ABOUT · NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, ONTARIO
A community-led initiative, not an organization.
Northumberland Can Feed Northumberland is a group of people and organizations in Northumberland County, Ontario working together to understand the local food system, strengthen the connections across it, and explore practical ways to build a stronger regional food system.
What this is
A community-led collaborative initiative that builds on more than a decade of local conversation, documented in the reports on our Resources page. The work is organized around four Action Areas — see Action Areas for what each one is looking at.
What this is not
- An incorporated organization or registered charity
- A government body
- A membership organization — there are no members and no fees
- A funder
- A representative of every food-system participant in the county
- A completed strategic plan, or a predetermined infrastructure proposal
Led by a guiding question: how can Northumberland feed more of Northumberland?
Through a series of community gatherings and conversations, one idea has continued to bring people together: Northumberland Can Feed Northumberland.
At the January 2026 strategic action planning workshop, participants treated that idea not as a statement of certainty, but as a guiding question: what conditions would need to change for more of the food produced here to feed people here?
Our county has productive farmland, farmers and food producers, food businesses, community organizations, institutions, knowledge, infrastructure, and a long history of people working to strengthen the local food system.
We don't have the answers yet. The first step is understanding the food system we already have: what is working, what has been tried before, where connections already exist, and where there may be gaps or opportunities.
From there, the goal is to identify where working together could make a meaningful difference — and turn what we learn into practical action.
How this came about
This work was not designed centrally and rolled out. It emerged from a sequence of separate local efforts that gradually became more connected.
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2013 · SPRING
Northumberland Food Charter
A food charter was developed collaboratively and endorsed by all seven lower-tier municipalities and County Council — an early, formal statement of shared local intent.
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2013 · FALL
Food Policy Committee formed
County Council endorsed the formation of the Northumberland Food Policy Committee, which later became the Northumberland County Food Policy Council (NCFPC) in 2016.
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2020
Food and the Official Plan
A review of how the county's municipal Official Plans treat food production, commissioned jointly by Northumberland County, the Northumberland County Food Policy Council and the Northumberland Federation of Agriculture, and prepared by Heather Ross.
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APRIL 2024
Local Food Solutions Think Tank
Hosted by IncrEdible Trent Hills, gathering people from across the county to name barriers and opportunities in the local food system.
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NOVEMBER 2025
Community visioning
Community visioning sessions, led through the Northumberland County Food Policy Council, explored themes and aspirations for a local sustainable food system in Northumberland.
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JANUARY 2026
Strategic action planning
A facilitated workshop at which participants grouped local priorities into what became the initiative's four Action Areas. Northumberland Can Feed Northumberland emerged as the working name and unifying question for the growing initiative.
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JUNE 2026
Steering Committee and research begin
The Northumberland Can Feed Northumberland Steering Committee formed, and the Centre for Healthy Communities at Loyalist College began the current food-system research and community-engagement project.
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NOW
Coordination and mapping
The four Action Areas are coordinating their work, and the county-wide food-system mapping study is underway.
To be confirmed
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