On July 15, Gabrielle Bastien participated in an energizing virtual town hall held by MP Alistair MacGregor. Alistair recently introduced Bill C-290 in parliament to develop a National Soil Health Strategy. The town hall featured two regenerative farmers, Aaron Grant from Morgan Creek Farm in Nanaimo, BC, and Brett Israel from 3Gen Organics Family Farm in Wallenstein, Ontario, and gave the opportunity for citizens to ask questions around regenerative agriculture and how to scale it up.
Among other things, they discussed what policies would help develop the movement, such as supporting local food systems, shorter distribution chains and the funding of peer-to-peer learning. There are many challenges and barriers to scaling up regenerative agriculture but the conversations and dedication of participants left Gabrielle feeling hopeful and inspired. Thank you to Alistair and his team for organizing and to all who joined the conversation!