Inductees

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Carolynne Griffith has contributed a number of lasting legacies to the Ontario egg industry and to Ontario agriculture in general. She has been an important trail blazer for women’s involvement in the decision-making boards and committees that enable Ontario agriculture to function. This began in 1976 when Carolynne brought forward a resolution to the Ontario Egg Producers’ Marketing Board to change the name “Committeemen” to “Councillors”. Then in 1982, she became a councillor and in 1990 was elected by the egg producers of Essex, Kent and Lambton counties to be their first female chair until 1996. She served as a director and vice chair of Egg Farmers of Ontario (EFO), ultimately becoming EFO’s first female chair in 2002 until 2012. One of her accomplishments at this time was to guide the development of quota policy to ensure all of the quota allotment from Egg Farmers of Canada (EFC) was distributed equitably in Ontario.

In 2004, Carolynne was a driver in the formation of Farm Gate 5, a group representing all five of Ontario’s supply managed commodities. She became its chair in 2008 and in this role, represented supply managed producers’ interests in international trade negotiations and at the World Trade Organization.

Given her interest in food quality and her commitment to having Canadian consumers appreciate where their food comes from, Carolynne led the egg sector by enhancing the HACCP program in 2007 to ensure the highest quality eggs for Ontario consumers. This became the precursor for EFC’s “Start Clean-Stay Clean” program across Canada. Building on this, she led the development and launch of the award-winning “Who Made Your Eggs Today?” campaign in 2010, which introduced consumers to real-life egg farmers and served as a model for advertising in other agricultural sectors. She shared the story of eggs to thousands of consumers at such events as the CNE, the Royal Winter Fair and Western Fair in London. Carolynne was also a driving force behind EFO’s commitment to partnering with Breakfast for Learning and Student Nutrition Ontario allowing thousands of Ontario school children in over 4,000 locations to go to school well nourished. Carolynne and EFO unabashedly supported University of Guelph’s first food laureate Anita Stewart in her many efforts to showcase Canadian food including Food Day Canada to consumers, chefs, and restauranteurs alike.

From 2012-16, she was a director on the Farm & Food Care Canada Foundation and in 2017, she was awarded the Farm & Food Care Ontario Champion Award to recognize her decades of dedication to the promotion of the egg industry across Ontario, Canada and internationally.

Certainly Carolynne Griffith has made an indelible mark on the Ontario egg industry and is a most welcome addition to the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame.