Foodstock to fight quarry plans

By JIM ALGIE
Posted 3 hours ago

Who knew feeding people would get so political? World famous Grey County chef Michael Stadtlander for one and, just lately, a bunch of Stadtlander's farming neighbours just over the border in Dufferin County. They expect 100 of Canada's best chefs with meals for 20,000 at Foodstock, near the Dufferin County crossroads of Reddickville, between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., Oct. 16. It's an outdoor concert and fundraising feast to help fight plans for a massive limestone quarry in Melancthon Township. Chef Stadtlander and market gardener Bill French met with reporters recently to discuss their postThanksgiving, pay-what-you- can event over lunch cooked on a wood fire at the Foodstock site in a maple bush just west of Dufferin Rd. 124. Farmers are donating food. Prominent musicians -- Jim Cuddy, Sarah Harmer, Cuff the Duke and others -- are donating performances. Participating eaters are asked to bring cups, plates and utensils. The chefs -- Jamie Kennedy, Canoe's Anthony Walsh and Scaramouche partowner Keith Froggett, among them -- have donated time and skill. Canadian Chef's Congress, where Stadtlander is currently president, has provided administrative support. In addition to building a war chest for pending legal battles, the event is also designed to spread the word. A U.S. investment fund has financed acquisition of about 7,000 acres of prime potato-growing land between Shelburne and Collingwood for future limestone quarrying. Bill and Diane French and their son, Brian, operate a successful market garden on 160 acres across the road. The Frenches have made agriculture work by specializing in the commercial production of three crops: rhubarb, sweet peas and Brussels sprouts. But Bill moved to his patch of class one Honeywood silt loam in 1988 after development forced him from another farm near Brampton. He's not about to move again. French's grandfather once farmed land in Toronto near Islington Ave. and the Queensway before urban expansion forced them out. "We've moved three times in five generations and it doesn't make sense to do it

again," he said, taking a break from the sprout packing line. Before the last move, French made a careful three-year search. "There is not any other farm as decent as this farm," he said. "You can't let land like this go and not save it for the next generation." Since Highland Farms began business about five years ago, French and three farming neighbours have found themselves at the heart of a growing movement against company plans for a massive quarry. Stadtlander, who has operated since 1993 from his Eigensinn Farm, home restaurant also runs Haisai in Singhampton, a few kilometres north of the disputed land. During much of his celebrated career, he has used cooking prowess in support of environmental politics. Foodstock may be his largest cook-in to date. As Stadtlander explains it, chefs must "stand on guard with farmers and gardeners and fishermen when they are threatened." Highland operates with financing from the Boston-based Baupost Group. A detailed, corporate website describes Highland's acquisition of area potato farms as a continuing business run with former owners as employees and annual production of about 100 million pounds of potatoes. The company also identifies high quality limestone bedrock and aggregate reserves of about a billion tonnes. The neighbours fear typical nuisance factors: heavy traffic, noise and dust. But they're most concerned about permanent damage to underground water resources. Topsoil and about six metres of sand and rock cover a solid formation of saturated limestone. Mining the stone means removing water. French, for one, fears that will disrupt groundwater resources throughout the region, affecting downstream population centres served by major rivers with nearby sources. It could also disrupt what makes Honeywood silt so good for crops. "It's silt with a bit of clay texture and a bit of sand so it drains extremely well," French said. "We can tolerate probably 10 weeks of drought because we've got the limestone underneath us and it acts like a wick and feeds the water up. "If they exhaust the water along with the stone and it dries up the farms so we can't grow anything, that's a huge effect on us," he said. "I think water will prevail . . . and they'll be forced to stay in farming or do something else," French said of his corporate neighbour.