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!

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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:
   • Neighbourhood food asset planning
   • Community plan development and implementation (eg: Rupert Renfrew Station Area Plan, Broadway Plan)
   • Response to Council directed priorities (eg: Placekeeping – Cultural Food Assets motion, UNDRIP Strategy Implementation)
   • Local Food Systems Action Plan implementation
   • Food waste prevention and reduction
   • And more.
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

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!

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 26^th , 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.

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.

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

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: 

Post update, July 8th 2021 – Recruitment for these openings has now closed!

The last meeting of the VFPC’s term was held in April and the committee is now on hiatus as  part of the usual turnover that takes place for all City advisory bodies every two years.

During this time, new members are being appointed by Council and, once appointed, the new members will participate in several training and orientation meetings in June-July. We anticipate that the first formal meeting of the VFPC, open to members of the public to attend, will be in September.

Please note and help spread the word – the VFPC is still recruiting for two additional applicants who identify as Indigenous. The recruitment of Indigenous identifying members is in fulfilment of the VFPC’s membership structure outlined here. More information can be found at www.vancouver.ca/volunteer (scroll to the bottom and select “learn more and apply”). Or reach out to foodpolicy@vancouver.ca with any questions.

Update as of May 26, 2021: General applications have closed but recruitment is still open for two members who identify as Indigenous.  The recruitment of Indigenous identifying members is in fulfilment of the VFPC’s membership structure outlined here. More information can be found at www.vancouver.ca/volunteer (scroll to the bottom and select “learn more and apply”). Or reach out to foodpolicy@vancouver.ca with any questions.

Are you interested in becoming a member of the VFPC?

The VFPC’s current term ends on April 30th, 2021, and the City is now accepting applications from members of the public to serve on the next term (May 2021 – December 2022).  The application period is open from March 16th – 31st at  https://vancouver.ca/volunteer (scroll down and click “learn more and apply”).

Before applying, you can review more information about the VFPC on the City’s website, and review information about eligibility requirements for membership here. You can also find out more about the VFPC’s membership structure, which is informed both by “expertise” and “lived experience” here.

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 feel free to reach out to the Food Policy team at foodpolicy@vancouver.ca

April 8, 2021 | 6pm – 8:30pm
Online on Zoom, pre-registration required at: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcpc-isrTkpHddH6OA1vY6wvK6i-e56VCYq

Everyone is welcome!

Join us for a special session to learn about the progress of the Vancouver Park Board Local Food Action Plan (LFAP) Update and provide input. At this special session hosted by the VFPC, the Park Board’s LFAP Update team will share preliminary findings from our research, assessment, and engagement process so far. We will then host breakout groups for members of the public and VFPC members to discuss proposed goals for the plan with the LFAP team. In preparation for the session, we recommend reviewing the background below and the current LFAP.

Background: In 2013, the Vancouver Park Board adopted a Local Food Action Plan (LFAP) to enhance the local food landscape. This plan was guided by 5 goals and 55 actions. Many of the actions were achieved within the 5-year timeframe of the LFAP. However, so much has changed since the approval of the LFAP. We are now embarking on a process to update the LFAP to reflect the current food landscape and future needs with an emphasis on:

• Increasing and/or enhancing food assets and services
• Building resilience to mitigate the effects of a changing climate
• Allocating resources and reduce barriers to currently underserved populations
• Decolonizing the local food system to support indigenous food systems, food sovereignty, foraging practices, and food asset rich parks and natural areas
• Addressing gaps and opportunities highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic including building community resilience to crisis, and to support the subsequent recovery process

November 12, 2020 VFPC Meeting
6pm – 8:30pm
Online,  members of the public must register here to attend (please note that the email you receive after registering will contain a unique link for you to sign in with. To extend the opportunity to others, please refer them here to sign up rather than forwarding them your sign-in link)
Everyone is welcome!

Do you have ideas on how we can contribute to a just and sustainable local food system by leveraging Vancouver Park Board land, facilities, programs, and community connections? Join us for a special focus on the Local Food Action Plan Update at the November 12th VFPC meeting.

Agenda Overview (Full Agenda Forthcoming)

Vancouver Park Board Local Food Action Plan Update and Engagement Session (Details)

In 2013, the Vancouver Park Board adopted a Local Food Action Plan (LFAP) to enhance the local food landscape. This plan was guided by 8 goals and 55 actions. Many of the actions were achieved within the 5-year timeframe of the LFAP. However, so much has changed since the approval of the LFAP. The Park Board is now embarking on a process to update the LFAP to reflect the current food landscape and future needs with an emphasis on:

• Increasing and/or enhancing food assets and services
• Building resilience to mitigate the effects of a changing climate
• Allocating resources and reduce barriers to currently underserved populations
• Decolonizing the local food system to support indigenous food systems, food sovereignty, foraging practices, and food asset rich parks and natural areas
• Addressing gaps and opportunities highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic including building community resilience to crisis, and to support the subsequent recovery process

At this special session, Park Board staff and consulting team will share a progress snapshot on the LFAP update process so far, then take a deeper dive into key topics through facilitated breakout group discussions based on the focus areas of the VFPC Working Groups.

In preparation for this session, we encourage you to review the 2013 Local Food Action Plan before the meeting

This is the first of multiple opportunities for VFPC members and the public to share their ideas and feedback on what should go in the LFAP Update. In addition to this special session, Park Board will be assembling a stakeholder steering committee, holding small group/one-on-one meetings with members from equity seeking groups that are often underserved, conducting a second general stakeholder session, and more!

 Remember you must register here to attend. Everyone is welcome!

Please remember that the email you receive after registering will contain a unique link for you to sign in with. To extend the opportunity to others, please refer them here to sign up rather than forwarding them your sign-in link!