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Joel Harden

  • MPP
  • Member of Provincial Parliament
  • Ottawa Centre
  • New Democratic Party of Ontario
  • Ontario
  • 109 Catherine St. Ottawa, ON K2P 0P4 JHarden-CO@ndp.on.ca
  • tel: 613-722-6414
  • fax: 613-722-6703
  • JHarden-QP@ndp.on.ca

  • Government Page
  • Apr/10/24 4:10:00 p.m.

I just want to salute the member for Guelph for playing that positive role for the economy—making sure that food goes to a good place.

But in all seriousness, let me point to his part of the province as one of the leads, actually, because—again, information made available to me from Foodsharing Ottawa—the region of Guelph-Wellington committed to a circular economy, with a $10-million federal investment. They committed to what they called a 50-50-50 goal—50% increase in food security; 50% new, circular, collaborative businesses; and by recognizing 50% of the value of waste. That’s fantastic. I remember, when I used to be a professor in his city and I would go to the University of Guelph, I was surprised, often, to learn that they had wet and dry waste. That was done on purpose to make sure that they could actually utilize the organic waste, so they could grow their own greenhouses and use fertilizer on campus. So kudos to the member for the leadership there.

Sometimes it can be a mental leap for people. If you’ve learned your whole life to dispose of food waste in a particular way, it’s hard to grasp how you would have a worm composting facility in your own home, for example. Thanks to innovators, we have those options.

I would welcome more information from the member about what she’s talking about.

240 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
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