Foodstock

For the past few weeks I have noticed posters in the Orangeville-Shelburne area advertising Foodstock. I must admit I had no idea what it was about and because it was my work weekend I pretty much ignored it completely.
On my way back home today from work I was surprised by the amount of traffic coming through Shelburne from the north. As I headed north the cars kept coming. Then I started passing parked cars on both sides of the highway for close to 2 miles. That's a lot of parked cars. There were traffic cops and people returning to their cars to head home. It was then I realized that Foodstock was all about food, and farms, and the people of the area trying to stop the mega-quarry from becoming a reality.
My understanding of the situation is that potato farms in the area were sold to the new owners who posed as farmers themselves. Apparently they may have been farmers but they were purchasing the land for an American hedge fund that wants to start a massive aggregate pit, one of the largest in Canada. After the aggregates (gravel and such) are removed they will have access to a huge lode of limestone. They will be digging down as deep as Niagara Falls is high and there are real fears about the ground water of the area being compromised. It's not surprising that the locals are against this pit and although I'm all for progress this just sounds like a bad idea any way you look at it.
Foodstock today was a way to have fun, enjoy some music (Jim Cuddy and others), free food from many well known chefs and restaurants (Tesoros was there), and simply have a great day in some beautiful countryside. If you wanted to give a donation to the cause then all the better. I'm sure most people gladly did. What a great way to educate people on the issue while having them enjoy a great day out at the same time. Today the people of Melancton township and surrounding areas spoke and and I have no doubt they were heard and will continue to be heard until their battle is won and the pit is recognised as a terrible idea that will never happen.