Join us Thursday May 23 at the Local Community Food Centre in Stratford, ON, from 5:45pm–9:00pm for an informative conversation about Community Land Trusts and screening of two short films about Canadian farms – local, Lucky Bug Farm in Baden, ON and Ferme Coopérative Tourne-Sol in Les Cèdres, QC – who are both featured in Depth of Field: Films About Farming. The films speak to the challenges farmers face securing sustainably affordable land and housing as well as how cooperative models can help.

Expert panelists will paint a picture of how Community Land Trusts and cooperative ownership can address our local affordability concerns, such as affordable housing and affordable farmland. You will learn what concrete steps you can take, right now, to help realize this vision of community owned and controlled affordable housing and agriculture in Stratford, Perth and other rural communities/centres in the region. You will also have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A with our panelists.

Panelists include :

• Dominique Russell from the Canadian Network of Community Land Trusts (communityland.ca)
• Susanna Redekop, from Freedom Dreams Cooperative Education (freedomdreamscoop.com),
• Jon Gagnon from Sundance Commons (sundancecommons.com)
• Boris Emanuel, Executive Director of Love Your Neighbour Communities (lyncommunities.com) – and the Mill Block Community hub,
• Samantha Eby and Michael Piper from University of Toronto’s ReHousing Project (ReHousing.ca),
• Scott Stager Piatowski from the Community Housing Transformation Centre (https://centre.support/)
• Akanee Yamaki and the FairBnB team (FairBnB.ca)

Plus, a brief presentation prepared by Martin Straathof of the Ontario Farmland Trust (OTF) will be presented on his behalf.

The Stratford Affordable Housing Alliance Is advocating for Proportionately Mixed Income (PMI) Affordable Housing in Stratford and Perth County.

Sign the petition: https://perthcountysustainability.ca/allies/saha/#PETITION

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➡️ RSVP TODAY AND PREPARE TO BE INSPIRED!

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Accessibility: For support, please contact us in advance of your visit at affordableStratford@gmail.com or (519) 508-3663.

Presented by National Farmers Union-Ontario, Local 341, Local 335 and Local 340.

In partnership with National Farmers Union, March Forth Creative and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Funding for this project has been provided by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through the AgriCommunication Program.

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Depth of Field: Films About Farming

Depth of Field is a series of 40 short documentaries produced and presented by the National Farmers Union and March Forth Creative. The films showcase Canadian farmers and farm workers, and their sustainable farming practices on and off the land. Rotational grazing, seed saving, building healthy soils, and working for social justice– different farmers highlight their own priorities and, together, these films tell the story of farming practices that would create the food system we all want.

National Farmers Union

The National Farmers Union is a farmer-led, democratically-directed farm organization representing Canadian farmers and farm workers, and advocating on issues of importance to us.

March Forth Creative

March Forth Creative is a renowned producer of award-winning documentaries that explore meaningful and timely topics. Their films have been screened across Canada through multiple municipalities and non-profit organizations, and internationally through distribution companies.