Ontario Agri-Food Education, Inc. (OAFE) gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of the Ontario Cattlemen's Association. OAFE is a not for profit, registered charity dedicated to increasing awareness of the agriculture and food industry in Ontario through the provision of educational programs and resources.

Throughout 2004, Ontario Agri-Food Education Inc. made improvements to several initiatives designed to improve operational efficiencies, elevate our profile, and enhance our
"ag-in-the-classroom" activities. With solid support and clear direction from the Board of Directors, OAFE has gained strength in the following areas:

Funding
Membership support for OAFE grew by 20%, from $73,000 in 2003 to $87,500 in 2004. The total number of members stands at 169 with 14 new members, nine of which are corporate members. During 2004, we also received funding support from TD Canada Trust, Agriculture Services for the Kemptville General Store ($2500.), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce for the Milton General Store event ($2500.), and RBC Dominion Securities supported our Annual General Meeting with a donation ($1500.).

Resources
Maintaining an inventory of interesting, factual, balanced and curriculum linked resources for teachers is critical to our success. Launching new resources and revising existing documents is necessary to maintain and create interest in the agri-food messages that need to be delivered in the classroom. Six new resources were launched in 2004, including Food Safety Activity Booklet (K-Gr.3), Pizza Perfect (Gr.3-4), Soyfoods For You! (Gr.4-6), Food Production and Soil Management (Gr.7), Managing the Supply (Gr.11-12) and on-line lessons for secondary teachers based on the newly released Statistics Canada Book, Canadian Agriculture At A Glance. In addition, OAFE is now distributing the curriculum-based resources of Ontario Egg Producers' in an effort to increase awareness of another sector of the agri-food industry.

Marketing
Making more people aware of OAFE and our mission is an ongoing challenge, whether we're addressing the agri-food or educational sectors. Strong efforts were made in 2004 to strengthen our visibility:

• The OAFE website, www.oafe.org , was enhanced in the spring to include a secure electronic ordering process, a new section for teachers to download resources and information, a "Special Interest" section on the home page that links directly to activities, events, and resources.

• For the second year in a row, the General Store professional development program was held in Kemptville for educators in Eastern Ontario. The 7th Annual General Store event was held again at Country Heritage Park in Milton, attracting 90 teachers from the area. Each event included workshop presentations by OAFE Educational Consultants, and an exhibitor resource fair attended and supported by Ontario commodity organizations and agri-businesses.

• We have produced some novel, inexpensive promotional items that will be used to promote our name and website, such as bookmark/rulers, pens, and "seeded paper" business cards. We are also distributing the Ag Canada brochure Where's Agriculture? with our logo and name included on the back cover.

• A new initiative this year was a partnership between OFAC, AGCare and OAFE promoting the three organizations in a display at the CNE and the Western Fair.

• OAFE has attended several conventions, annual meetings, conferences and exhibitions including The National Agricultural Awareness Conference, Rural Expo, and subject association conferences (Science, Geography, Language, Health, Family Studies).

• OAFE Educational Consultants presented workshops and displays to pre-service teachers at 8 of the 11 Faculties of Education in Ontario.

• An ad in Professionally Speaking, the magazine of the Ontario College of Teachers, reaching a membership of 180,000 teachers, promoted our resources and workshops.

• Articles featuring OAFE's programs, services and membership have been published in The Growmark Spirit magazine, Ontario White Bean Producers' The Emerging Bean magazine, Halton Compass, Halton Federation of Agriculture Newsletter, OAAS Gazette, and the Ontario Farmer, increasing visibility of the organization throughout the year.

• The "Award of Excellence in Agriculture and Food Education" program was reinstated, to recognize agricultural education initiatives at local fairs who are members of the Ontario Association of Agricultural Societies. The winner for 2004 was the Moore Agricultural Society - Home of the Brigden Fair, with the trophy presented at the O.A.A.S. annual convention held in February.

Communications
The best made plans, and the greatest resources, are worth very little if no one knows about them. For OAFE, our strength will grow from improved communications with our members/supporters, and with our customers. For our members, we produce and distribute OAFE Today to keep you informed of past events and future plans. Major corporate members were personally contacted at renewal time to seek their input and ensure their support. A "Partner Reception and Dialogue" event was held in January for our major corporate members to openly discuss issues and provide information on new initiatives. For our customers, the teachers, we prepare three issues of Update, and distribute 15,000 to teachers and schools in Ontario. Over the course of the year, OAFE staff has been working with the Boards of Education to increase and improve communications by providing electronic copies to teachers in Ontario, thus reducing the cost of print material.

There are many exciting, new initiatives currently in the works and OAFE continues to create an environment and structure that will facilitate growth of the organization. The OAFE team has grown over the last year and now consists of 3 full time and 2 part time employees plus 5 educational consultants.

OAFE is also mindful of the need for a strong volunteer network to help us reach our goals. We have taken steps to rejuvenate a core of OAFE volunteers through renewed contact with former volunteers, advocates and other volunteer based organizations. We have assigned a portion of time from a new staff position to membership growth and the development of a stronger volunteer team.
The creation of an Operational Plan, and the dialogue from an improved performance management system has brought cohesive strength to OAFE. We continue to grow stronger from the collective efforts of all stakeholders, giving OAFE momentum, commitment and stability. We look forward to the future!