LAKEHEAD FARM
What's happening at Lakehead University in Orillia?
The Lakehead Orillia campus is located on an 85-acre site in west Orillia. Most of the campus is farmland, which Lakehead currently leases for corn and soy monoculture farming.
Monoculture farming is very environmentally unsustainable, as it is associated with high pesticide/fertilizer use, high water use, decrease in biodiversity, impact on pollinators, soil degradation and fertility loss.
The other issue is that the monoculture farm at Lakehead is produced for private commercial purposes, rather than food for the Lakehead students and wider Orillia community.
This farmland at Lakehead is the only farmland left in Orillia as the rest of it in West Ridge is slated for urban sprawl. It is crucial that it is protected and used in a sustainable manner.
A group of Lakehead students are working to establish a Recreation, Research and Education Farm (RREF). The RREF is proposing to permanently protect a minimum of 20 acres of the campus’s farmland, or less than a quarter of the campus’ 85 acre footprint.
Envision a community farm on Lakehead’s campus, where students, faculty, and community members can engage in growing and harvesting fresh organic fruit, vegetables, flowers, plants, seeds, and much more!
Other considerations:
-Lakehead has declared this the ‘Year of Climate Action’
-Lakehead takes a lot of pride in their sustainable building, but fails to acknowledge the environmental impact of their current farmland leasing agreement
-Lakehead students have repeatedly identified food security as a pressing need
-Lack of opportunities for Indigenous students and community members to engage in Land-based education
-As our population increases, spaces to grow are increasingly important for our community, especially those without suitable growth space
-Such an initiative could animate Lakehead’s Official Strategic, Academic, Research, and Sustainability Plans
-Food insecurity negatively affects the health and wellbeing of approximately 1 in 8 households in Simcoe County, disproportionately affecting children, Indigenous Peoples, low income and other marginalized communities
Back in October of 2021, a deputation to create the RREF was presented to the the Lakehead University Students’ Union (LUSU), and the motion passed unanimously! The next step for the RREF is for the motion to pass through the Board of Governors. LUSU has created a petition to show the board of governors the level of community support for the RREF. The petition is open to the entire community to sign (not just Lakehead students)
IN THE MEDIA
