Next public VFPC meeting is April 14
Submitted by cshore on Mon, 02/08/2010 - 19:19
Tags: meetings
The March meeting of the Vancouver Food Policy Council will be an in-camera planning session and guests are therefore asked to join us instead at our next public meeting on April 14. Please check back later for more details on the April meeting.
From VFPC member Helen Spiegleman: Time for Metro Vancouver to forget about incineration, get going on composting
Submitted by cshore on Mon, 02/08/2010 - 19:17
This article appeared online at the Georgia Straight's blog: http://www.straight.com/article-286269/vancouver/time-metro-vancouver-fo....
Canada figures prominently in a survey of North American cities that have moved "beyond recycling" and are providing composting programs for organic wastes—but B.C. is hardly on the map.
Of the 121 cities surveyed, 55 were Canadian, but only one was British Columbian. (The B.C. city that made the survey? It was Mission—a community that has been collecting food scraps separately since the 1990s.)
The major cities in B.C. are late entrants to food scrap composting. None had the track record to make the EPA survey. Vancouver, which touts itself as the Greenest City, hasn't even left the starting blocks.
The EPA report offers a rich mix of lessons learned by these 121 communities over the years.
Food Policy Council meeting on Feb 2 at Vancouver Food Bank
Submitted by cshore on Sat, 01/30/2010 - 15:10
Tags: meetings
Due to the Olympics, the Vancouver Food Policy Council has moved its regular meeting to Tuesday, February 2 at 6:00 – 8:30 PM. Instead of meeting at City Hall, we will hold this meeting at the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society, 1150 Raymur Avenue
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&q=Greater+Vancouver+Food+Bank+...
The draft agenda is attached.
Next Food Policy Council meeting January 13
Submitted by cshore on Tue, 01/05/2010 - 15:50
Tags: meetings
The Vancouver Food Policy Council is meeting Wednesday, January 13th, 6:00 – 8:30 PM in the Strathcona Room at City Hall. For details, visit http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/socialplanning/initiatives/foodpolicy/policy/council.htm.
Globe & Mail story on urban farming
Submitted by cshore on Mon, 01/04/2010 - 18:44
Frances Bula of the Globe & Mail wrote an interesting article about an urban gardener and the growing phenomenon of urban agriculture. She also quoted Vancouver Food Policy Council members Herb Barbolet and Janine de la Salle.
Read the article here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/growing-an....
Indigenous Food Security: Harmony Garden - Skwxwu7mesh Uxwumixw Elders becoming Food Secure
Submitted by Cedarcopperwoman on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 02:29
Harmony Garden is located in North Vancouver,specifically, in the village of Humulchs'n. This garden is a community effort that was initiated by a small group of Elders in the community, who had started a Community Kitchen in the basement of St Paul's Church in the village of Sla7an, which is also located in North Vancouver.
The food security in this community was almost non-existent, until this program began through the dedicated efforts of the Elders. They saw the need to provide a hot meal for community members, and find out how they were doing with their nutritional needs, and whether or not they were being met.
The initial idea was to start a soup kitchen, and with some progressive suggestions towards Community Kitchens, these Elders were convinced! It was more exciting to imagine how cooking together would be able to help them build community, learn about their cousins, aunties, uncles, and other relatives, and what they were doing on a weekly basis.
Study shows low-income British Columbians can’t afford healthy food
Submitted by cshore on Tue, 12/15/2009 - 17:15
Low-income British Columbians can’t afford healthy food.
Once the family on income assistance pays the rent, there is not enough money for healthy food, or any other costs of daily living. A family of 4 with 2 children on income assistance would need to spend more than 100% of their disposable income on shelter and healthy food, compared to a family with a median income (one earner) spending 48%. Many low income families struggle to afford food. While shelter and food costs have risen significantly minimum wage has remained at $8.00 hour. Without consistent economic access to enough nutritious food, healthy eating cannot be achieved and the risk of poor health increases.
Food Secure Vancouver Forum nearly full
Submitted by cshore on Fri, 11/27/2009 - 17:17
Vancouver Food Policy Council Hosts Food Security Forum
The Vancouver Food Policy Council, an advisory committee to Vancouver City Council, is hosting a packed forum on Thursday, December 3 titled “Food Secure Vancouver in a Changing World – Proactive Planning for Pending Changes.” The forum is being held at Langara College from 5:30-9:30 pm.
The forum is part of the second phase of the Food Secure Vancouver Study being conducted by the Vancouver Food Policy Council, a two-year research effort that will be the largest study of food security ever done in Vancouver. Participants at the forum will discuss: How can we ensure that there are farmers and farmland for future production needs? How can we meet the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change on our local food system? How can we shift to greater food resiliency?
The Forum is nearly full, with representatives from all aspects of Vancouver's policy and food sectors.
Dulan, Taiwan
Submitted by Cedarcopperwoman on Sun, 11/08/2009 - 08:25
Tags: Indigenous Food Security
Indigenous Food Security & Taiwan
Submitted by Cedarcopperwoman on Sun, 11/08/2009 - 07:36
I am spending a month in Taiwan, living in an Indigenous Taiwanese community on the East Coast of Taiwan. There are several Indigenous tribes here, and I am currently still learning a great deal about them! The Ami People are the folks who are hosting myself and the other Canadian Artist traveling with me. We are staying at an old Sugar Cane factory, and the artists run the show here.
There are several artists who are working on their arts here, and they work in a collective manner, not only on their art works, but their food security as well. Lunch time brings everyone together and there is an array of foods that were gathered locally, and seasonally from this region.
