LONDON, Ont. - The new leader of Ontario's Green Party still hasn't forgotten the lessons he learned growing up on a Kansas farm four decades ago.

After all, that small farm is where Mike Schreiner -- the Toronto entrepreneur who was the only candidate at a leadership convention in London this past weekend -- says his green principles sprouted.

"I think every farmer knows that your prosperity is dependent on healthy soil and a healthy environment," said Schreiner in an interview on the weekend.

"When you're in a profession where the climate and weather and so many natural factors affect your livelihood and prosperity, you come to appreciate how important that is."

Schreiner took over from outgoing leader Frank de Jong, who spent 16 years at the party's helm.

During that time, de Jong oversaw the transformation of Ontario's Greens from a loosely organized group of activists into a party that

captured more than eight per cent of the vote in the 2007 provincial election.

Now, the job is Schreiner's, a 40-year-old father-of-two who spent his formative years in the U.S. midwest, as he puts it, "in the middle of nowhere, western Kansas."

"My parents, we grew grain and raised livestock, your typical corn, soybean, wheat rotation. Not that uncommon from a lot of the farms in southwestern Ontario," Schreiner said.

"I've driven plenty of combines and tractors and everything else."

Schreiner was also involved in university politics, and spent a stint in Washington, D.C. working for a Kansas congressman. A Democrat when he lived in the U.S., Schreiner says he found himself "shopping around" for a political party when he moved to Toronto in 1995.

Nine years later, after a successful run heading up a local and organic food distribution company, Schreiner joined the Green Party.

"I believe in the power of small business and local communities and a healthy environment (and) the Green Party, here in Canada, just seemed like a party that expressed those values," he said.

Given his background, Schreiner was a natural choice to be the party's critic on food, agriculture, and rural affairs. He helped craft the party's platform for the 2007 election. While Schreiner didn't run then, he did test the waters this March, in what he calls the "infamous" Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock byelection, where PC leader John Tory lost to Liberal Rick Johnson.

Schreiner finished a distant third, but squeaked by the NDP candidate. And the experience -- meeting people, hearing their views, sharing stories -- only whetted his political appetite.

"It's just so rare that you have an opportunity to walk into a cafe or show up at a church or go to a town hall and just talk to people about issues that concern them, about the future of our province, our country," Schreiner said.

Schreiner hasn't decided where he'll run in the 2011 election. But he said the party is going to be "fight hard" to make breakthroughs in areas where they think they can win seats.

Schreiner sees southern Ontario as fertile ground, in particular the ridings from Owen Sound south to London and east to Barrie. He also thinks downtown Toronto and Ottawa have potential.

Those ridings and their "Main Street economies" are what makes them winnable for the Greens, Schreiner said.

"In the rural settings, you have a number of family farms . . . in the urban areas you have very vibrant farmers' markets," he said.

"So there seems to be a connection and an importance around health and well-being."

If Schreiner had his way, he would introduce a "green tax cut" for businesses and individuals who strive to reduce their carbon footprint. He'd also create a "green building fund" for the province and boost investment in technologies like solar energy and electric cars.

The Greens' push for one publicly-funded school system will likely stay in the party platform, although "there are other issues that are higher priority for us," Schreiner said.

In an interview before this weekend's leadership convention, de Jong played up Schreiner's agricultural expertise, in particular his experience running Local Food Plus, a Toronto non-profit he co-founded in 2005.

The business made waves in 2006 when it helped the University of Toronto offer local and sustainable food in its cafeterias.

"He's a highly-competent, passionate, intelligent individual," said de Jong.

"He's very green. He lives green. He will make an excellent leader."