Community Food Matters and the The Eat Local Challenge Future of Food in the Kootenays Conference

1. Community Food Matters and the The Eat Local Challenge Future of Food in the Kootenays Conference Nelson, BC November 2007

2. Steering Committee made up of representatives from: • Kootenay Country Store Co-operative • Interior Health • Deconstructing Dinner, Kootenay Co-op Radio CJLY • Nelson Food Cupboard Society • Ward Street Place • Earth Matters • Nelson District Community Resources Society • Salvation Army • Selkirk College CFM maintains communication with Kootenay Food Strategy Society www.kootenayfood.ca

3. Vision The vision of the Community Food Matters (CFM) group is that Nelson be a well-nourished thriving community where everyone has the opportunity to enjoy abundant, locally produced food that is grown in a sustainable and socially responsible manner. Mission Our mission is to engage the whole community in the development of initiatives, activities and policies that create a locally sustainable food secure system.

4. Community Food Matters Community Food Forum November 18, 2006 Nelson, BC

5. Purpose of Community Food Forum The purpose of holding the food forum was to uphold our mission by bringing together all parties interested in raising awareness of local food security issues. Funding* Community Food Action Initiative (CFAI) Funding Administered through Interior Health as part of ActNow BC

7. Breakout Groups • Education/Community Outreach • Health & Nutrition • Emergency Services • Local Food Production • Policy

8. Education / Community Outreach • Farm Tours • Public School Programs/Curriculum • Backyard Garden Tours • Local Knowledge • Cooking Classes

9. Health and Nutrition • Media • Nutrients Lost in Distance Traveled • Barriers to Healthy Eating • Time • Energy • Money • Skills • Solutions: Education, Buying Groups, School Gardening

10. Policy • Need for Ministry of Agriculture Extension • Services • Municipal Support for Existing Programs • Official Community Plans to Incorporate Local • Food Policy, No Genetically Modified Foods, No • Chemical Pesticides • Municipal Policy for Backyard Livestock • Greening Rooftops • Access to Farm Product Outside of Regulations

11. Local Food Production • Farmers personally subsidize the cost of food production • by working jobs to pay off the land, equipment and farm • infrastructure before starting the business • Often one of the farmers must work off of the farm to • bring in a living wage • Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) • Next Generation: Skills are not being passed on to new • farmers • Need of Farmers Advocacy Groups – Farmers are best at • farming, not meetings

12. Emergency Services • Several myths were dispelled around the funding and restrictions of • Emergency Services and for whom and why such services are required. • 40% of Food Bank users are kids • Government not talking about it and its relationship to other problems • Using food banks is not a chosen dependency; reasons range from • High housing costs • Contract work • Changes in EI • Welfare Access • Illness • Good Food in our Nelson Dumpsters • This (restaurant and store) food needs to be redirected rather • than disposed of in garbage • Reduce separation between rich and poor in Nelson • Gleaning – Harvest Rescue Program

13. Activities 2006-2007 • Mailing List / Newsletters • Potlucks • International Day of Farmers’ Struggle, • Seeds of Deception - Film/Potluck – April 2007 • Eat Local Challenge – August 2007 • GE-Free Kootenays – November 2007 communityfoodmatters@riseup.net

14. Eat Local Challenge • For the month of August, 150 • participants pledged to eat • a local diet • How local? Determined by the • participant • CBC Daybreak South Segment – • September 2007 • Funding from the Osprey Foundation • Deconstructing Dinner 1-Hour • Broadcast – Oct. 11/07 • www.cjly.net/deconstructingdinner/101107.htm

15. Eat Local Challenge • Common Concerns Among Participants • Coffee will never be replaced! • Access to grains • Requires Planning • Regulations (Meat Inspection, Dairy, Eggs) • Increased use of personal transportation • Labeling of processed food • Recognition of loss of skills and knowledge

16. Eat Local Challenge • Positive Outcomes • Recognition that upon leaving the region, eating • locally becomes difficult. Creation of a sense of place. • Push to explore new foods and new forms of food preparation • Recognition of seasonal staples; i.e.. Potatoes • Wild Crafted Tea • Recognition that egg production is dependent on weather • Ease of giving up non-local staple foods • Involvement of children/teenagers in the process • New relationships formed • Bringing family and partners together around food • Pets CAN take the challenge too! • Newfound respect for farmers • Desire to meet farmers and lend a hand on the farm

17. Eat Local Challenge Participant Responses “I found that because I became so dependent, particularly on Mad Dog Farms, with their hens having difficulty laying eggs, and also they had elk come in and eat about several thousand dollars worth of their winter squash, I realized how dependent I am just on their farm. So, I started going up there, and just volunteering there, and seeing how they farm, and being a part of it, and I just felt a lot more connected to food, and that this is a food system I should be more involved in.”

18. Eat Local Challenge Participant Responses “I think one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time is the first local potluck we had. Everything tasted so great and there were so many stories behind all the food and for some reason I really felt like I really belonged in the Kootenays.”

19. Eat Local Challenge Participant Responses “I definitely have an enormous respect for farmers now; more so than I ever did. Because just learning about the struggles they have, and I just want to tell everyone, listen to these people, they are so knowledgeable. 100 years ago, a lot of us did know how to farm, we did know how to produce our own food. And I just think these people are so valuable, and I think we just really need to put them higher up in respect than we do, and start learning from them, because I think we’re all going to end up needing to produce more of our food, especially kids.”

20. GE-Free Kootenays Strategy Session – November 10, 2007 Abbotsford, BC - August 8, 2007

21. Inspiration "One of the questions I am frequently asked when I am speaking in various countries is; given the environmental problems that the world is facing, can we make it? That is, can we avoid economic decline and civilization collapse? My answer is always the same: it depends on you and me, on what you and I do to reverse these trends. It means becoming politically active. Saving our civilization is not a spectator sport." — Lester Brown, Earth Policy Institute "Life is so brief that we should not glance either too far backwards or too far forwards… therefore study how to fix our happiness in our glass and in our plate." - Grimod de la Reynière (1758-1838)

22. Contact Info / Resources Community Food Matters email communityfoodmatters@riseup.net Jon Steinman / Deconstructing Dinner email deconstructingdinner@cjly.net Deconstructing Dinner web site www.cjly.net/deconstructingdinner Global Public Media Web Site www.globalpublicmedia.org Kootenay Food Strategy Society web site www.kootenayfood.ca