Formerly known as Growing Eastern Ontario Organically
Growing Eastern Ontario Organically (GEOO), was a three-year Ontario Trillium Foundation supported initiative to help farmers transition to organic production. Over the course of the program, GEOO directly supported 57 farms representing over 10,000+ acres with mentorship, financial incentives, and on-site experiential learning. Additionally, GEOO’s programming activities reached a combined total of 1,500 farmers over the three years. The GEOO program is a proven successful model which can be replicated and scaled in your community.
While the GEOO pilot has ended, COG is working on its successor: Transitioning Farmers to Regenerative, Organic (TFRO).
TFRO aims to deliver on the GEOO success to provide measurable, ecologically-based training and support as well as positive economic outcomes. TFRO is ideal for Farm businesses and agri-food start-ups who are committed to building soil health, adopting ecological/regenerative agriculture practices and reducing input costs and negative impacts. TFRO practices will also help farm land become more resilient to the ravages of our changing climate (floods, droughts) and enhance local biodiversity. By design, TFRO also enhances social engagement in agricultural and business communities to enrich local networks and support the well-being of participants.
TFRO Aims to Deliver
GEOO Results (2019 – 2022)
GEOO’s project goal was to help growers in their transition to organic and to create a network to support program participants as they grow into their organic production. GEOO created a set of resources on essential topics of concern like business, agronomics and certification. COG gathered important qualitative and quantitative data about the challenges and barriers growers in Eastern Ontario are facing in their efforts to adopt more ecologically-based practices. GEOO’s successor – Transitioning Farmers to Regenerative, Organic – will build on these lessons learned and be scalable to communities across Canada.