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 2005, OAFE grew stronger by building on the programs and initiatives that had proven successful in the past, but at the same time began to cultivate new ideas and fresh approaches to enhance our effectiveness during the year. With guidance and support from a strategic-minded Board of Directors, several accomplishments were made in 2005:

1) RESOURCES

Introducing new, useful and curriculum-linked resources for teachers is the foundation of our mission. OAFE creates classroom materials that reflect current agri-food issues and public interest, and link them to our provincial curriculum.

To date, five new resources have been launched covering various topics and grade levels, including Ontario Apples: Nature’s Fast Food (Grades K-6); Canola: Canada’s Oil (Grades 4-6); Greenhouse Vegetables (Grades 3-5); Eco-Detective (Grades 6-8); and All About Food: Agri-Food Facts (Grades 4-12). 20 The third edition of All About Food also includes a Teacher’s Guide of student activities and a Farm Visit Guide. In addition to the new resources, two of our more popular resources were updated and revised, Pump Up With Pumpkins and Bean Bonanza. In total, industry partners have contributed over $120,000 for educational resource development.

The Ontario Farm Animal Council, AGCare, OAFE and the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) partnered in the development of The Teacher’s Tool Kit, an informative publication about food and farming that includes industry information, curriculum connections, agricultural trivia and available resources. Over 1,000 copies of The Teacher’s Tool Kit were distributed at the Teacher Resource Centre in the Food, Farm and Fun building at the CNE in August.

OAFE staff also developed educational activity pages for the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. These activity pages were available on the Royals Web site for teachers to download and use as pre- or post-visit activities, or use independently of a visit to the Royal.

2) SPECIAL PROJECTS

OAFE was a partner in an exciting new project this year focusing on “Food: To Your Good Health” at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. OAFE had an integral role in the display component as well as the production of a printed information piece that was distributed throughout the tenday event and can continue to be used in conjunction with other educational materials.

3) FUNDING

OAFE gratefully acknowledges the continuing financial support and guidance of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Through a three-year Memorandum of Agreement, OMAFRA provides an annual grant of $400,000 in support of OAFE’s programs and services.

At the same time, industry support for activities and programs also grew. Membership revenues increased to $92,000 from $88,000 the previous year and donations supporting specific events and programs amounted to $12,110.

In an effort to generate additional funds to support a more intensive marketing program for teachers, OAFE partnered with the Ontario Wholesale Farm Equipment Association in a fundraising raffle. This initiative was launched in February of 2005 at the Toronto Farm Show and continued over an eight-month period with the winners being drawn on September 23. Feature articles promoting the OAFE raffle appeared in seven member association mailings or publications.

4) VOLUNTEERISM

The importance of volunteers, particularly in the agri-food and rural communities, is well-known by OAFE and many others. It is also known that many individuals volunteer for multiple organizations within their communities. Recognizing this, OAFE has been cultivating new and stronger relationships with several existing volunteer-based organizations, rather than developing and maintaining a separate volunteer base. Where local organizations have an interest in agriculture education and/or awareness, OAFE wants to help guide and support their volunteers in contacting educators within their communities.

We are committed to developing closer ties to county Federation of Agriculture groups, Ag-in-the-Classroom committees and agricultural societies. In February of 2005, OAFE presented the ‘2004 Award of Excellence in Agriculture and Food Education’ to the Rockton Agricultural Society – Rockton World’s Fair in recognition of their agri-food education initiatives at the 2004 fall fair.

5) MARKETING

It is important for OAFE to elevate its profile within both the agri-food and education sectors. Many efforts were made this past year to enhance our visibility:

• The OAFE Web site was improved to make it more viewer friendly. “Special Interest” buttons and links to important issues or events were added to the Home Page.
• Resources are now available online for free download, and catalogue orders have been adjusted to allow for coupon discounts.
• An OAFE General Store Professional Development Day was held at Milton in August and attracted 65 teachers from the area. A new farm tour component was added to the program and was very well received by those in attendance.
• OAFE has attended and/or displayed at approximately 30 conferences, events or association meetings throughout the year.
• OAFE placed advertisements in two issues of Professionally Speaking, the official publication of the Ontario College of Teachers, reaching over 180,000 certified teachers with each issue.
• Feature articles about OAFE programs and services appeared in 3 teacher publications throughout the year: Science Teachers Association of Ontario; Toronto District School Board; and the Ontario Federation of Teaching Parents.
• Over 10,000 copies of the OAFE Resource Catalogue have been distributed.
• OAFE Today, the member newsletter, increased publication from 4 times per year to six times (bi-monthly) and is now distributed electronically.
• OAFE Update newsletter for educators is published 3 times per year, 2 as informative two-page newsletters and the third as a mini-resource publication for use in the classroom. Update is distributed to all schools in Ontario through the Boards of Education. Eight boards now distribute the newsletter electronically to all teachers within their boards.

With the support of our stakeholders, the vision of the Board of Directors and a strong and capable staff, we continue to create an environment and structure that will facilitate growth of the organization. We look forward to an exciting and productive year in 2006.