Greenhouse vegetable growers take up the call

Leamington, ON – Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG) have heard the call to action. Our farmers – along with everyone in Ontario – are in an emergency situation and our collective path out of this crisis requires an all-hands on deck approach to respond to the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Ontario’s greenhouse vegetable growers have and will continue to do whatever is necessary to protect our employees’ health and well-being while producing safe, local and healthy produce . 

We will continue to be a partner with all levels of government including collaboration with our public health unit, and other key community stakeholders, to ensure businesses have the resources they need to keep their employees safe, address vaccine hesitancy, and contribute to infection prevention and control efforts.

Ontario’s greenhouse farmers will never compromise on our focus on the health of our employees and communities, while we ensure a safe and secure food supply chain. To do this, we call on the provincial government for:

• Vaccinations for essential workers. We must ensure that individuals working in high-risk but critical businesses along the food supply chain are prioritized for vaccination including farms, manufacturing facilities, warehousing, grocery stores and pharmacies, the trades, and more.
• A nimble and adaptable vaccination rollout. The response to the vaccination rollout must be modified to ensure priority groups match with the current circumstances including mobile vaccination units on-farm and in the workplace.
• Continued government supports for businesses and employees impacted by necessary public health decisions.  We will work with government officials to guarantee protections and supports are in place to ensure the health, safety and well-being of workers, businesses and our communities.
• Clear, accountable, evidence-based decisions that reflects the evolution of the pandemic. Businesses need to understand the rules, how they will be enforced and why rules are implemented.

“We take the call to action seriously”, said Joe Sbrocchi, General Manager of OGVG. “We understand that prioritizing public health is our best immediate-term economic strategy. We cannot pave a path to recovery without first controlling the virus”.

While we ensure everything is done to prevent and control the spread of the virus, we also recognize that there are long-term societal, economic, and health consequences that cannot be ignored”, said George Gilvesy, Chair of OGVG. “We urge and support immediate actions to help businesses and their employees – including the Ontario’s greenhouse sector – to manage the current crisis and prepare for recovery of our economy and our food system.”