Food Security

Zero Waste Stream

BC food exchange program receives million-dollar award
VANCOUVER, BC, November 23, 2006 (Vancity) - A program that rescues high-quality food, keeping it out of landfills and redistributing it to non-profit agencies that feed hungry people across the Lower Mainland, has won a $1-million award from Vancity. Last year, Quest Food Exchange diverted 6.6 million pounds of surplus high-quality food from Lower Mainland landfills, which added up to $7 million worth of food. Each day the organization fills, then empties, its Vancouver warehouse providing food to more than a hundred social service agencies feeding more than 45,000 people a month. https://www.vancity.com/MyCommunity/AboutUs/MediaCentre/MediaReleases2006/Nov23BConlyFoodExchangeProgramGetsOneMillionGrant/

Students Involved in Sustainability Projects

Green Thumb Kids
SYDNEY, NS, November 2006 (Post Carbon Institute) - The goal of this project was to get children into growing tomatoes and beans for their own consumption or for sale at the Farmers’ Market. Excellent cooperation was received from teachers in the Cape Breton Victoria District School Board. Notices were sent to homes of all grade three students inviting them to join the project. Approximately 50 students registered; they came to the Market with a parent/guardian who signed consent for the child’s participation. Each child received two heritage tomato plants as well as a dozen Romano beans.
http://postcarbon.org/node/4299

Students Involved in Sustainability Projects

Green Thumb Kids
SYDNEY, NS, November 2006 (Post Carbon Institute) - The goal of this project was to get children into growing tomatoes and beans for their own consumption or for sale at the Farmers’ Market. Excellent cooperation was received from teachers in the Cape Breton Victoria District School Board. Notices were sent to homes of all grade three students inviting them to join the project. Approximately 50 students registered; they came to the Market with a parent/guardian who signed consent for the child’s participation. Each child received two heritage tomato plants as well as a dozen Romano beans.
http://postcarbon.org/node/4299

Food Choices

The Joy of Raw Food
EList, October 7, 2006 (Pat Newson, EcoNews) - I turned vegan 10 years ago, just before turning 50, because I knew that what animals went through to become food was wrong. This was a huge turnaround for me. My health improved and my consciousness changed. Denial lifted and I was able to see how eating animals underlies much of the harm we do to the planet.As I approach 60, I have evolved to a raw vegan diet. It makes sense – eating food as Nature designed it, rather than changing it through heat and chemicals. My health has improved dramatically, along with another shift in consciousness. I am closer to Nature, and I trust my body as a miracle that is perfectly able to maintain balance and heal itself so long as I feed it the nutrients it needs. I am bypassing the pharmaceutical tyranny and I know I am contributing to the healing of my great mother, the Earth. See http://www.rawbc.org

Urban Agriculture / Local Living Economies

The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
Havana, Cuba. February 24 2006, (Megan Quinn, Permaculture Activist)- At the Organico de Alamar, a neighborhood agriculture project, a workers' collective runs a large urban farm, a produce market and a restaurant. Hand tools and human labor replace oil-driven machinery. Worm cultivation and composting create productive soil. Drip irrigation conserves water, and the diverse, multi-hued produce provides the community with a rainbow of healthy foods. In other Havana neighborhoods, lacking enough land for such large projects, residents have installed raised garden beds on parking lots and planted vegetable gardens on their patios and rooftops. http://www.globalpublicmedia.com/articles/657

Rural Agricultural Rejuvenation / Food Security

Reclaiming Rural Culture
WEB Reference, October 4, 2006, (E.F. Schumacher Society) - The only energy source that we have complete control over is that of the human. Our ability to work, to draw sustenance from the lands around us comes from the tools we carry with us every day. The food we rely on comes from the accumulated knowledge of multiple generations, access to arable plots of land, and the strength of our backs. Only in the past five to six decades have we made a conscious effort to neglect our accumulated knowledge, sell our farms and watch the muscles whither from our shoulders. We have made this decision based on ease, and based on the assumption that the agricultural industry has our best interests in mind. In order to reclaim control over our food production, to remove ourselves from a food supply chain stretched thinner and thinner by increased productive centralization, we need to relearn our lost knowledge, reclaim our lost farms and reform our lost muscles. Farmers, especially young farmers, who are given the space and the support necessary will see that farming can be profitable for the individual, the community and the environment. By giving these farmers the opportunity to use the land as a teaching tool, we are investing in our security. http://www.schumachersociety.org/newsletters/06oct04.html

Local Living Economies / Green Sourcing

Avoid E. coli, buy Lo coli.
CALIFORNIA, USA, September 22, 2006 Alana Herro (Worldwatch Institute) - According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the most important thing consumers can do to respond to the current E. coli outbreak in the United States is to avoid eating spinach, the suspected source of the contamination. But Dr. David Acheson, chief medical officer with the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, acknowledges that buying spinach that is locally-grown may be a safe alternative. http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4540

Local Living Economies

How Local Food Goes Forth and Multiplies

EList, August, 2006, (SSFPA) – If hometown business enthusiast Michael Shuman has his crystal ball in working order, we now know where global insecurities about pandemics, terrorism and scarcity lead. The affluence and apathy of the 1950s spawned prophecies about the End of Ideology; the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1980s led to predictions about the End of History; mass layoffs at giant corporations during the 1990s forecast the End of Work. But global insecurities about pandemics, terrorism and scarcity in the new century, if hometown business enthusiast Michael Shuman gets his 15 minutes as a crystal ball reader, foretell the End of Wal-Mart. http://www.ssfpa.net/pages/sound_bits_read_more.htm#End_Walmart

Conference Listing: Food Security

Bridging Borders Toward Food Security

VANCOUVER, BC (FSC) – Food Secure Canada is a recently-formed Canadian organization which unites people and organizations working for food security nationally and globally. In conjunction with the Community Food Security Coalition, the FSC will be hosting its Fourth Annual Conference, "Bridging Borders Toward Food Security” in Vancouver, October 7-11, 2006 at the Sheraton Wall Centre (1088 Burrard Street). Conference themes include: Food Secure Communities, Food and Institutions, Food and Cities, and Global Food Issues. http://www.foodsecurecanada.org/news.html

GMO Awareness / Green Sourcing

Because You are What You Eat
WEB Reference, August 2006 - Would you like to have the tools and insights to help drive genetically engineered foods off the market? Recently, the Genetic Engineering Action Network published the "The Local Organizing Toolkit" which is a compilation of materials that can help individuals organize local grassroots groups and carry out winnable, strategic campaigns. The Local Organizing Toolkit consists of eight chapters: Develop a Local Group, Develop a Campaign Plan, Get Media Coverage, Local Fundraising and Special Events, Local Resolutions, rBGH-Free Dairies, GM-Free Schools, and GE-Free Farmers Markets. Download the kit online at no cost at http://www.geaction.org/new.html.

Self-Reliance

Recipes for a Good Life
BOOK Reference, (New Society Books) – ExtraVeganZa is an exquisite compilation of recipes that push the boundaries of vegan cuisine. Adding unique flair, ExtraVeganZa also highlights natural foods as alternatives for food dyes, producing some rare colored treats for the eye. An edible flowers glossary and a special section on natural food dyes helps the reader experiment further. An important milestone in vegan cuisine, it incorporates the larger scale vision of growing your own food or at least knowing where it comes from, and creating a more sustainable lifestyle. At the author's organic farm and B&B, they grow as much food as possible for themselves, their guests, farm workers, restaurants and the local community. http://www.newsociety.com/bookid/3925

Public Interest Research Groups / GMO’s

Cast and Crew needed for "Splice of Life: The Genetically Modified Musical"
EDMONTON, July 28, 2006 (APIRG) - What's a genetically modified musical? If you can imagine a journey through labs that feature such delights as tap-dancing sheep, singing fruits and vegetables, and mad scientists, then you're on the right track. We're looking for people of all types and abilities to join in this community theatre extravaganza. Can't sing? Can't dance? Can't act? That okay! Roles range from major speaking parts to skittering critters with no lines at all. We are also seeking a music director and musicians to join the "house band." The play will be put up on Sept 15th and 16th. Rehearsals will run through August and the first two weeks in September. Please contact Aaron Chubb or 780-492-0614 if you are interested inparticipating. http://www.apirg.org/wg/biofreedom.php

Local Living Communities / Food Security

Food Security in the Western Communities
EList, July 24, 2006 (Left Coast News) – Access to healthy, nutritious food for everyone now and in the future is a concern for many people in the Western Communities. It is the purpose of a new, innovative initiative being undertaken by Capital Families Association and the Western Communities Food Coalition. Healthy Foods: Today and Tomorrow invites people from all walks of life with food concerns to work together growing more food for themselves and others. It also invites people in need of nutritious food to work together to get the food they need and improve their diets. The initiative has developed a plan of action in response to the interests expressed by a variety of residents-- people using the Goldstream Food Bank, seniors, young parents, and First Nations. As part of a new revitalized Luxton Fall Fair in September, the Coalition has been invited to sponsor a major attraction called Homegrown: A West Shore Food Festival. Fun and interesting displays and activities will focus on healthy local foods and sustainable agriculture. Persons interested in taking part in any of these activities may contact David Stott DavidStott@CanadianHousing.org

Green Sourcing / Fair Trade

VIA Rail first in transportation industry to offer only fair trade coffee
MONTREAL, June 19, 2006 - VIA Rail Canada announced today that it will now serve only 100 percent fair trade certified coffee to its customers on its trains throughout Canada. Thanks to its partnership with TransFair Canada, VIA was able to select a supplier that guarantees the origin and the quality of the product grown according to strict environmental norms, while helping to improve living conditions for farmers and workers involved in its production. http://www.viarail.ca/cgi-bin/AffichageWebComm?Commande=select&langue=en&IDX=2&pk_webcomm=696

Global Village Overview

2010 Goal: Ethically Produced Foods to Tip Market Majority
ELIST, Apr 23, 2006 (Goodwork reference to Ecofacilitation) – Ecofacilitation (in the Netherlands) is an organization comprising environmentally conscious, socially responsible producer groups, wholesalers, and retailers that are working together to drastically increase the flow of organic, ethically produced foods to world markets. EcoFacilitation was founded by a group of European and American organic pioneers who, in 2003, began researching the factors influencing supply and demand of organic and fairly traded food in the current supply chains. By 2010, Ecofacilitation aims to get 50% of Europe's food supply to be ecologically produced, fairly traded and nutritionally improved. For more information contact: ecofacilitation@gmail.com.

Self-Reliance / Emergency Preparedness

How to Make Your Own Low-Cost Solar Food Dryer
BOOK Reference, May 16, 2006 (New Society Books, Eben Fodor) - The Solar Food Dryer describes how to use solar energy to dry your food instead of costly electricity. With your own solar-powered food dryer, you can quickly and efficiently dry all your extra garden veggies, fruits and herbs to preserve their goodness all year long - with free sunshine! Applicable to a wide geography - wherever gardens grow - http://www.newsociety.com/bookid/3900.

Local Living Communities

Eat Your View
VIRGINIA, USA, May/June 2006 (Mother Jones, Michael Pollan) - According to Joel Salatin, a Virginia farmer, a revolution against industrial agriculture is just down the road. The reformation of our food economy begins with people going to the trouble and expense of buying directly from farmers they know—“relationship marketing,” that believes that the only meaningful guarantee of integrity is when buyers and sellers can look one another in the eye, something few of us ever take the trouble to do. The total economy, astounding in its ability to absorb every challenge, is well on its way to transforming organic food from a reform movement into an industry—another flavor in the global supermarket. It took capitalism less than a quarter century to turn even something as ephemeral as bagged salads of cut and washed organic mesclun, of all things, into a cheap international commodity retailed in a new organic supermarket. Salatin and his customers want to be somewhere that juggernaut can’t go, and it may be that by elevating local above organic, they have found exactly that place. By definition, local is a hard thing to sell in a global marketplace. Local food, as opposed to organic, implies a new economy as well as a new agriculture—new social and economic relationships as well as new ecological ones. http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2006/05/no_bar_code.html

Resources / Food Security

Centre for Studies in Food Security
WEB Reference, Mar. 19, 2006 (Ryerson University, CSFS) - Established at Ryerson University in 1994, the Centre for Studies in Food Security (CSFS) has been working to promote food security through research, dissemination, education, community action and professional practice. We take an interdisciplinary and systemic approach to the social justice, enviromental sustainability, health and socio-cultural aspects of food security. The Centre shares information and facilitates dialogue among civil society organizations, universities and governments through our web site and associated mailing lists. We have hosted several national and international conferences and we are engaged with food security initiatives at local, regional and global levels. http://www.ryerson.ca/~foodsec.

Events / Food Security Conference – Vancouver, BC Oct 7 - 11

Call for Proposals: Fourth Annual Conference of Food Secure Canada
WEB Reference, Mar. 2006 (Food Secure Canada) – Heads up in conjunction with the Community Food Security Coalition "Bridging Borders Toward Food Security", Vancouver, BC, Canada. October 7-11, 2006 –Just for information, see the: Call for workshop and presentation proposals, but please note the deadline was April 7th. http://www.foodsecurecanada.org/news.html.

Exemplary Resources / Agriculture

Miscellaneous Organic Research Links from the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada
http://www.organicagcentre.ca/ResearchDatabase/res_misc.html.

Farmland Conservation / Food Security

Explore, Develop, Conserve and Share Ecological Farming Systems
WEB Reference, Mar. 26, 2006 (Heliotrust) - There is a limited amount of productive farmland in Nova Scotia. Mostly, these farms are small to medium-size and include some natural habitat and/or managed woodlots. It is important for both food security and conservation of biodiversity that this farmland is conserved. Heliotrust was formed in 2003 to: facilitate conservation of farmland for farming and diversified farm landscapes for conservation of biodiversity; conserve heritage bread wheat varieties; develop educational materials & rural-urban linkages supportive of ecological agriculture; host the Farmer-Mentor Project - an initiative to celebrate, record, and demonstrate important farm knowledge. Heliotrust has conserved two farms on the Hants Shore - Red Fox Farm (Centre Burlington) and Avonmouth Farm (Summerville) - through Conservation Easements. It has set up an Endowment Fund for conservation of more farms in the future. Heliotrust is a voluntary organization linked to the Food Action Committee of Nova Scotia's Ecology Action Centre (EAC - http://www.ecologyaction.ca ). Accomplishments - http://www.heliotrust.ca/misc/misc05/accomplished.html. Future activities - http://www.heliotrust.ca/misc/misc05/future.html. For phtographs and short reports on past events, go to the EVENTS (http://www.heliotrust.ca/events.html ) page.

Health / Raw Foods

Raw Food Lifestyle Recipes
WEB Reference, Mar. 2006 (Health Freedom Resources) - Eating raw doesn't mean eating just salads or "bunny food". There are many recipes for foods made with raw ingredients which are more hearty and filling, and can make your life as a raw fooder much more enjoyable. In fact, you can even make gourmet all raw foods as complex as lasagna - made with fermented nut cheese, mock pasta and sauce. http://healthfree.com/raw_food_recipes.html.

Food / Health

What About Dairy? Looking Behind the Mustache
WEB Reference, Apr. 3, 2006 (Earth Save) - Dig into nearly anyone's supermarket shopping cart (with their permission, naturally) and what do you find? Amid the canned corn, Rice Crispies, carrots and cellophane, you're likely to unearth a jug of milk, a carton of yoghurt, and a wedge or two of cheese-- even if the basket belongs to one of North America's more-than 12 million vegetarians.
http://www.earthsave.org/news/whatdary.htm.

Resources / Community Food

Community Food Security Coalition: Best Practices
ELIST, Mar. 28, 2006 (BCFSN) - Hello all, just in case any of you are not already familiar with the good work of the Community Food Security Coalition out of the USA, I would encourage you to go check out their publications on their websites. They have have models and reports for much of the work and studies we are now doing with Health Ministry funds. Some of their info will only be relevant to USA based work but there is also a wealth of info we can all benefit from: http://www.foodsecurity.org/pubs.html#action_guide

Leadership Education / Aboriginal

Aboriginal Food Security
ELIST, Mar. 28, 2006 (BCFSN) - Greetings, I am a member of the Aboriginal community in Toronto in addition to a MSW student at the University of Toronto. I am currently working with Ryerson University - Centre for Studies in Food Security as a Research Assistant. We would like to identify Aboriginal peoples in Canada that are "leaders" in the field regarding Aboriginal food security for the purpose of attending a potential conference here in Toronto. Could you please provide me with any names and contact info of people that you think would be interested. miigwech (thank you), Bonnie Guarisco, MSW Student, University of Toronto, Faculty of Social Work Research Assistant, Ryerson University, Centre for Studies in Food Security Tel: 647-436-8291.

Stewardship / Community Ownership

Do you care about the future of our farmland?
DUNCAN, BC, Feb. 23, 2006 (TLC) - Help The Land Conservancy create a Community Farm Cooperative to manage and operate Keating Farm near Duncan. This innovative project involves the community in farmland protection and local food production in perpetuity. It will be a model for other communities. We are hosting two community meetings in Victoria to spread the message about the Cooperative. If you are considering supporting Keating Farm by becoming a member-shareholder in the Cooperative, PLEASE DO IT NOW. We only require a signed "Agreement to Purchase" at this point in order to know it will be successful. For a copy of the Agreement, please go to: http://www.conservancy.bc.ca/regioncontent.php?sectionid=173&pageid=646&regionack=vi. Individuals, groups of individuals, businesses, other cooperatives, community or government organisations are eligible. Please SPREAD THE WORD. Co-sponsored by VIPIRG (Vancouver Island Public Interest Research Group). For more information about this meeting or Keating Farm email rscott@conservancy.bc.ca or call (250) 479 8301.

Success Stories / Profiles

Rural Agriculture Success Stories – US
WEB Reference, Feb. 2006 (Smart Communities Network - http://www.smartcommunities.ncat.org/rural/sstoc.shtml) - The USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program's Ten Years of SARE profiles people and projects from the last decade of its work. The site includes 10 subject areas--from crop production to natural resource protection--and offers examples of successful projects from around the nation. Exploring Sustainability in Agriculture offers a brief overview of sustainable agriculture and features a number of profiles of farmers pursuing it.

Resource / Farm Markets

BC Association of Farmers’ Markets
WEB Reference, Feb. 2006 (BCAFM) - Farmers' markets operate in every type of community across British Columbia: cities, suburbs and rural communities. Markets vary in size and sophistication, from large sheltered public markets to a few farmers with their trucks parked next to each other in a parking lot or farm field. Listings: http://www.bcfarmersmarket.org/directory/index.htm.

Events / AgriTourism – 5 BC Communities – Feb – Mar

On a Roll with Agriculture
WEB Reference, Feb. 2006 (BC AgriTourism) - To help address the needs of today’s farm producer, the British Columbia AgriTourism Alliance and Canadian Farm Business Management Council have joined forces to create an informative "road show". This unique and innovative caravan will bring a one-day workshop-style conference to five communities across British Columbia in February–March 2006. http://www.agritourismbc.org/caravan. Also, check Southern Vancouver Islands Agritourism opportunities - http://www.islandfarmfresh.com/agritourism.html.

Food Enterprise / Reference

Canadian Food and Beverage Processors
WEB Reference, Feb. 2006 (www.foodincanada.com) - Food in Canada ("The Voice of the Canadian Food Industry") 2005 Top 100 (http://www.bizlink.com/foodfiles/PDFs/sept2005/food_top100_sept05.pdf) list of food companies (based on sales for 2004).

Our Shifting Focus / Food Growing

Starving for Change: The Necessity of a New Agricultural System
ARTICLE Excerpt, Feb. 2006 (TheBubble.ca) – (Editor’s note: This is a really great article.) … "The research indicated that organic corn, over a period of 69 growing seasons, yielded 94 per cent of what conventionally grown crops yielded. With data from five states over 55 growing seasons, organic soybeans also showed a 94 per cent yield compared to conventional crops. Examined over a period of 16 seasons, organic wheat produced 97 per cent of conventional yields and tomatoes, with 14 years of comparative research, showed no yield difference at all. The benefits of organic food growing far outweigh slightly lesser yields (additionally, there are methods, described later in this article, that actually produce higher yields)…. A 21-year Swiss study of organic and conventional farming systems found that organic farming methods used 50 per cent less energy, 97 per cent less pesticide and as much as 51 per cent less fertilizer than conventional methods (and the fertilizer that is used comes primarily from animal waste). At the completion of the study, the soil in the organic test plots was rich in nutrients, resistant to erosion and much more water absorbent." http://thebubble.ca/v1/magazine/issues/1/main.php?cat=2 (This excerpt is about ¼ of the way down the page.)