Menu 2020: Ten Good Food Ideas for Ontario
Posted: June 21, 2010
Categories: News from Sustain Ontario / Ontario Food Policy
The response to Sustain Ontario’s Metcalf Food Solutions report, Menu 2020: Ten Good Food Ideas for Ontario has been fantastic.
Why Menu 2020?
Last summer I proposed to write a report for the Metcalf Food Solutions series. After one year of being on the job as Sustain Ontario’s director, I wanted to showcase the good food ideas I learned about while speaking with farm and food leaders throughout the province.
I felt these initiatives were resulting in the policy outcomes we want: economic development and jobs, improving health, ecological farming practices, addressing the indignities of poverty and hunger, a strong farm sector. Often these good food ideas achieve several of these outcomes simultaneously. But these efforts are severely under resourced.
This led to my understanding of Ontario’s good food gap: a policy environment that separates farming, food and health.
The result of my many conversations with farm and food leaders is Menu 2020: Ten Good Food Ideas for Ontario. The report presents a rationale for doing food, farming and health policy differently by taking the lead from people on the ground.
Media coverage
In the Globe and Mail: Setting the table to beat the “good food gap.”
On Metro Morning: Sandy Houston, President of the Metcalf Foundation speaks with Matt Galloway.
In the Winnipeg Free Press: Many woes, single cause: dysfunctional food system.
And a commentary by John Clement of the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario: “Thumbs Up” for recommendations on agricultural planning in new report.
What is next?
The report recommends an Ontario Farm, Food and Health Act, to trigger the reform of policies, programs, regulations and taxation in favour of the local food economy and access to healthy food. We will be working to flush out this Act over the next six months and welcome your ideas.