The North Dufferin Agricultural Task Force is rolling out its next phase of advocacy following its successful, if precarious, defeat of the mega quarry proposal in Melancthon. On Wednesday, spokesperson Shirley Boxem brought NDACT’s new “Food and Water First” message to Mulmur Council, hoping that the municipality will lend its support to the new campaign once it gets fully underway.

“The main goal of Food and Water First is to ensure that farmers across Ontario are never again in the position of having to defend their precious land and water against inappropriate development,” said Boxem.

The new campaign, she said, would “augment and expand” the successful communications framework that NDACT built during the Stop the Mega Quarry fight.

A new website, foodandwaterfirst.com, will go live in mid-April, and businesses, organizations and municipal governments will be encouraged to put a “Food and Water First” button on their own websites, linking them to the new NDACT site. In doing so, they will also be asked to sign a pledge. In a municipality’s case, Boxem said this would let developers know in advance that “this is a community that has planning in place,” that weighs the benefits of all development versus its potential impact on prime farmland and source water.

Boxem said the campaign would also utilize social media, which played a key role in growing the movement during the quarry fight, and involve a “spring planting” of Food and Water First signs across the province in May.

Mayor Paul Mills followed Boxem’s presentation by asserting Mulmur’s continuing support for NDACT’s work, and said Council would debate the inclusion of the button on the Township’s website when the time came.