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 acheive 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.

What are the best practices for local food distribution in Ontario and beyond? Take our poll: http://twtpoll.com/wpe0r5

Sustain Ontario and Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance (OCTA) have partnered to develop case studies of local food distribution models. Distribution has been identified as a priority issue for both Sustain Ontario and OCTA members. Regional and local food production has increased in response to market demand. Yet farmers face significant challenges in reaching existing and expanding local markets. Several innovative enterprises have developed recently that bridge this market gap. These alternative distribution models are the focus of the project’s research and case studies. We will be looking at existing business models in Ontario as well as other jurisdictions.

The research will explore an important economic opportunity that will be of interest to farmers and processors, people expanding or adding value-added capacity to their operations, small distributors who plan to expand, and organizations involved in economic development, community development and culinary tourism. The report in addition identifies significant new market opportunities that will be of interest to policy-makers, investors and government partners.

It is funny how things change sometimes.

I was reminded of this recently when I received a glossy promotional magazine in my mail for one of Ontario’s farm organizations that discussed amongst other things a national food policy like they had invented the idea.

A few years ago I was at a government consultation meeting around the future of agriculture. I was there representing the National Farmers Union and the thousands of farmers across Canada who have been talking and working on promoting the need for a national food policy and agricultural policies that actually focus on the needs and importance of family farmers. During the meeting I brought up the idea of a national food policy.

Continue reading the full article here: Food policy for Canada by Grant Robertson

The City of Toronto is a global leader in municipal food policy development. Across North America municipalities look to the City of Toronto, and in particular Toronto Public Health and the Toronto Food Policy Council for leadership, guidance and advice.

Just yesterday I received an email that also went to Toronto City staff, from a city of Columbus, Ohio staff person.

The note states:

“Throughout my research, I have noticed that Toronto is by far one of the most progressed cities in North America in regards to local foods…As I am about to present my report to the City of Columbus, specifically about Toronto’s local food economies and policies, there are a few last questions that I hope can be answered.
How Toronto has dealt with Urban Sprawl and the local food economy? 
How does Toronto ensure rural communities receive just compensation for their risk and labour, while welcoming all the diverse urban communities to the table? 
How this benchmark is Toronto’s local food procurement been implemented and how has it affected Toronto and the local food economy?
How has Toronto increased the number of food markets and food availability? 
What sort of tactics were used to market local food?
With your help, we might be able to establish better local food economies in other places throughout North America, as Columbus looks to take a step in Toronto’s direction.”

Big, broad questions. But all are ones that the City of Toronto, despite many jurisdictional limitations, is grappling with. And Toronto is not only grappling with the questions, but addressing the thorny and complex issues related to implementation. Because of this balance between policy development and implementation, Toronto is recognized as a global leader.

The Food Connections report builds on the City’s commitment to provide healthy, affordable, accessible, local and sustainable food to Torontonians. It links food to health, the economy and environment, to our culture and neighbourhoods. And, in the tradition of the Toronto Food Policy Council, is making these issues part of the City’s public discourse.

I’d like to point out several ways that this report stands out, from my perspective.

Builds on Toronto’s Leadership
…and others are following.

Toronto signed a Food Charter outlining food rights and a vision for food security for Toronto. Many others followed suit, including the province of Manitoba, Thunder Bay, Sudbury and most recently, Durham. Endorsed by Durham Regional Council last December, the Durham Food Charter reflects the community’s vision for a food secure Durham Region focused toward building a just and sustainable local food system as a foundation for population health.

Local Food Procurement
Toronto has committed to a local food procurement policy, but has been slow to assign target benchmarks. Markham was the first municipality in Canada to adopt local procurement practices for its municipal food services, an initiative to help support Ontario’s farm economy, address climate change, reduce green house gases and pesticide use, and to promote environmentally responsible purchasing. At the same time the City of Markham implemented a Zero Waste policy. The City of Toronto should become the first large municipality in Canada to develop a comprehensive local food procurement policy.

Other food strategy processes: the People’s Food Policy Project, the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. All are undertaking federal food policy processes. The Toronto Food Strategy paves the way for looking at food, regional agriculture and health in an integrated way, and will inform these policy making processes in the same way Toronto led the way for municipal food policy councils and food charters across North America.

Makes food a priority
This report defines food from field to table, as generating health along the food chain, as connected to other pressing societal issues. One neighbouring municipality has done extraordinary work in this area, and I hope Toronto Public Health uses this work as a model for moving forward. Waterloo Region Public Health has led the way for municipal health authorities, releasing a discussion paper entitled “Towards a Healthy Community Food System in Waterloo Region” in October 2005. Public Health asked the public for input on the proposed strategies in the report. In 2007 the report “A Healthy Community Food System Plan” was published.  Waterloo Region is actively reshaping its regional food system to deliver healthy local food to residents.

Citizen Engagement
The report outlines a broad, creative and meaningful consultation and engagement process that will capture Torontonians Good Food Ideas, and more importantly, strategies to effectively implement these ideas.

Connects City and Countryside
In late 2008, Sustain Ontario was formed as a provincial alliance that would research and develop policy proposals related to healthy food and local sustainable farming. Sustain Ontario’s mandate is to advocate for a food system that is healthy, ecological, equitable and financially viable. Sustain Ontario acts as a bridge between rural and urban farming and food leaders, and connects farmers, food entrepreneurs and eaters.

I want to end my comments by speaking directly to the report’s recommendation related to connecting city and countryside through food. The report outlines a few strategies to do this.

• local food procurement
• participating in a regional food strategy process
• school food and food literacy
• promoting diverse crop production
• city to farmer linkages and training through urban agriculture

There are other recommendations in the report that meet this goal. These recommendations mesh with how Sustain Ontario’s constituency view the interrelationship between urban, peri-urban and rural areas.

• support small and medium size businesses through initiatives such as the Toronto Food Business Incubator. We must rebuild our local food infrastructure and food entrepreneurs as central to this task.
• enable urban agriculture – as food education and through enabling land use policies that will, no doubt, be taken up and implemented by other jurisdictions
• local food promotions. Torontonians need to be inspired to choose local first.
• farmers markets. The city should continue to release public space for markets.
• link priority neighbourhoods with local sustainable food and community food programs. Eating fresh, local fruit and vegetables is key to meeting the health challenges of all Torontonians, especially those who live on fixed incomes and in food deserts.

For more information:
City of Toronto Food Connections website

Board of Health Agenda

Urban food strategy unveiled – The Globe and Mail.

“The Ontario government could help build an infrastructure for a regional food economy, a regional system to support diversified farming, shorten the food chain and reduce the carbon footprint.” Betsy Donald. 2009. “From Kraft to Craft: Innovation and Creativity in Ontario’s Food Economy.” Toronto, Martin Prosperity Institute.

The April 6th 2009 provincial announcement of $24 million to “develop the logistics to get more Ontario-grown food into the province’s schools, hospitals, food service companies and other institutions” is a timely investment in the local food economy. Demand for local food is at an all-time high. Across Ontario, public interest groups, stakeholder organizations and food enterprises have been developing innovative ways to get local food to consumers. Targeted investment in local sustainable food production, processing and procurement will spur economic growth across the province, creating new green jobs. The Government of Ontario can create the conditions for Ontario producers to access new markets and stimulate food enterprise development. Sustain Ontario – The Alliance for Healthy Food and Farming, is launching the “Local Food, Local Jobs” initiative to support a local and sustainable food system for Ontario.

Sustain Ontario recommends key investments over the next three years in local food infrastructure and programs that stimulate regional food economies across the province.

- Encourage relevant ministries to co-operate on the development and execution of a province-wide local food strategy.

- Support regional civil society groups, stakeholder organizations and enterprises to scale-up their local food and agriculture efforts, and develop innovative partnership models to build supply chains for local food.

- Encourage the purchasing of local and local sustainable food in all public sector food procurement contracts. Provide transition funding for institutions to develop local supply chain linkages.

- Re-establish infrastructure to support the local food economy by developing regional food processing, abattoirs and distribution facilities, and by enabling on-farm post-harvest handling and other value-added activities.

- Support farmers to transition to meet the surging demand for local food, and encourage production practices that shorten the food chain and reduce the carbon footprint.

The province of Ontario should balance the investment of $24 million for local food procurement between  priority areas:

Developing and executing a province-wide local food strategy – $3 million.

Transitional funding for farmers and institutions to develop local supply chain linkages – $7 million.

Supporting civil society groups, stakeholder organizations and enterprises to scale-up their regional food and agriculture efforts, and develop innovative partnership models to build supply chains for local and local sustainable food – $7 million.

Re-establishing infrastructure to support regional food economies across the province – $7 million.

Let us know what you think of these recommendations by commenting below.