June 21/11 12:57 pm - Meet Your Farmer Bike Tours in Atlantic Provinces!

Posted by Editoress on 06/21/11
 

The Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network (ACORN ) is pleased to receive a $10,000 prize from Stonyfield’s Profit for the Planet Community Challenge fund.

Each year, Stonyfield donates 10% of its profits to community green initiatives that aim to help restore and protect the planet. Out of the more than eighty applications from across the country, ACORN’s Meet Your Farmer Bike Tours topped the list as 2011’s winner of the largest financial gift offered by Profit for the Planet, proving the initiative to be worthy of much excitement.

ACORN , a non-profit organization that aims to promote organic agriculture and education in the Maritime Provinces, will use the $10,000 award to develop the first ever pedal-powered tours of organic farms in the Maritimes.

“We’re very excited about this project, especially as it benefits both the farming community and general public. The tours will be a fun way to get the whole family outside and to learn more about where food comes from and what organic really means,” says ACORN Executive Director, Beth McMahon.

Each of the three tours–one for each Maritime Province–will showcase a diversity of organic farms, including those with livestock, gardening and processing facilities. Participants will follow beautiful scenic routes in regions where clusters of organic farms are within a short distance of each other. The rural routes will remain accessible and safe for families with children, and the one-day duration will make it feasible for everyone to participate.

The Meet Your Farmer tours will also include delicious food samplings, guided tours, and lots of fresh air. Each of the tours will be video-documented for a short film to be presented at the upcoming 12th annual ACORN conference in Halifax this November.

“Overall, our goal is to build understanding and lasting relationships between consumers and their farmers, and to further support environmental stewardship and protection–why drive to a farm, when you can bike there?” said McMahon.

These agriculture-inspired bike tours will be the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada, and ACORN believes the idea could inspire similar type events across Canada in years to come.

Sunday, August 7 in Summerville, NS
Sunday, August 14 in Bouctouche, NB
TBA–PEI