The Niagara Peninsula Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association (NPF&VGA) is recognizing the efforts of two organizations responsible for orchestrating the transportation of foreign migrant workers to the region’s greenhouses, orchards and vineyards during a year of challenges.
The Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Service (F.A.R.M.S.) and CanAg Travel Service will receive the Growers’ Award of Merit for 2020 for their advocacy and work to overcome a multitude of pandemic-related barriers.
Each year, the award goes to an individual or organization demonstrating dedication to the agricultural industry.
“F.A.R.M.S. and CanAg Travel Services have been working hard for the benefit of the Ontario agriculture sector for many years, but they really went above and beyond last year to find solutions to the many barriers presented by the pandemic and ensured that (the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program) would be able to continue,” a press release quoted Growers’ Association chair Curtis Wiley as saying.
Of the approximately 20,000 workers who come to Ontario each year through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, around 3,000 come to Niagara.
With an in-person ceremony unable to go ahead, the NPF&VGA will be donating $500 to the Salvation Army, the charity selected by the award winners, the press release said.