Efforts are underway at the Legislature to make it easier for farmers to set up road signs directing consumers to their farms to purchase fresh produce.
Oxford Conservative MPP Ernie Hardeman is sponsoring the private members bill that has just received second reading in the legislature.
He says the bill will repeal current laws that prohibit signs within 400 metres of a highway unless a special MTO permit has been obtained.
Hardeman says by the time a producer applies and obtains a permit, the season for his crop is already over.
He says his bill would allow farmers to put temporary seasonal direction signs for their farms near the highway without having to go through all sorts of red tape.
Hardeman says farmers depend on the on farm sales these signs generate as an important source of income.
He says even as the province is spending millions promoting the sale of local food, this existing law is preventing consumers from finding out just where this food is being produce.
Hardeman says the bill now goes to the committee stage and hopes that when it comes back to the Legislature, the government will see fit to pass it.
