Welcome to the new Vancouver Food Policy Council!

The Vancouver Food Policy Council (VFPC) had their first meeting on July 27th. The next open meetings will be on September 28th and November 30th from 5:30-7:30PM. Everyone is welcome to attend! Visit the City of Vancouver to learn about the VFPC’s new members, see the minutes from this and previous meetings, and to find out information on future meetings.

Stay tuned to learn more about upcoming VFPC projects and priorities!

Recruitment for 2023-2026 Term

UPDATE, April 4, 2023: The recruitment process is now closed and appointments will be made shortly. Stay tuned for announcements of the incoming members and meeting schedule. Thanks for your interest!

Are you interested in becoming a member of the VFPC?

The City is now accepting applications from the public to join the VFPC for the 2023-2026 term. Applications are open until March 19th and available at https://vancouver.ca/your-government/apply-for-a-civic-agency.aspx .

Before applying, please review more information about the VFPC on this website and the City’s website. In particular, review the VFPC’s current Terms of Reference.

FAQs:

  1. Who is eligible to apply? Please review information about eligibility requirements for membership here under “who we are”, and read more about the VFPC’s membership structure, which is informed both by “expertise” and “lived experience” here.
  2. How long is the term? The full term runs from May 2023 – November 2026. Members will be appointed until December 31, 2024, at which point appointments are automatically renewable to the end of the term, and recruitment shall be conducted to fill any vacancies arising.
  3. What will the VFPC be working on this term? VFPC members collectively determine their own work plan and meeting agendas with support from staff and elected liaisons. In the upcoming term, staff anticipate that members will have the opportunity to provide input and advice on a variety of food policy and programs, such as:
  4. How often does the VFPC meet, what is the time commitment? The VFPC generally meets once/month on a Thursday evening from 6-8:30pm. Beyond this, members spend an additional minimum of 3-5 hours/month preparing for meetings, monitoring VFPC-related email correspondence, and participating in sub-committees which may meet separately between the main monthly meetings. A member who is absent from more than two consecutive regular meetings without a leave of absence is deemed to have resigned and their seat will be offered to a new member.
  5. What is the meeting format? In the upcoming term, we anticipate returning to in-person meetings held at City Hall. Meetings are open to the public and staffed by a City Clerk who record the official minutes for the public record.
  6. Is there compensation? VFPC membership is a volunteer position. Members are eligible to receive reimbursement for certain meeting-related expenses and a light meal is provided for in-person meetings held over dinner hours.

We would greatly appreciate if you could circulate this opportunity to others in your community who may be interested.

If you have questions about this opportunity, please contact staff at foodpolicy@vancouver.ca

See you in 2023!

We held our last meeting of the term on September 29th, 2022 and are now on hiatus until the next term gets underway in mid-2023.

If you are interested in applying to be a VFPC member, keep an eye out for membership recruitment starting in mid-January 2023.  More information about the recruitment and appointment process is available at https://vancouver.ca/your-government/join-an-advisory-board-or-committee.aspx or by contacting civicagenciesinfo
@vancouver.ca

See you next term!

VFPC Community Talk: How to Solve Our Food Waste Problem

Update: this event has already taken place! Read highlights of our discussion and the presentations in the meeting minutes

Please save the date for this special talk taking place as part of our May meeting:

VFPC Community Talk: How to Solve our Food Waste Problem
Hosted by the Vancouver Food Policy Council’s Food Waste Working Group

Online event: Thursday, May 26th , 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Registration is not required, find a link to join the meeting posted here at the time of the event (https://vancouver.ca/your-government/vancouver-food-policy-council.aspx

Discover how we can solve Vancouver’s food waste problem with 6 amazing panelists who will discuss:

  • The current landscape of food waste in Canada
  • Municipal policy options we can implement
  • Groups using innovative tech to end food waste
  • The city’s Circular Food Innovation Lab

Guest speakers include:

  • Lori Nikkel, Chief Executive Officer of Second Harvest
  • Jamie-Lynne Varney, author of A “Right to Food” Framework for a Just Circular Economy of Food
  • Juan Martinez, author of Policies, Incentives, and Measurement Protocols for Food Waste Reporting by Businesses
  • Jake-Zeljko Pavlovic, VP of Procurement and Merchandising, Freshlocal Solutions Inc. (SPUD.ca)
  • Erin Nichols, City of Vancouver Senior Project Manager – Zero Waste
  • Danielle Todd, Founder and Director of Make Food Not Waste (video presentation)

Regular meeting agenda, including liaison updates and working group business, will follow from 7:30-8:30pm.

 

VFPC Community Talks: Addressing Food Policy in a Climate Crisis

Please save the date for this special upcoming event, taking place outside of our regular meeting schedule.

Community Talks: Addressing Food Policy in a Climate Crisis

April 21, 7:00 pm in-person at Mt. Pleasant Neighbourhood House
Registration required via Eventbrite 

Hosted by the Vancouver Food Policy Council and Mt. Pleasant Food Network,  Seth Klein will speak to the community about his new book A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency.  Seth will share how to address the climate crisis with a “wartime approach” and how government policies could galvanize our communities to work together.

Following his talk, we invite panelists to speak to the climate affects on our food system in the Lower Mainland, and to develop solutions together. After seeing the impacts of climate change in our backyards last year, it’s time to understand more fully how we need to adapt and what needs to change within our food system.

March 31st, 2022 – Join International Experts in Learning About School Food Programs!

Join the Vancouver Food Policy Council to Learn about School Meal Programs and Vision for Our Community

All are welcome
March 31st 6-7:30pm 
Online, link to join posted here 

The federal and provincial governments have directed multiple ministries to work together to develop school meal programs. Now’s our chance to work locally to envision what school food can look like in the future. Join us in learning about school food programs and be prepared to envision what our future school meal program can be! Come learn from our esteemed panel:

  • Dr. Jennifer Gaddis, assistant professor of Civil Society and Community Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Braden Etzerza, Indigenous Lead of the BC Chapter of the Coalition for School Food

2022.03.31_Poster – Growing a School Meal Program

Spring 2022 Updates

Hello and Welcome to VFPC,

We are now keeping all minutes and posting all agendas directly on the City of Vancouver website, so please visit us there!

We are continuing to send our newsletters out before each meeting that is open to the public, so please do sign up for those reminders and invitations!

Hope to see you soon!

Best,

VFPC Admin Team

January 13th Meeting

All are welcome to join our meeting on Thursday January 13th, 6-8:30pm held online via Webex. Find a link to join the meeting here

This month we are grateful to welcome Kanatiio Gabriel to our meeting. Kanatiio will be presenting his vision of Indigenous Food Sovereignty and inviting conversation about the complexity and pathways towards this vision. Kanatiio works with Dude’s Club Vancouver, the Astoria Urban Farm, and the DTES Food Sovereignty Collaborative, and his biography is available on the DUDES Club website here.

Agenda: 

1. Call to Order and invitation to use chat to introduce yourself  6:00
2. Land Acknowledgement 

We will be hosting this meeting on the stolen lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsliel-Waututh Nations, and we will be working throughout our term to build our commitment to this land, to listen to the leadership of the Host Nations, and to think always about who we are in this work together: how does food connect us, nurture us, offer healing and inclusion?

6:00-03
3. Online meeting reminders  6:03-05
4. Motion of approval of draft meeting minutes for three meetings

  • September 9th 2021
  • November 8th 2021
  • November 18th 2021
6:05-10
5. Liaison Updates

  • Councillor Wiebe
  • Trustee Gonzalez
  • Park Board – Rebecca Till
  • Social Policy – Caitlin Dorward/Jason Hsieh
6:10-35
6. Working Group Updates

  • Brief update on progress towards workplan objectives, and identify if able to organize an upcoming meeting
    • Food Waste
    • Building Food Equity
    • Children and Youth
    • Climate Adaptation
  • Meeting Schedule: each WG to have opportunity to host a meeting’s educational component
6:35-45
7. Admin Team updates 6:45-6:50
8. Bread basket (outstanding items) 6:50-7:00
9. BREAK 7:00-7:10
10. Kanatiio Gabriel presentation on Indigenous Food Sovereignty 

  • Words that come before all words
  • Intro and Context, Goals and Brave Spaces
  • Think Tank style discussion
  • WGs to offer one question/reflection each
  • Open conversation with all members
  • Draft Motion
7:10-8:25
11. Adjournment (Motion to Adjourn) 8:30

November 18, 2021 Meeting

Link to the meeting is available here

Time Item
6:00 Call to Order and invitation to use chat to introduce yourself
6:00-03 Land Acknowledgement
6:03-05 1. Online meeting reminders
6:05-10  2. Approval of draft meeting minutes, September 9th meeting
6:10-35 3. Liaison Updates

  • Councillor Wiebe
  • Trustee Gonzalez
  • Park Board – Rebecca Till
  • Deferred: Social Policy – Caitlin Dorward
6:35-45 4. Working Group Updates:

  • Brief (1 min Update per WG)
  • Motion to accept document
6:45-7:00 5. Admin Team updates – Motion to accept Community Agreements
7:00-7:30 6. Discussion on 2022 Budget

  • Overview of proposed budget implications from staff – Mary Clare Zak, Managing Director of Social Policy
  • Questions for staff
  • Discussion of draft motion
7:30-7:40 BREAK
7:40-8:10 7. Vancouver Plan and Broadway Plan

  • Staff presentation: overview of the Plans and draft food policy directions (20 mins)
  • Discussion/Q&A and identification of next steps for VFPC (10 mins)
8:10-30 8. Bread basket (outstanding items)

  • Vancouver Soil Day motion
8:30 9. Adjournment (Motion to Adjourn)

September 2021 Meeting

Thursday, September 9, 2021, 6:00pm (PST)
Virtually (WebEx)

Link to the meeting here

Time Item 
6:00
  1. Call to Order
6:00-03
  1. Land Acknowledgement
6:03-10
  1. Housekeeping reminders and
    motion to approve July 2021 minutes
6:10-20
  1. Welcoming New Members
6:20-30
  1. Park Board Community Centre Strategy
    • Announcements from staff and invitation to focused meeting Sept. 15th (10 mins)
6:30-50
  1. Overview of City of Vancouver Food Policy
    • Presentation from staff liaisons (5 mins)
    • Questions/discussion (15 mins)
6:50-55
  1. Elected Liaison Updates
    • Trustee Gonzalez
    • Councillor Wiebe
6:55-7:00
  1. Nominations for Administrative Team
    • The following members are seeking nomination as the Administrative Team: Carol White, Michelle Reining, Sarah Common, Marc Schutzbank
7:00 9. Adjournment (Motion to Adjourn)

Note: VFPC members will move to an informal meeting space for work planning