VFPC

The City of Vancouver has produced a set of urban agriculture guidelines for residential buildings four storeys or more.

Created through a collaborative process with the community, developers and the Vancouver Food Policy Council, these guidelines are a valuable tool for planning and designing urban agriculture into new residential developments in Vancouver.

On January 20th, these guidelines were presented to the mayor and council. The report is available on line
http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20090120/documents/p2.pdf

Cool stuff!

24 HOURS: Chickens on your block?
By MATT KIELTYKA, 24 HOURS

Backyard hens are making their way up city council's pecking order.

Following their meeting Wednesday night, the Vancouver Food Policy Council will pitch council to change city bylaws to allow residents to raise chickens at home for food.

"There is a lot of interest around this issue," said Trish Kelly of the food policy council.

"It goes with the trend of eating local food and having things like community gardens."

Coun. Andrea Reimer sees it as a great way for people to access local food.

"Obviously it's not for everybody, but I can't imagine why you wouldn't want as much food produced within city limits as possible," she said.

"I've casually spoken with most of the councillors and they're broadly supportive of the concept."

http://andreareimer.typepad.com/in_the_news/2009/01/courier-playing-chic...

January 21, 2009
COURIER: Playing Chicken
Jeff Nield
Vancouver Courier

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

From curbside on a brisk autumn morning on a quiet Mount Pleasant block just west of Main Street, a neatly kept house gives no hint that illegal activity is taking place out back. But, in a city rife with well concealed grow-ops, local residents know that looks can be deceiving. Mary, the retired owner of the property, is as non-threatening as her house, and on first impression she wouldn't fit anyone's stereotype of a lawbreaker.

VFPC member Melanie Kurrein was featured in the Vancouver Sun recently. Melanie is a Community Nutritionist working for Vancouver Coastal Health. Her current role as Citywide Nutritionist involves working with Vancouver schools and the Vancouver School Board to help improve children's access to healthy foods at school.

The article is about nutrition and the economic downturn.

Home cooking keeps our eating healthy and cheap
Nutritionist says some simple planning can stretch the food budget a long way
Amy O'Brian, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, January 02, 2009

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=1744b49b-3502-4b26...

We packed well over a hundred people into the Unitarian Church last night for the How Food Secure is Vancouver presentation/discussion.

Using a combo of World Cafe and Open Space concepts the majority of the evening was spent in group discussion of 5 key questions the study is contemplating.

Once I get a copy of the questions, I will post them.
But for now, I just wanted to say thanks to all the folks who trekked out on a Thursday evening to participate.

Trish Kelly

At the November VFPC meeting, Liz Perkins and Dalia Levy from the Environmental Youth Alliance (www.eya.ca) presented to the Food Policy Council. They gave us an introduction to what EYA is, “a local youth driven non-profit organization that provides young people with meaningful employment projects that benefit our communities while supporting our environment- socially, economically, as well as ecologically.” And described the internship program they are participating in.

Funded by Gov of Canada, the 8 month internships involve hands-on experience in the community and growing food, and involve an independent project component. Dalia combined theatre and environmentalism to found an eco-art club to educate on students relevant issues, and Liz was hired on as coordinator of the Fruit Tree project, connecting with canning workshops to provide fruit.

It was a packed room tonight at the monthly VFPC meeting! Thanks to all our guests from UBC, Environmental Youth Alliance, SPEC, and the social planning department.

Make sure to check back soon for notes from this month's VFPC meeting, including the skinny on the Environmental Youth Alliance's presentation to us, Alex Chisholm's study of community desires around community gardens, and a poll of your thoughts on Backyard Chickens!

trish kelly

My name is Trish Kelly, I'm the co-chair and a member of the Vancouver Food Policy Council.

We hope that this blog will help you understand what the VFPC is up to.

After each Food Policy Council meeting, I will post an entry about the most exciting parts of the meeting.

The next VFPC meeting is Wednesday November 12th at 6pm. As our usual meeting room at City Hall is booked, we're meeting at the Social Planning office.

This month's meeting, we're seeing a presentation by members of Environmental Youth Alliance www.eya.ca, and a presentation from Alex Chisholm on Urban Agriculture. VFOC members will report back on various projects including our research into Backyard Chickens, Biofuels and their impact on food security, and our upcoming food security forum.