Children and Youth Food Network Name Competition

Author: Kendal

Posted: January 15, 2013

Categories: Edible Education Network / Food in the News / GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Ontario

The Child and Youth Food Network (CYFN) is making considerable progress as a network and will continue to pick up momentum as it develops a website, local coordinators, a series of action plans, and more. At this juncture, the CYFN would like to choose a different name for the network that reflects the dynamism and potential of this group to create valuable, positive and long awaited changes for the community of young people in Ontario.

The winner will receive a food media set, which will include several books and DVDs related to food and farming.

Send your ideas to kids@sustainontario.ca by January 18, 2013. The selected name will be announced by the end of January.

To help you in your quest for the perfect name, please read about the CYFN along with further contest details…

The CYFN’s vision is to have healthy food environments across Ontario where children and youth have equal access to healthy and sustainably produced food, and where learning about healthy eating is supported through a range of educational and hands-on activities.

Pursuant to this vision, the CYFN will support:

• Integrating food into the curriculum;
• Working outside of the classroom to educate children and youth about food;
• Establishing and maintaining children’s gardens in schools and communities;
• Establishing and maintaining culinary programs for children and youth;
• Connecting children and youth in schools to local, farm-fresh food;
• Promoting student nutrition programming (i.e., healthy food programs);
• Developing local food policy.

The CYFN maintains a strong commitment to equity, healthy food environments, sustainable foods, and diversity.

This Network will undertake the following activities to support its work: linking with groups and individuals, information and resource sharing, mentorship program development, advocacy, capacity building, workshops and training, and more.

Name Profile:

1. The ideal name will express the values and goals of the network to connect young people with healthy local food (see above).

2. Ideally it would imply the combined efforts of teachers, farmers, student nutrition providers, parents, non-profit organizations, school boards, administrators, kids, public health, and food businesses (and others) involved in the network.

3. The name will be used in private and public settings such as letterheads, newsletters, website, emails, and public events. For this reason it is important that the name distinguish this network from other food advocacy networks (please avoid submitting names that are similar to existing organizations). In other words, it must be original.

4. The name will suit the future development and destiny of the network. For this reason it must be resilient and flexible to the development of the network.

Names that have been previously suggested:

• Ontario Farm to School Network
• Ontario Food Literacy Network
• Ontario Food Education Network
• Ontario Schools Network
• Healthy Eating in Schools Network

Organizations that already exist:

• National Farm to School Network
• Food Allergy Education Network
• Healthy Schools Network
• Canadian Child and Youth Nutrition Program Network
• Say Yes to Education