May Foodie Updates

20 May, 201312 June, 2013 by admin | Leave a comment

Some notes from our May VFPC meeting…

The Bread Affair just received their new flour mill recently, allowing them to localize and control the processing of local flour! The Bread Affair is BC’s only certified organic artisan bakery serving Greater Vancouver with ties throughout BC, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. They will be at various Farmers Markets throughout, including Haney Farmers Market (Maple Ridge), Burnaby Farmers Market, and Trout Lake Farmers Market! Yum!

There is a new mobile food market in town! Allowing affordable and fresh produce to areas where people who have difficulty getting nutritious food, the project is critical to the health of the community. Thank you South Granville Seniors Centre and The Westside Food Collaborative for making this happen! How exciting!!

The Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC) is looking to getting more school gardens into the schools in our community. Wouldn’t it be nice to see some more in our lives? Especially ones like the newly constructed School Farm at Vancouver Technical Secondary School!

Also, look out for a new School Garden opening up at David Thompson Secondary School with the collaboration of Fresh Roots Urban Farm and the Vancouver School Board!

Calling out to all questions that you have about the food system in Vancouver! What do you want to discuss? What topics do you think we should look at? We want to hear from everyone! Email us at education@vancouverfoodpolicycouncil.ca

– Lihwen Hsu – VFPC working group

May meeting: Where We’re at, and Where We’re Going

15 May, 2013 by admin | Leave a comment

Please join us for our May 15th Meeting.

Our theme this month will be Where We’re at, and Where We’re Going.

The agenda includes updates from working groups, discussion about succession planning for the VFPC chairs, and fingers crossed, an early finish so we can all head out for a pint together on a fine Spring evening.

The full meeting goes from 6-8pm.

The VFPC meeting happens in the Town Hall Meeting Room at City Hall. Please note that after hours, you must enter City Hall via the 12th Avenue entrance.

We hope to see you there!

Meeting Agenda >>

Check out Chef Steve Golob’s Soup Blog, soupscoop

24 April, 2013 by admin | Leave a comment

All of you who were at our meeting last week on getting local, sustainable foods into BC’s public institutions had a chance to taste one of Chef Steve Golob from the Place Vanier Dining Hall at UBC’s amazing soups. For more delicious recipes check out Steve’s soup blog, soupscoop .

Webinar: Local Food Procurement in a Free Trade Environment

15 April, 201315 April, 2013 by admin | Leave a comment

If you are working to bring healthy local foods into public institutions – schools, universities, health care facilities etc…here’s an exciting opportunity to learn more.

Local Food Procurement in a Free Trade Environment
National webinar brought to you by Farm to Cafeteria Canada and Sustain Ontario.
Tues. April 16th – Noon PST (30 -45 minutes duration)
Register here >>

Guest Speakers: Ken Babich, Canadian Public Procurement Council (based in BC) and Kyra Bell Pascht – Environmental Lawyer (Based in Ontario)

To stay connected with Farm to Cafeteria Canada visit the National Website – www.farmtocafeteriacanada.ca

April 17 VFPC Meeting Theme – Innovative Strategies to Bring Local, Sustainable Foods into BC’s Public Institutions

3 April, 20133 April, 2013 by admin | Leave a comment

Join the Vancouver Food Policy Council at City Hall on April 17, 2013 as together with Farm to Cafeteria Canada they host a session to shine a light on innovative strategies to bring local, sustainable foods into BC’s public institutions. Guest speakers include: Joanne Bays, National Manager Farm to Cafeteria Canada; Lana Popham, MLA, BCNDP, Agriculture Critic; Ken Babich, Vice President Canadian Public Procurement Council; and Hayley Lapalme, Project and Research Consultant, My Sustainable Canada. The full meeting goes from 6-8:30pm with the theme on farm to cafeteria starting at 7 pm. We hope to see you there!

South-West BC Food System Design and Planning Project

30 March, 201318 April, 2013 by admin | Leave a comment

Slides from Kent Mullinix’s Presentation at March Meeting It was another great turnout for our March meeting as Kent Mullinix and some of his team from Kwantlen University were with us for the second half of the meeting to talk about the South-West BC Food System Design and Planning Project that they are working on. Kent gave an inspiring overview of the project and then there was some questions and comments followed by some lively discussion in small groups.

VFPC March Meeting

Meatless Mondays

30 March, 201330 March, 2013 by admin | Leave a comment

By Lihwen Hsu, VFPC Working Group

After the presentation and co-facilitation of a discussion on sustainable diets by Eleanor Boyle, author of “High Steaks: Why and How to Eat Less Meat”, at the Vancouver Food Policy Council’s February meeting, an idea was discussed to get City Council to create a proclamation for a ‘Meatless Monday’ on May 6^th!

To grasp an understanding of what Meatless Monday is, it starts with what is on our plate. The food that we eat comes from the earth and what we have on that plate varies. Where we get our food, how we get our food, what we get, and why we get it, are questions that are often not asked in our daily routine.

Meatless Monday is an event that gives us pause to think about it. It is about healthy sustainable eating for ourselves and for the environment. By making a Monday, meat-free, it causes people to become more aware of the environmental impact their food choices make. Livestock uses 30% of the earth’s entire land surface, responsible for a large portion of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions (FAO, 2006) that contribute to climate change. By reducing the meat intake in our diet, it can also decrease the risk for health risks such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

We can eat less meat. We can buy meat raised sustainably and compassionately, and we can encourage a better food policy to support this. We are not only doing it for our environment, but also for our communities and ourselves. The City of Vancouver has the opportunity to become the first Canadian city to adopt this, give your support and tell your friends about it!

Learn more at http://meatlessmonday.ca

—

Also, check out this short film directed by Ali Rashti and Russell Bennett, called “Meathead”:

Meathead is a film noir set in a future world where eating meat is illegal. This film is a tribute to the “Meatless Mondays” campaign to raise climate change awareness.

March Meeting: Towards a More Bioregional Food System

18 March, 201318 March, 2013 by admin | Leave a comment

We are excited that Kent Mullinix and some of his team from Kwantlen University are going to be with us for the second half of the meeting to talk about the South-West BC Food System Design and Planning Project that they are working on. The aim of their research is to develop, for each region:

A bio-regional Food System Design (including production, wild and traditional food provisioning, processing, distribution, access, and waste management) that supports agriculture and food provisioning, strengthens the economy, promotes environmental stewardship, fosters food security and public health, maximizes food self-reliance, and strengthens communities; and,
An Implementation Plan consisting of critical information and targeted tools to be used by existing and future farmers and food-sector entrepreneurs, consumers, and community, Government, and First Nations leaders to actualize the Bio-Regional Food System design.

It is a very ambitious project that we think has many important connections to our work in Vancouver and across the region.
Wednesday, March 20th
6:00-8:30pm
Vancouver City Hall, Town Hall Room
453 West 12th Ave. Map

Meeting Agenda >>

Please note that after hours, you must enter City hall via the 11th Avenue entrance.

See you there!

Right to Food in Canada

7 March, 20137 March, 2013 by admin | Leave a comment

For those of you who were not able to join us at City Hall on Monday morning for the Right to Food in Canada event, a recording of the first hour of the national event with Olivier De Schutter is now online here (skip to 37 minutes for the start).

Despite our federal government’s response to the report from the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter, it was great to participate in a national webinar along with 49 other communities like ours gathered across Canada, followed by a great discussion with a packed house in the Town Hall Room at City Hall in Vancouver.

CBC News reported on how the federal government is dismissing the report:

Open Letter to the Conference Board of Canada

28 February, 2013 by admin | Leave a comment

Here is an open letter to the Conference Board of Canada’s Centre for Food in Canada and its investors from the Vancouver Food Policy Council. It shares some of the concerns we have about the process and scope of their work in trying to develop “a food strategy for all Canadians.” It also highlights the importance of Olivier De Schutter’s report and all of the events happening across Canada, including the event we are hosting on Monday, from 9-11am in the Town Hall Room at City Hall. Details here + on facebook.