and food policy council, the EOAN invests efforts and resources to lead and develop the many parts of the agri-food sector, including collaborations with other partners.

Besides the multiple marketing and capacity building programs, the EOAN collaborates with other community organizations to achieve shared goals.

The EOAN sponsored these community programs and organizations:

• 
  The Apples and Art Tour in Cornwall and SDG in 2021.
• Seedy Saturday by Transition Cornwall in 2021.
• Eco Farm Day by Canadian Organic Growers in 2021.
• The annual conference of the Union des cultivateurs franco-ontariens in 2021.
• The Broue and Chew Road Trip in Prescott-Russell in 2019. And the EOAN continues to promote the route at every opportunity.
• Support to local farmers markets such as special newsletter issue in Sept 2021, the paid advertising campaign during the 2021 fall season or the spring vendor recruitment season.
• A gift bag of samples of local food products from our members, given to delegates of the Ontario East Municipal Conference during an in-person gathering in Cornwall in October 2021

The EOAN sponsored these independent on-farm local food festivals in 2021:

• The Happy Hour events at Les Fruits du Poirier in St-Eugène.
• The local food festival at Fiat Farm in Russell.
• The Field and Feast gala at Springfield Farm in Apple Hill.
• The Agri-Tour program ran from 1995 to 2011 by the UCFO and the EOAN and was a great event to attract consumers to local food farms and businesses.
• The EOAN supported the 2019 Field to Fork food festival in Prescott-Russell.

The EOAN undertook a new and bold step in sector development through partnerships. In response to a request from a community partner in 2021, the EOAN become a co-producer of the< Cornwall Waterfront Farmers' Market along with Kozroots Community Empowerment Projects.

In the field of regional agri-tourism:

• The EOAN provides local representation from Eastern Ontario in the Canamex agri-tourism circuit covering eastern Ontario, western and southern Québec, Northern New York and Northern Vermont.
• The EOAN is joining the next world congress on agritourism in Burlington Vermont on Aug 30 to Sep 1 2022, and will host pre and post conference tours of delegates through Eastern Ontario.
• The EOAN took the lead with support from the municipal tourism offices on the region to produce "Sample the East", which is a series of curated one- and two-day trips for visitors to discover agritourism assets in eastern Ontario.