An association of daycares in the Montérégie region of Québec (RCPEM[1]) have partnered with Équiterre and the regional conference of elected officers (CRÉ[2]) for the project Croqu’Plaisir. Considering that one Quebec child in five suffers from overweight (Shields, 2005) and that the average Canadian meal travels some 2500km (CAAAQ, 2008), this project aims to increase...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
[gdl_gallery title=”GALLERY_TITLE” width=”IMAGE_SRC” height=”IMAGE_HEIGHT” ] Hot off the press – a brand new booklet providing an overview of Greater Vancouver’s first six Farm to School programs. Learn about the people, their schools, and their successes and challenges implementing Farm to School programs. Thanks to the collective efforts of the school communities, farmers, and partners from...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
Over 64 municipal and regional governments across Canada are using a food systems approach to improve health, generate economic development, address environmental sustainability, and engage communities. The report released today, “Municipal food policy entrepreneurs: a preliminary analysis of how Canadian cities and regional districts are involved in food system change,” is the first scan of...Read More
Farm To School is a well-established health promotion program that has been sprouting up all over Canada for some years now. Farm to School programs aim to connect schools and local farms with the objectives of serving healthy meals, improving student nutrition, providing educational opportunities and supporting local small scale farmers. In the last five years, the Public Health Association of BC has...Read More
A few weeks ago, students and community members joined together to battle out the title for top chef at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). Though the evening was truly competitive and intense, the event was part of a celebratory Foods Week. UNBC’s foods week involved several ‘food’ events developed in a collaborative effort...Read More
Imagine a Ministry of Agriculture and Sustainable Food Systems?, Or an agricultural land reserve that can only be used for farming? Or a provincial food procurement policy requiring hospitals to reach a target of 30% local? Or a renewal of the Buy BC program?. Yes, this is something British Columbians can expect if the BCNDP...Read More
Memorial University is making great strides towards food systems sustainability. In March 2013, Campus Food Systems Project Coordinators, Caitlin Colson and Sarah Archibald had the opportunity to visit Memorial University’s St. John’s Campus and see, first hand, the local food initiatives happening on campus and in the community. We had the chance to speak with...Read More
Action on the local food front is gearing up in New Brunswick. In addition to providing funds to support a provincial coordinator for the New Brunswick Food Security Action Network, the provincial government of New Brunswick is investing more than $35,000 to support the Community Food Mentor program this year. Healthy and Inclusive Communities Minister Dorothy...Read More
