Remarkable Women 2013

26 February, 201326 February, 2013 by admin | Leave a comment

Contributors to our local food communities

…including our very own VFPC member Ilana Labow!

“To honour local women who have made significant contributions to arts, culture, sports, and community in Vancouver, the Vancouver Park Board has established the Remarkable Women poster series. Each year, the individual stories of a select group of women from diverse backgrounds and abilities are featured on posters, which highlight the important roles each woman plays in our communities. The women are also honoured at a public reception timed to coincide with International Women’s Day. The posters, which are on view in community centres, schools, and libraries throughout Vancouver, are a unique way to highlight the important role women play in our daily lives.”

Or immense gratitude to these Remarkable Women!!

The Right to Food in Canada: A Community Conversation

21 February, 2013 by admin | Leave a comment

Monday, March 4, 2013 from 9-11am
In the Town Hall Room at Vancouver City Hall (453 West 12th Avenue)

* Please arrive a few minutes early as the event will start at 9am *

On March 4 Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, will be presenting his report on Canada to the UN Council on Human Rights. Food Secure Canada is providing a platform for Mr De Schutter to share his conclusions in an interactive webinar with communities gathered across Canada.

His report, which can be downloaded from Food Secure Canada’s website, highlights a variety of hunger, health, aboriginal rights, and food systems (both land and water-based) issues, which we will continue to discuss once the national webinar has ended with a short panel and roundtable discussion facilitated by Brent Mansfield, the Co-Chair of the Vancouver Food Policy Council. Panelists include:

Graham Riches, Professor Emeritus, School of Social Work, UBC
Dawn Morrison, Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty
Aart Schuurman Hess, CEO, Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society
Fraser Stuart, Raise the Rates Campaign

We hope you will join us for this very important conversation that is a chance to show that we are not alone in thinking that Canada’s food system is unjust, unhealthy and unsustainable.

This event is open to the public and the media. Please distribute For more information please contact Brent Mansfield –brentmansfield@gmail.com / 604-837-7667

Download event PDF

Food Strategy in the news

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

With the Food Strategy approved by City Council, here’s a roundup of articles on the Food Strategy:

Vancouver urged to adopt local food strategy – CBC News
Food strategy is a blueprint for Vancouver’s emerging edible landscape – Vancouver Sun
In Pictures: New plans cooked up for fans of local food – Globe and Mail
Council votes on Vancouver food strategy – 24 Hrs
Vancouver to get greener… and tastier? – Metro News
Vancouver celebrates a ‘just and sustainable’ food strategy – Metro News
Vancouver city council approves municipal food strategy – Georgia Straight
Blog post from Nevin Cohen: Vancouver’s New Food Strategy

Read the full council report or watch the video.

Amount of money spent on food worldwide

13 February, 201313 February, 2013 by admin | Leave a comment

In light of our upcoming February Meeting exploring the theme of ‘Sustainable Diets’ – see below for a couple infographics showing the annual incoe spent on food globally and world population growth, produced by Washington State University.

(Source – click below to enlarge)

“A map of the world based on food costs as a percentage of income compared with incidence of juvenile malnutrition.

The size of the country represents the percentage spent on food. The darker the color, the higher the rate of malnutrition.”

WSU-PopulationGrowth

“The first billion was the hardest. But starting in the 1950s, billions and billions more people arrived. As fertility rates decline, the world population could peak at 9 billion or so. But that’s 9 billion or so mouths to feed.”

February Meeting: Sustainable Diets

13 February, 201318 February, 2013 by admin | Leave a comment

Image-front-cover_coverbookpage For the second half of our February meeting, we’re excited that Eleanor Boyle, the recent author of High Steaks: Why and How to Eat Less Meat, will be with us to present and co-facilitate a discussion on what is internationally being called ‘sustainable diets’.

See the full meeting agenda here (PDF) >>

Wednesday, February 20th
6:00-8:30pm
Vancouver City Hall
453 West 12th Ave. Map

Note: Enter via 12th Avenue entrance after hours.

Here’s a video teaser:

Neighbourhood Food Network Spotlight on CBC Radio

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

Vancouver’s Neighbourhood Food Networks on the CBC Wednesday, January 30

Vancouver’s growing movement of Neighbourhood Food Networks—a key feature of the Vancouver Food Strategy—will be on the CBC’s On The Coast Wednesday sometime between 3-6 PM. To learn more about and contact the network closest to you, download the brochure with a directory and map of Neighbourhood Food Networks.

Vancouver Food Strategy going to City Council

24 January, 201328 January, 2013 by admin

We along with the City of Vancouver’s food policy staff are excited that the Vancouver Food Strategy and also Farmers Market Policy is going to City Council for their consideration next week. The Food Strategy has been a long time in the making and we are proud to have been a part of its development.

The Strategy will be presented to regular Council meeting on Tuesday 29th, and then Council will hear from speakers on Wednesday 30th at the Standing Committee. The agenda details and Food Strategy document can be found here. The meeting will kick off at 9:30am in Council Chamber, Third Floor, City Hall on Tuesday Jan 29th – though timing may be subject to changes as it goes for all meetings.

Please come out and show City Council that you support this important next stage in the development of food policy in Vancouver!

Your input on the food strategy is welcome! If you cannot attend the meeting, you can communicate your thoughts to the Mayor and Councillors by sending an email to mayorandcouncil@vancouver.ca and they will receive all correspondence.

January Meeting: The Business of Food – Challenges to Scaling up our Local Food System

9 January, 201326 January, 2013 by admin

On January 23rd, our meeting topic is “The Business of Food-Challenges to Scaling up Our Local Food System”, a topic that we hope will help our members and guests better understand how our food current system practically works, as well as give us an opportunity to examine how we as an advisory body, can support more local food production and consumption.

There will be a panel of three speakers, each given 5 minutes to explain to the room challenges they perceive to increasing the volume or improving the business case for more local food in the BC market. After the panel, we will also do some break out work to explore the challenges we’ve heard about.

The meeting starts at 6 pm at Vancouver City Hall in the Town Hall Meeting Room. The panel will start after our break at 7pm. After 5 pm, enter City Hall from the main entrance on 12th Avenue.

Vancouver City Hall
453 West 12th Ave.
Vancouver, BC
Map

Meeting Agenda PDF

November Meeting: Keeping the Just in “Just and Sustainable”

6 November, 201226 January, 2013 by admin

We are excited to be continuing to explore some of the discussion from our October meeting about what makes a just food system, as our theme for this month’s meeting with be “Keeping the Just in “Just and Sustainable”: Exploring How Food Assets Can Support a Just Food System”.

Diane Collis from Fresh Choice Community Kitchens, Stephanie Lim from Renfrew Collingwood Food Security Institute and Scott Rowe from New Hope Cuisine will start us off with short presentations, followed by some large and small group discussions.

Sustenance Festival 2012: Check Out Our Assets

22 October, 201226 January, 2013 by admin

The Vancouver Food Policy Council and members of the newly minted Park Board Local Food Assets Task Force teamed up for an evening of discussion, performance and interactive displays. Food themed performances by burlesque performer Joanie Gyoza and musical guests the Wheely Slow Cooking Tour. VFPC co-chair Trish Kelly hosted a discussion and ideas and suggestions were captured by a graphic recording for the Vancouver Parks Board. Demonstration Food Friendly Neighbourhood curated by Village Vancouver Transition Town Initiative with displays, information and chickens, along with displays by the Neighbourhood Food Networks, the Vancouver Urban Farming Society, the UBC Farm Aboriginal Initiatives and more. Check out http://www.sustenancefestival.ca/

Thanks to everyone who came and all of the volunteers who helped to make it happen!

Photos from our event >>