Top chefs, local farmers and activists rally for Soupstock 2012

TORONTO – Canada’s top chefs are teaming up with local farmers and residents to protest a proposed mega-quarry north of Toronto.

Soupstock, the sequel to last year’s Foodstock, will be held on Sunday, Oct. 21 at Toronto’s Woodbine Park.

Over 150 of Canada’s best chefs will create their own Soupstock recipes that celebrate the Melancthon region’s rich agricultural history.

It’s this region, just 100 km north of Toronto, that a company wants to dig a mega-quarry critics say would have potentially devastating effects on the local community and environment.

MEGA-QUARRY

In 2006, John Lowndes purchased almost 3,250 hectares of land for Highland Companies, telling local farmers of his plan to start a large co-operative potato farm. Local residents eventually grew suspicious of Highland’s plan for the land.

In 2009, Highland Companies, which is backed by a $25-billion Boston hedge fund, Baupost Group, held a public meeting where it laid out the company’s proposal for digging a mega-quarry.

The proposed quarry site falls within the region known as Hills of Headwaters. It is currently home to some of Canada’s richest soil. The countryside attracts hundreds of tourists and cottagers every year.

The quarry would stretch over 930 hectares in Melancthon Township. The quarry would be deeper than Niagara Falls, plunging down more than 60 metres. Because the quarry would fall below the water table, 600 million litres of water would be pumped out of the quarry every day, and thousands of 40-tonne trucks would travel on local roads every day, 24 hours a day.

“This quarry plan is unprecedented in our county,” said Dr. Faisal Moola, Director General for Ontario and Northern Canada at the David Suzuki Foundation.

“These watersheds are literally ensuring the health of our communities,” said Moola, adding while there’s no one right way to value our ecosystems, a forest, a field. “But there is a wrong way, and that’s to not value it at all.”

In September 2011, after numerous protests and petitions, Ontario’s Minister of the Environment John Wilkinson ordered Highland Companies to undertake a comprehensive environmental assessment of the quarry proposal.

Thousands of letters of objection had been sent to Linda Jeffrey, the province’s Minister of Natural Resources, questioning the science of Highland’s initial application.

Currently, the province is awaiting notification from Highland Companies whether they will participate in the environmental assessment, or abandon the project.

SOUPSTOCK

The goal of Soupstock is to build on the success of 2011’s Foodstock, attended by 28,000 people on a potato farm across the road from the proposed quarry site.

This year, critics of the mega-quarry are bringing their fight to Toronto, where upwards of 40,000-50,000 people are expected to attend.

“It’s so important that we secure where our food comes from,” said Chef Michael Stadtländer, from Eigensinn Farm and the Canadian Chefs’ Congress.

Speaking in Toronto on Monday evening, Stadtländer highlighted the impact this region has on what ends up on Ontarians’ dinner table.

“This land produces 20 pounds of potatoes for every citizen in Toronto,” he said. “And it’s only 100 km away.”

“People drive by this farmland in their BMWs and think it’s just land,” said Stadtländer. “We need to connect people to their food.”

This year, a Niagara region vineyard produced 500 cases of “Stop the Mega-Quarry” wine to be sold in local restaurants.

“Two dollars from every sale will go toward the cause,” said Paul Harber, chef proprietor and brand manager of Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery.

Soupstock is free to attend and tickets will be available to purchase the food presented by participating chefs and restaurants.

Attendees are encouraged to bring their own bowls and utensils to cut down on waste.

Follow Heather on Twitter @heatherloney