On Thursday August 8, 2024, the Honourable MP Bardish Chagger– a seasoned visitor and friend of Our Farm– invited the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, to come out to our Our Farm location in Waterloo.

Our Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) staff member Cooper Fraser Moore led MP Bardish Chagger and Minister MacAulay through a short tour of our 115 University Ave Our Farm location. Cooper along with Our Farm farmer Laura Bredschneider, Our Farm Coordinator Jenny Weickert, our Director of Facilities & Project Management Brian Pitts and our CEO Ann Bilodeau, showcased all the incredible vegetables we have been harvesting including kale, carrots, potatoes, and more. We also had to let MP Bardish Chagger and Minister MacAulay try our freshly grown tomatoes during the tour and they loved it!

Overall, it was a great visit. Minister MacAulay was very nice and interested in Our Farm and how much fresh produce we are able to grow and provide for our community. Here, Cooper Fraser Moore also addressed the ongoing need for the Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) program to have longer paid times. With a total of 16 weeks of extra help from CSJ staff like Cooper, Our Farm can increase the threshold of fresh produce we can provide for the people we support and our community. Both MP Bardish Chagger and Minister Lawrence MacAulay were very attentive and listened to all of our concerns. 

We were honoured to have MP Bardish and Minister MacAulay join us on such a sunny morning and are excited for them to try the delicious homemade raspberry jam we gave them! 

Good things grow from Our Farm!