Sustain Ontario’s Food Literacy Discussion Paper
Posted: June 25, 2014
Categories: Edible Education Network / GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Ontario
Credit: Growing Good Food Ideas video from Community Food Centres Canada.
On November 6th 2013, the Government of Ontario passed the Local Food Act. Its goal is to support, promote, and celebrate the good things grown and made in Ontario.
The passing of the Act came after three readings and a series of committee hearings where various organizations, including Sustain Ontario and some of its members, voiced their perspectives on potential amendments to the Act. A major theme that ran throughout the submissions was the urgent need for food literacy for all Ontarians.
In the end a provision was included in the Act that requires the Minister of Agriculture and Food to establish goals or targets to aspire to in the area of improving food literacy in respect of local food. The deadline to establish these goals and targets was set for January 31, 2015.
To support the Government of Ontario’s process, Sustain Ontario has prepared a paper that summarizes the perspectives of groups that made submissions to the Local Food Act hearings. “A Discussion about Food Literacy Within the Context of the Local Food Act” aims to communicate how Ontario stakeholders view the concept of food literacy according to the submissions that were made.
Sustain Ontario is now planning to develop an additional discussion document to further inform how the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food could advance food literacy within the context of the Local Food Act. Stay tuned for our next steps.
Additional Information
In their submissions to the Standing Committee on Social Policy, stakeholders consistently associated food literacy with the potential to reduce future health care budgets, achieve a healthier population, and support Ontario’s food system and economy.
A number of food literacy concepts were repeatedly mentioned as being essential for building a strong food system in Ontario and for achieving broader health, economic, and socio-cultural goals. The submissions discuss food literacy as the understanding of:
- Local agriculture and where food comes from;
- How food systems impact individual health, broader societal and economic wellbeing, and the environment;
- How to grow, access, prepare, and prefer healthy, safe and nutritious food.
Read “A Discussion about Food Literacy Within the Context of the Local Food Act” for the full analysis.