Feb 6, 2023

Apple grower Brian Gilroy joins Ontario Agriculture Hall of Fame

Apple grower Brian Gilroy, a past chairman of the Ontario Fruit and Vegetables Growers Association (OFVGA), is the newest member of the Ontario Agriculture Hall of Fame.

Gilroy, who grows apples in the Meaford, Ontario, area, has served on the OFVGA board in various roles since 1990, including chairman from 2010-12.

“Brian’s career has been marked by a lifelong passion for the apple industry and a love of agriculture, people and farming,” OFVGA Executive Director Alison Robertson said in a news release. “Over the course of more than 30 years of involvement and leadership with farm organizations, Brian’s contributions and legacies are marked by his willingness to do the hard (and often unnoticed and unappreciated) work that’s needed to encourage collaboration and bring people together for the greater good of growers and the fruit and vegetable industry.”

Gilroy has been president of the Georgian Bay Fruit Growers’ Association, vice chairman of the Ontario Apple Marketing Commission, chairman of the Ontario Apple Growers’ Steering Committee, chairman of the Ontario Apple Growers, president of the Canadian Horticultural Council (now Fruit & Vegetable Growers of Canada), chairman of its Apple Working Group, and chairman of Farm & Food Care Ontario. He’s also a long-time director with the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.

When the Ontario Apple Marketing Commission dissolved in 2001, Gilroy worked tirelessly to ensure Ontario apple growers had an organization to represent their needs, which ultimately led to the formation of the Ontario Apple Growers as a marketing board with mandatory fees to ensure its financial viability. His efforts at the national level through the Apple Working Group and knack for behind-the-scenes consensus building have helped open international market opportunities for Canadian apples and ensure stable pricing by securing orderly domestic marketing.

Gilroy’s contributions extend beyond the edible horticulture sector as a champion of public trust in the food system. His willingness to volunteer countless hours to consumer outreach as a member of the Farm & Food Care Ontario board of directors has permanently changed Ontario’s public trust landscape for the better.

“We are thrilled that Brian’s accomplishments are being recognized and congratulate him on this induction into the Ontario Agriculture Hall of Fame,” Robertson said in the release.

The OFVGA is the voice of Ontario’s 3,500 fruit and vegetable farmers on issues affecting the horticulture sector.