This is my last column as chair of the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association (OFVGA) as I’ll be stepping down from that position - and as director representing the Grape Growers of Ontario - this month. I first joined the OFVGA board as a director for a short tenure in the mid-1990s. In 2015, I returned, became vice-chair two years later, and in February 2019, was elected chair of this organization. 

My first year as chair was fairly calm and just as I was starting to feel settled into my new role, COVID-19 hit and turned everything upside down. Since March 2020, the pandemic has continued to dominate everything we do as an organization and it looks like it will be with us for a while longer yet. 

Even before the pandemic, though, labour was the dominant issue in our portfolio. When I was vice chair, we dealt with the sudden increase to minimum wage and spent a lot of time helping government to understand why a sector like ours, that competes in a global marketplace, needs stability and predictability to plan for increases. 

But COVID-19 and all of its associated issues has been by far the most challenging thing I’ve ever worked on in my almost 30 years in farm politics.

It started with those scary early weeks when the closed international border made it uncertain whether our workers could get here for the season, but together with partner organizations such as the  Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Canadian Horticultural Council, Ontario Federation of Agriculture, F.A.R.M.S/CanAg Travel and others, we were able to arrive at a solution.

Throughout the rest of 2020 and into winter 2021, we worked closely with government and other partners to put policies in place to keep workers and growers safe, and once vaccines became available, it was all hands on deck to get people vaccinated and protected. 

I’ve never seen that level of collaboration before, bringing farm and commodity organizations, government and other stakeholders to the same table.  I hope this will continue. Former Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Ernie Hardeman was very supportive; we had weekly scheduled calls once COVID hit and I always found him very approachable and very helpful. 

It’s hard to know what Omicron will bring as we head into 2022, but I’m really proud of how our sector responded to this crisis and how everyone has stepped up under difficult circumstances to keep fruit and vegetable production going and workers as safe as possible.  

There’s no doubt the pandemic has brought a lot of added stress and extra costs, but as an organization working for growers, I’m also proud that we were able to achieve government public health and safety policy that, by and large, was workable for our sector. 

A lot of the credit for making that happen goes to the team at OFVGA with whom I’ve had the privilege of working during my time as chair. Executive director Alison Robertson guides a very strong complement of staff, and the policy team in particular does an incredible amount of work behind the scenes to prepare us for the many meetings we attend. 

I will definitely miss the daily interaction with the staff and fellow directors, and the excitement that comes from being deeply involved in the issues and working to solve problems. One thing I won’t miss, though, are Zoom calls. The pandemic made them a necessity, but one of the things I’ve always enjoyed is the face-to-face interactions with people. That includes going to meetings at Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill, and it would have been nice to do more of that. 

I appreciate the opportunity I’ve had to serve this industry, and I encourage younger growers with an interest in our sector to consider getting involved. Between farm and family, it can be tough to find the time, but it can be as low key as joining a committee or becoming a director to get a feel for what it is like. The world is changing rapidly and our industry needs your perspectives and your passion.

So what’s next? When I ended my time as chair of Grape Growers of Ontario in 2016, I bought a convertible and now that I’m stepping away from the OFVGA board, I’m hoping to finally have time to use it as well as do more travelling.