A Vibrant Future: Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance Action Plan 2021-2026
Client: Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance
Expertise Applied:
Strategic thinking and planning
Stakeholder engagement
Qualitative research and analysis
Knowledge synthesis
Agriculture and agri-food sector economic development expertise
Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe region contains a thriving food and farming cluster. The Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance (the Alliance) brings together municipal and provincial staff, industry representatives, researchers, and conservation authorities to help support the development of food and farming in the Golden Horseshoe.
Our team at Wilton Consulting Group was pleased to work with the Alliance to develop a new Action Plan, spanning Alliance activities from 2021-2026. We helped the Alliance reflect on its successes to date and determine its focus areas for the future. The result is an Action Plan for the next 5 years that sets the following goals for the Alliance:
Ensuring that the Alliance is recognized as the leading organization for food and farming in the Golden Horseshoe.
Establishing the Golden Horseshoe as Canada’s leading innovative agriculture/agri-food cluster.
Enabling the agri-food cluster to support sustainability outcomes.
Our Multi-Faceted Approach
The food and farming sector is vast and includes a wide range of industry, government, and not-for-profit perspectives. As such, it was important that the Alliance’s 2021–2026 Action Plan be built on several sources of research and engagement. To this end, Wilton Consulting Group:
Held a day-long engagement session with the Alliance’s Working Group,
Conducted 38 interviews between Working Group members and key industry stakeholders,
Conducted an environmental scan of food and farming opportunities in the Golden Horseshoe,
Gathered insights on the local food and farming sectors’ interests through an online survey, and
Arranged a webinar with industry leaders to discuss ongoing sector trends and future opportunities.
Together, our team synthesized the findings from this research and engagement to help develop an action-oriented plan to guide the Alliance in its work over the next 5 years. The result is an Action plan that is targeted, and practical yet ambitious.
“We are thankful for the continued partnership of the regions and cities that comprise the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the members around the table that offer ground level experience, and the Wilton Group for developing a plan as robust as the Golden Horseshoe itself”
- Johanna Downey, Chair of the Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance and Councillor, Peel Region (Ward 2)