Locavore News – Canada
Posted: May 26, 2010
Categories: Uncategorized
- People’s Food Policy Project
- Sooke jewel still blazes local food trail
- Community gardens, farmers’ markets only an appetizer
- Cuizine: The Journal of Canadian Food Cultures
- Many Alberta Farmers’ Markets Open for the Summer
- Iggy fails taste test: Libs new food policy breaks ground but is low on basics
- Review of the Provincial Policy Statement, 2005 (Ontario)
- Young Farmer Agriwebinar Series
- The social economy across the rural to urban gradient: Evidence from registered charities.
- Feds to put price on Canada’s nature
Perspectives on good food and farming by Elbert van Donkersgoed
May 26, 2010
People’s Food Policy Project
The People’s Food Policy Project is a pan-Canadian network of citizens and organizations that is creating Canada’s first food sovereignty policy. Between June and December 2009, over 1000 citizens participated in conversations, including farmers, community / health workers, eaters, cooks, academics, policy wonks, small business owners and more. Thanks to the hard work of over 70 volunteers, these conversations were summarized and we are now very close to having a series of discussion papers that will eventually make up the People’s Food Policy. We all feel that the time is now to unite our efforts to change our food system. Please watch for these discussion papers on our website starting in June 2010.
Sooke jewel still blazes local food trail
Calling it the “granddaddy” of the local food movement in British Columbia, Sooke Harbour House was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at Vancouver Magazine’s 21st Annual Restaurant Awards last week. The magazine honoured owners Sinclair and Frederique Philip for blazing a trail in promoting regional foods and producers over more than three decades at their award-winning seaside inn and restaurant. Times Colonist story.
Community gardens, farmers’ markets only an appetizer
A group of sustainably minded planners, developers and designers sit down to discuss plans for a new community. Over breakfast, they talk about energy conservation, alternative transportation and water management. At lunch, they dine on locally grown vegetables, B.C. cheeses and freshly baked bread. Later, between sips of afternoon tea and coffee, they discuss green-building systems, carbon footprints and affordability. Food infuses nearly every facet of our lives — our work and play, our health and survival. While sustainability is an increasingly high priority for many cities, according to the recently released book, Agricultural Urbanism, planning for sustainable food systems is generally not discussed around the planning table. Montreal Gazette story.
Cuizine: The Journal of Canadian Food Cultures
An integral aspect of ethnic identity and cultural production, food acts as a window into multiple cultural publics and thus lends itself to various interrogations through, for example, ethnography, history, material culture, literary studies, sociology, anthropology, religious studies, art history, communications, and environmental studies. Cuizine aims to provide an innovative academic forum for interdisciplinary discussions surrounding the diverse culinary cultures of Canada, while also providing a venue for dynamic creative content on the subject. We are delighted to announce the latest installment of Cuizine: The Journal of Canadian Food Cultures. Click on Volume 2, Issue 1 below for Hersch Jacobs’ study of the structural elements of Canadian cuisine, Gwendolyn Owens’ exploration of the history of kitchen wallpaper, and much more original research, artwork, poetry, and book reviews. And introducing a new regular feature to CuiZine, a section devoted to creative non-fiction and food reminiscences, which we call “Petites Madeleines.” Read on! Cuizine website.
Many Alberta Farmers’ Markets Open for the Summer
The May long-weekend marks the opening of a majority of seasonal farmers’ markets throughout the province. Alberta has more than 110 approved farmers’ markets, including 16 year-round, which offer a variety of high-quality, locally produced items. More than 3,000 vendors now offer a variety of products at Alberta’s farmers’ markets including: vegetables of different varieties, locally grown fruit, meat (fresh or frozen), eggs, honey, bedding plants, fresh flowers, baking, processed food products, artisan products and one-of-a-kind crafts. All approved farmers’ markets display the Sunny Girl logo, indicating at least 80 per cent of their vendors produce their products locally within Alberta. Government of Alberta release.
Iggy fails taste test: Libs new food policy breaks ground but is low on basics
Canadian Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff released his proposed national food policy on April 26. Policy-wise, the dish makes for slim pickin’s, mostly overcooked, a bit stale, loaded with artificial sweeteners and flavors, low on basic nutrients. But that’s not the point. Ignatieff is Canada’s first major political leader to stake out ground for the next new thing in public policy, arguably the most important breakthrough in social, environmental and health thinking for at least a generation. Mistakes are worth noting, but they don’t show readily on that big a canvass. Scotland, Wales, Cuba and Brazil are the only countries to have basics of a national food policy, so Ignatieff deserves full marks for being way out front. Wayne Roberts essay.
Review of the Provincial Policy Statement, 2005 (Ontario)
The Province is undertaking a review of the Provincial Policy Statement, 2005 (PPS) to determine the need for revisions. The PPS sets out the Ontario government’s policy direction for land use planning and development and is the integrated, consolidated statement of all provincial ministries’ policies concerning land use. The Planning Act requires that decisions on planning matters made by municipalities, the Province, the Ontario Municipal Board and other decision-makers “shall be consistent with” the PPS. Environmental Registry posting.
Young Farmer Agriwebinar Series
The FCC Young Farmer Agriwebinar Series webinars are now available online. You will need to subscribe to podcasts to view. Past Webinars.
The social economy across the rural to urban gradient: Evidence from registered charities.
This paper focuses on registered charities, which are one of the main types of formal organizations within the domain of the social economy. We present a profile of registered charities across the rural to urban gradient and highlight the potential use of administrative taxfiler data for further community level analysis. Our analysis is based on data from the Canada Revenue Agency, which are processed with Statistics Canada’s Postal Code Conversion File (PCCF+). This classifies each registered charity to standard census geographies, in our case census subdivisions. The results are presented here by degree of rurality of the community, using the rural and small town definition of rural. Hence, our definition of rural/urban charities is based on the location of the charities and not necessarily on the geographic scope of their activities.Statistics Canada, Agriculture and Rural Working Paper No. 92, Catalogue no. 21-601-MIE.
Feds to put price on Canada’s nature
A unique research project at Environment Canada could soon offer a new perspective for Canadians on conservation and its economic value, says a director in the federal department. Following a fall report released by the United Nations Environment Programme that concluded natural ecosystems around the world were worth trillions of dollars in the global economy, the Harper government is following up with the development of its own framework to evaluate the economic value of nature in Canada. Canada.com story.
AND if You Have Time
New York bar to set menu prices like stocks
What’s the value of a pint of beer? Let the market decide, says a new restaurant in Manhattan where prices for food and beverages will fluctuate like stock prices in increments according to demand. Reuters story.