What do community gardens on vacant urban lots, mobilizations against sea-lice infestations on the B.C. coast, support for small-scale fishers, university and community-led elementary school food programs that promote local food, and farmer protests against the Canadian Wheat Board and the Trans-Pacific Partnership have in common? They are all part of a growing movement in...Read More

Photo Above: Food activist and organizer Roberts: ‘Partnerships are the future of food policy.’ Wayne Roberts  describes himself as the “Mr. Magoo” of municipal food policy; often stumbling and frequently saved by luck (the kind that comes from years of practice.)  Roberts has decades of experience as a community organizer, and from 2000 to 2010...Read More

When pioneering chef and advocate Alice Waters told the thousand-plus delegates at a recent Farm to Cafeteria conference that “the question of local food is deeply a question of equality,” she struck a chord that had been resonating throughout the conference all week. Sure, local food is about good health and the environment. It’s about supporting...Read More

Our efforts are paying off!  Farm to Cafeteria Canada has been working behind the scenes with representatives from diverse sectors right across the country to support the introduction and adoption of policy that will get more local foods into our public institutions. Last June, we were delighted to support the introduction of bill C-539 in...Read More

  VANCOUVER/Vancouver Sun/ – Most Canadian schools teach children about local foods as part of their regular curriculum, but only 14 per cent have an offical policy or contract that requires local procurement, according to respondents to a national survey by Farm to Cafeteria Canada. About 90 per cent of the 144 schools that completed the recent...Read More

VANCOUVER/Tyee/ – Colleges and universities are driving local food procurement in the public sphere, according to a new survey. The survey, conducted by Farm to Cafeteria Canada, is the first of its kind to look at local food purchasing by public institutions across Canada. In total, 239 representatives from colleges and universities, public schools and health care facilities...Read More

According to new report commissioned by Farm to Cafeteria Canada, activity to bring healthy, local and sustainable foods into public agencies is gearing up in almost every province and territory in Canada – and there is a hunger for more. The Report- Local Foods- Canadian schools, campuses, and health care facilities speak up (2013) is the first...Read More

As Farm to School, Farm to Campus and Farm to Healthcare programs are sprouting up all over the country, one would think there are plenty of jobs to be found. However, funds for  health promotion, community nutrition, environmental,  agricultural, and educational work in Canada are increasingly scarce. Yet not-for-profit agencies count on such funds to...Read More

Health Canada’s  Office of Nutrition Policy  and Promotion  has just released a new report – Working with Grocers to Support Healthy Eating. This  report outlines trends influencing the food retail environment and consumer purchasing behaviour. It summarizes promising interventions from the literature and profiles experiences from Canadian programs to help us understand how the food...Read More

The political will to get more local food onto the public plates – is gearing up. No less than five Canadian Premiers have made solid commitments to furthering the local food movement. Three Premiers have specifically  said they want to see more  publicly funded institutions purchasing local foods and one Premier has set a target...Read More