People's Food Policy

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Resetting the Table: A Peoples Food Policy for Canada

is the result of a collaborative process in which hundreds of peopledevoted thousands of volunteer hours to create a food policy that

genuinely reects the perspectives of people across the country.

We would like to acknowledge and thank all 3500 people who

participated in Peoples Food Policy discussions and events,

contributing their ideas and visions for a healthy,

just and ecological Canadian food system.

This text is part of the Creative Commons.

You are free to share the text (copy, distribute and transmit)

under the condition that you attribute the work in the

manner specifed by the Peoples Food Policy. *

www.peoplesfoodpolicy.ca


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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ............................................................................ 1

Why Canada Needs a Food Policy ............................................................ 4

The Wider Context ................................................................................. 5

Changing Courses.................................................................................. 7

Introducing the Peoples Food Policy ........................................................ 8

Food Sovereignty ................................................................................... 9

The Peoples Food Policy Platform .......................................................... 10 n Indigenous Food Sovereignty............................................................ 10

n Food Sovereignty in Rural and Remote Communities........................... 12

n Access to Food in Urban Communities .............................................. 13

n Agriculture, Infrastructure and Livelihoods ........................................ 15

n A Sustainable Fishery and Reasonable Livelihood for Fishers ................ 16

n Environment and Agriculture ........................................................... 17

n Science and Technology for Food and Agriculture ............................... 19

n Food Trade and International Aid ..................................................... 20

n Healthy and Safe Food for All ........................................................... 21

n Food Democracy and Governance .................................................... 23

Conclusion.......................................................................................... 25

Acknowledgments ................................................................................. 26

Endnotes ............................................................................................... i


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Executive Summary

The Context

Canada urgently needs a national ood policy. Closeto two and a hal million Canadians are ood insecure.

Farmers and shers are going out o business, ournatural environment is being pushed to the limit, aquarter o Canadians are considered obese, and weare the only G8 country without a nationally-undedschool meal program. Te status quo is no longer anoption.

Te need or change is widely recognized and plans to develop national ood policies are being advanced by manysectors, including the majority o ederal political partiesand inuential industry groups. The Peoples Food

Policy is signicantly dierent rom these initiatives. Itis the rst-ever national ood policy to be developed bythe ood movement itsel a diverse and dynamic net-

work o organizations and individuals working to builda healthy, ecological, and just ood system or Canada.

Te Peoples Food Policy embodies a wave o concerninterest and action by citizens who are increasingly ques-tioning how our current ood system is organized. Fromconnecting directly with ood producers to reclaimingindigenous ood systems to setting up ood policy coun-cils, people across Canada are taking actions daily thatare transorming our ood system rom the ground upTese actions need to be translated into policy.

Resetting the Table:A Peoples Food Policyfor Canada


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Executive Summary contd

The Process

Over the course o two years, over 3500 Canadians par-ticipated in a groundbreaking grassroots project to dene

paths toward a ood system that can provide adequateamounts o healthy, acceptable, and accessible ood orall. Te Peoples Food Policy is based on ten detailed

policy discussion papers. Tese discussion papers weregenerated through an extensive process that includedthree hundred and y Kitchen able alks, hundreds o

policy submissions, dozens o tele-conerences, ongoingonline discussions, and three cross-Canada conerences.Tese discussion papers include both whole-o-govern-ment policy recommendations and concrete guidelinesor how the proposed changes can be put into action.

The Proposal

Te Peoples Food Policy is rooted in the concept o oodsovereignty. Tis is an internationally-recognized ap-

proach where ood is viewed as a primary oundation orhealthy lives, communities, economies and eco-systemsKey elements include:

n Ensuring that ood is eaten as close as possible towhere it is produced (domestic/regional purchasingpolicies or institutions and large ood retailers,community-supported agriculture, local armersmarkets, etc.).

n Supporting ood providers in a widespread shi to

ecological production in both urban and rural settings(organic agriculture, community-managed sheries,indigenous ood systems, etc.), including policies or theentry o new armers into agriculture.

n Enacting a strong ederal poverty elimination andprevention program, with measurable targets andtimelines, to ensure Canadians can better aord healthyood.

n Creating a nationally-unded Children and Foodstrategy (including school meal programs, schoolgardens, and ood literacy programs) to ensure that allchildren at all times have access to the ood required orhealthy lives.

n Ensuring that the public, especially the mostmarginalized, are actively involved in decisions thataect the ood system.


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Te Peoples Food Policy is being launched in collaboration with Food Secure Canada,the voice of the food movement in Canada, uniting groups and individuals working towards a food system

that is healthy, ecological, and fair for producers and consumers.


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Introduction

Te Peoples Food Policy is the rst ever Canadian oodpolicy to be developed by individuals and organizationswithin the growing ood movement a diverse network

o people, many o whom work day in and day out onood issues. Tis group includes inner city organizers,armers and shers, indigenous people, entrepreneurs,nutritionists, public health proessionals, policy ana-lysts, academics, workers at ood banks, non-prot andcommunity-organizations, gardeners, cooks and oth-ers who care about ood. Over the course o two years,more than 3500 people participated in a grassroots pro-cess to collaboratively articulate a vision or a healthy,ecological and just ood system that will provide enoughhealthy, acceptable, and accessible ood or all.

Te Canadian ood movement is a rap-idly expanding, diverse, and powerulorce or change. What brings these

people together is a shared under-standing o ood as a oundation orhealthy lives, communities, economies,and eco-systems. Tis approach valuesecologically produced ood eaten asclose as possible to where it has beengrown and within an inclusive and

participatory ramework where citi-zens are actively involved in decisionsabout how ood is produced, accessed,and enjoyed.

In order to develop the Peoples FoodPolicy, Canadians contributed their ideas via three hun-dred and y Kitchen able alks, hundreds o policysubmissions, dozens o tele-conerences, ongoing online

discussions, and three cross-Canada conerences. Teseideas were compiled into 10 detailed discussion papersthat include both whole-o-government policy recom-mendations and concrete guidelines or how the pro

posed changes can be put into action.

Tis document is an introduction to the Peoples Food

Policy. It outlines some o the key recommendationscontained in the policy discussion papers and considers

what urther steps are needed to move towards the goao a healthy, just, and ecological Canadian ood system.

Why Canada Needs a Food Policy

When millions o Canadians sit down to their eve-ning meal tonight, two key ingredients will be miss-

ing: a coherent national ood policy in the public interest, and active

participation in the ood system We may have used our own reci pes and served the ood ourselvesbut there is a much broader systemthat brings ood to our homes, andoperates largely without our directinvolvement. Many people assumethat the existing ood system ismanaged in the public interestUnortunately, there is no guaran-tee this is the case. In act, Canadahas never had a coordinated andexplicit ood policy, let alone onedesigned or the public good. heresulting patchwork o government

policies that determine our de-acto ood governance does not adequately prioritize the needs and

wishes o the majority.


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Tis is not acceptable. Canada urgently needs a coherent,ederal ood policy that guarantees universal access to ad-equate amounts o healthy and appropriate ood within a

participatory, equitable and ecological ood system. Teevidence o this need is stark. Despite living in one o the

wealthiest countries in the world, close to two and a

hal million Canadians aremoderately or severely oodinsecure.1 In Northern com-munities, ood insecurityis even more prevalent. InNunavut, or instance, oodinsecurity aects a third othe population.2 And thesenumbers appear to be onthe rise, with ood bank usegoing up by 28% in the past two years alone.3 At the sametime, armers and shers are going out o business, our natu-ral environment is being pushed to the limit, a quarter oCanadians are considered obese,4 and we are the only G8country with no nationally-unded school meal program.

Meanwhile, in spite o the act so many Canadians do nothave enough to eat, we are sending more o our agricultural

production out o the country than ever beore, quadru-pling exports in the last twenty years. Increasing exports oagricultural commodities is at the heart o Canadas currentagri-ood system, placing its importance well above that oeeding Canadians. But this export-oriented approach isnot working either or ood eaters or or ood providers. Av-erage net arm income in Canada is currently going throughits lowest period in history. Sales-only incomes (not takinginto account credit, government support and o-arm jobs)are well below zero.6 Canada lost 17,550 arms between2001 and 2006 alone.7 Te ocus on exportation also means

we are progressively importing more, including many thingswe can grow, process and store in Canada. All this means

urther losses or our economies and or our communities.

Te Peoples Food Policy embodies a wave o concerninterest and actions by citizens who are increasinglyquestioning how our current ood system is organized

Canadians are asking orand working towards

another way orward: aood system that is centredon widespread access tohealthy, ecologically andlocally produced ood. Tis

will require the scaling upo initiatives that build relationships between eatersand producers, strengthening health, economies and

communities in the process. People across Canada are taking actions daily that are transorming our ood system toreect this vision. Tese actions need to be translated intonational policy.

The Wider Context

he story o misdirected Canadian ood productionis just one example o a critical level o internationalmismanagement o our ood systems. Globally, weare in the midst o a serious ood crisis, with over925 million (one in seven people) experiencingchronic hunger, and close to another billion acingserious nutritional deiciencies.8 We are also acing a

planet-wide environmental crisis in which the in-dustrial part o the ood system that is dependenton ossil-ueled monocultures bears signiicantresponsibility or climate change, decreased soilertility, large-scale loss o biodiversity, and water

Food insecurity is defned by theCanadian government asthe inability to acquire or consumean adequate diet quality or sufcientquantity of food in socially acceptableways, or the uncertainty that one willbe able to do so.5


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shortages. Just ve o the worlds largest ood and bever-age processors use about 575 billion liters o water per

year enough to meet the daily water needs o everyperson on Earth.9 Te industrial ood and agriculturesystem is the leading contributor to climate change,responsible or up to 57% o total greenhouse gas emis-sions.10 Climate change is already making agriculture

more challenging as armers deal with unpredictableand extreme weather, rising soil salinity due to sea levelchanges, changes in pest populations, and encroachingdesertication. Global agricultural yields are projectedto urther decrease by as much as 16 per cent due toclimate change beore the end o this century.11 Mean-

while, adaptation to climate change is used to justiyland grabs (or instance, or agrouels), urther under-mining ood availability.

Te root problem is that ood istreated as a market commodityrather than as a necessity o lie.Te primary beneciaries o thecurrent system are the companies

who trade in ood and ood-related products global oodand agri-business as well as theinternational nancial speculators

who gamble on ood commodi-ties. What happened during the ood price crisis that

hit world markets in 2008 is a clear example o howood systems are currently set up to benet industryand the nancial sector at the expense o the worlds

poor. During that ongoing global crisis, more than 100million people in almost orty countries were pushedinto hunger by spikes in the price o ood that averaged83%.12 It happened so ast that in some countries thecost o staples, such as rice, tripled in three months. Inmany parts o the global South, where people spend upto 80% o their income on ood,13 that represents the

dierence between eating and not eating.

Over the same period, global agri-business posted hugeincreases in returns. Cargill alone, one o the three largestgrain traders, posted prots in the rst quarter o 2008

just when the ood crisis was on the ront pages o newspapers around the world that were 86% higher than the

previous year.14 Hedge unds and other utures investorshad also recently turned to ood as the next hot ticket. Tiscreated a ood commodity boom similar to the housing

price boom, orcing governments and consumers to compete with speculators or ood supplies. In a our-monthperiod, investment in US grain and livestock utures morethan doubled to about $65 billion, representing about halthe value o all corn, soybeans and wheat grown in that

country the worlds largest exporter o all three commodities.15 ocommodity speculators, anythingthat limits the ood supply (such asgrain hoarding, oods, droughts, orconict) is seen as positive, as it de-creases availability and drives up the

price o utures. Te ood price crisisthat began in 2008, driving up pricesor staples that are now at recordhighs,16 was great or business.

In the absence o strong ood policies and regula-

tion in the public interest, the global ood system hasbeen let in the hands o the market. Corporationsand global capital have undue inluence and controover the ood system, operating beyond the reach ogovernment or public oversight. Rather than beingrecognized as a biological requirement o lie, this haturned ood into a volatile commodity. Needless tosay, this de acto g lobal and national ood policy runscounter to the needs o the majority o the populationand the health o the planet.

The Wider Context contd


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As signatories to the Universal Declaration o HumanRights and other international treaties, Canada andmany other countries share an obligation to implementmeasures to ensure the human right to ood.

As signatories to the Universal Declaration o HumanRights and other international treaties, Canada andmany other countries share an obligation to implement

measures to ensure the human right to ood. A Canadawith no ood policy is like not having a national healthcare policy eaturing gaping cracks through whichmany all. We do not tolerate this possibility in the eldo health care, and we should not continue to tolerate itsreality with regard to ood. It is time or change.

Changing Courses

Te need or change in our ood system is recognized at bothCanadian and global levels. Here in Canada, the majority o

political parties have called or a national ood policy in thelast year. Additionally, Agriculture and Agri-ood Canada(AAFC) is currently developing the Growing Forward IIAgricultural Policy Framework (or 2013-2018); the Ca-nadian Federation o Agriculture (CFA) is working on anindustry-led National Food Strategy; the Conerence Boardo Canada is launching a Centre or Food in Canada; and theCanadian Agri-ood Policy Institute has recently released areport calling or a drastic overhaul o our agricultural policy.

Globally, a review o the entire ood and agriculture pro-gramming architecture is currently underway at the UnitedNations (aecting organizations such as the World FoodProgramme and the Food and Agriculture Organization)At the same time, industrial agriculture is being challenged bymajor players in the global arena. In 2008, the World Bankand the UN convened 900 experts to carry out a comprehen-sive three-year assessment o world agriculture. Formally en-

dorsed by 58 countries, their ndings called or undamentalshis in arming away rom industrial production models andtowards agro-ecology.17 More recently, the United NationsSpecial Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter, released a report echoing calls or a widespread globamove rom chemical to ecological agriculture, demonstrat-ing that this approach could double ood production in keyareas o hunger in ten years or less. He went on to concludethat to support this shi, the role o public policy and invest-ment will be paramount, as private companies will not investmoney in practices that do not result in patents or increasedmarkets or chemical products or improved seeds.18

Tings are clearly cooking in ood policy and citizens, oenle out o key processes or aorded token consultation rolesare not content with last minute seats at pre-set policy tablesIt is time or strong citizen and civil society involvement inthe construction o a new ood policy or Canada a policy

which places the well-being o the majority and the health oour planet at the centre o all decisions. It is time to reset thetable.

To feed 9 billion people in 2050, we urgently need to adopt the most efcientfarming techniques available. Todays scientic evidence demonstrates thatagroecological methods outperform the use of chemical fertilizers in boosting foodproduction where the hungry live -- especially in unfavorable environments.

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter


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Introducing the Peoples Food Policy

Te Peoples Food Policy has its roots in the 1977-1980Peoples Food Commission, a citizen-led initiative thattoured the country. Te commission held hearings in

75 communities to explore how ood systems aectedarmers, shers, homemakers, low-income people, tradeunionists, academics, and other ordi-nary Canadians. Te idea o pickingup where the Peoples Food Com-mission le o was rst proposed atthe 2005 General Assembly o FoodSecure Canada (FSC), a Canada-widealliance o civil society organizationsand individuals working to advanceood security in Canada and globally.

Te Peoples Food Policy Project wasthereaer initiated by a group o FoodSecure Canada members and has at-tracted the engagement, support, andcollaboration o a wide variety o or-ganizations.

Te Peoples Food Policy aims toensure healthy ood or all. It createsa place or citizens in shaping ood

policy and programs, and works to

support the web o relationships among peoples andthe natural world in which we live. In the context o aailing Canadian ood system, ood movement practi-tioners have been taking matters into their own handsor decades, building key elements o a parallel healthy,

just and participatory ood system. Tis work includes:increasing the accessibility and availability o local ood;developing ood policy councils; growing communitygardens; strengthening community supported agricul-ture; supporting ecological and urban agriculture; or-

ganizing collective kitchens and purchasing groups andmuch more. Tese community-led initiatives have demonstrated impressive results, including increased com-munity and household ood security, greater economicresilience among ood providers and strengthened environmental health. Tey share a core vision o individualand community participation in decisions regarding

ood and the ood system.

Te Peoples Food Policy is a seri-ous attempt to synthesize the lessonslearned rom the ood movement andtranslate these learnings into an interconnected and coherent set o policy

proposals to support the scaling upo community eorts. Cutting-edgeanalysis has been developed by over3500 participants, and led by an active

team o over 100 people working onthe ront-lines o the most successuand innovative ood-related commu-nity work in our country. Key to thisleadership is an Indigenous Circle whohave helped guide all stages o policydevelopment. Te resulting policy isbased on two years o work, hundredso individual policy submissions, 350Kitchen able alk gatherings, and

three pan-national meetings.

Te Peoples Food Policy is being proposed at a time when many other voices are also calling or change inCanadian ood policy. It is important to underline thatthis initiative is signicantly dierent than the othersTe Peoples Food Policy is the rst national ood pol-icy to have arisen rom the dynamic and growing oodmovement a diverse coast-to-coast-to-coast networko organizations and citizens who are working to builda strong solutions-based ood system or Canada. More


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than a set o policy recommendations, the Peoples FoodPolicy is an ongoing participatory process. It is alreadysuccessully modeling the inter-connected analysisand inclusive approaches that are necessary ounda-tions or a healthy, just, and ecological Canadian oodsystem.

Food Sovereignty

Te Peoples Food Policy is based on the principles o oodsovereignty. Food sovereignty calls or a undamental shiin ocus rom ood as a commodity to ood as a publicgood. As such, it can once again assume its central rolein strengthening communities, ecosystems and econo-mies. Food sovereignty also recognizes that women bear

primary responsibility or ood provisioning, production

and preparation, as well as the disproportionate eects opoverty and other orms o marginalization. Te concepto ood sovereignty was rst proposed by La Campesinathe global peasant movement co-ounded by the Canadi-an National Farmers Union, at the World Food Summit in1996. It has since been dened through an internationalconsensus process (please see box). Te language o oodsovereignty, as distinct rom ood security, is explicit about

ood citizenship: it emphasizes that people must have a sayin how their ood is produced and where it comes romTe core o ood sovereignty is reclaiming public decision-making power in the ood system.

Peasants and social movements around the world haveanchored this vision o a genuinely participatory, just

and ecological ood system in six interlinked Pillars oFood Sovereignty. Food sovereignty includes the undamental recognition o Indigenous Peoples as nurturers oood systems that have been sustainable or thousands o

years. Indigenous ood sovereignty understands ood assacred and part o a web o relationships with the natura

world that sustains culture and community. Food, watersoil, and air are not viewed as resources but as sourceso lie itsel. Based on an understanding o what oodsovereignty means in Canada, this perspective has beenemphasized by the addition o a seventh pillar o ood

sovereignty Food is Sacred (please see box).In the years since the concept o ood sovereignty wasrst advanced by the global peasant movement, it hasgained both strength and currency. It has been widelyadopted and ood sovereignty networks and organiza-tions can be ound all over the world. Countries withreerences to ood sovereignty in their constitutions ornational legislation include Bolivia, Ecuador, Mali, Ne-

pal, Nicaragua, Senegal, Uruguay and Venezuela. It hasalso been recognized at the level o global institutions

Food Sovereignty is the right of peoplesto healthy and culturally appropriatefood produced through ecologicallysound and sustainable methods, andtheir right to dene their own food andagriculture systems.

La Via Campesina


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For instance, ood sovereignty is now part o the ofcialdiscourse at the United Nations Committee or WorldFood Security (CFS), with the ormal participation o theInternational Planning Committee or Food Sovereignty.Te Peoples Food Policy is the rst Canadian policy to beadvanced based on ood sovereignty principles.

The Peoples Food Policy Platform

Te Peoples Food Policy is based on the work o tenpolicy teams who have each produced a policy discussionpaper:

nIndigenous Food SovereigntynFood Sovereignty in Rural and Remote

CommunitiesnAccess to Food in Urban CommunitiesnAgriculture, Inrastructure and LivelihoodsnA Sustainable Fishery and Reasonable Livelihood

or FishersnEnvironment and AgriculturenScience and echnology or Food and AgriculturenInternational Food PolicynHealthy and Sae Food or AllnFood Democracy and Governance

Te policy discussion papers are summarized in the nextsection, with priority recommendations or each oneFor a more detailed analysis o these topics and completesets o recommendations, please reer to:

www.peoplesoodpolicy.ca

nIndigenous Food Sovereignty(Written by the Peoples Food Policy Indigenous Circle)

CHALLENGES

Tere are many challenges currently acing Indigenousood sovereignty. Tese go as ar back as when the co-lonialists arrived in the Indigenous lands now known asCanada. At that time nation-to-nation agreements were

Food Sovereignty contd

Seven Pillars of Canadian FoodSovereignty

1. Focuses on Food for People

2. Values Food Providers

3. Localizes Food Systems

4. Puts Control Locally

5. Builds Knowledge and Skills

6. Works with Nature

7. Recognizes that Food is Sacred


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developed based on a sacred provision to shared caringor the land as guided by Indigenous knowledge and

ways o knowing. Tese agreements have not been up-held, and our land, water and air is being heavily pollutedby mining, industry, sprawling development and muchmore. At the same time, hunters, shers and gatherershave been conned into smaller and smaller areas due

to the creation o land reserves, national parks, privatelands, etc. Tis aects not only the ability o Indigenous

people to make use o customary oods ound in nature,but it undermines the very abric o Indigenous com-munities and the oundations o traditional knowledge.Indigenous communities now ace widespread poverty,hunger, lack o aordable housing, eroded culture andlanguage and other social difculties, both on reserveand o. Te ability to access traditional oods has been

pushed aside by mainstream economic interests in manysectors, including: orest management planning; hydrodevelopment that prevents the migration o sh species;and roads, industrial and housing developments. All thishas impeded the preservation and growth o traditionalmedicines as well as the natural migration o large ani-mals, water owl, and other animals that are traditionalood and medicine sources and which represent deepcultural relationships or Indigenous peoples.

WAYS FORWARD

We work with non-Indigenous ood sovereigntiststhroughout the nation and the world, but we stress thatIndigenous peoples speak or ourselves. Te principles omutual respect and understanding must be at the hearto all o our collective work. Tis will be necessary toace the challenges posed by building ood sovereignty,including addressing the critical state o oods, lands andsovereignty on a larger scale. As the original peoples othis land and holders o traditional knowledge, we be-lieve that Indigenous ood sovereignty will be realized

when the conditions o unsustainable over-exploitationthat currently impact Indigenous communities are rec-ognized as human rights issues and dealt with accord-ingly. Further, ood sovereignty will be achieved or all

when the sharing o traditional and western knowledgeare met with mutual understanding and respect.

PRIORIY RECOMMENDAIONS

1 Land reorm and redistribution: Return to theoriginal nation-to-nation agreements as expressed in

wampum belts, treaties, and other instruments whichexpressed our willingness to share the grand resources othe land. Allocate adequate land or the exclusive use ohunting, shing and gathering reserves in areas currentlydesignated as crown land, national or provincial parksand other public lands.

2 Environmental degradation: Share in the urgent needto heal Mother Earth by integrating Indigenous customary law, which is harmony with natural law, with westernscience and legislation at all levels o government. Allo


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cate adequate resources (time, human, nancial, techni-cal) to adapt existing Canadian legislation to include ho-listic Indigenous methodologies in assessing, preventing,monitoring and mitigating cumulative risks associated

with the environmental, cultural, spiritual, and socialhealth o Indigenous land and ood systems.

3 Address social determinants o health that are negativelyimpacting the ability o Indigenous Peoples (on and o re-serve) to respond to their own needs or healthy culturallyadapted Indigenous oods, i.e.: poverty, lack o aordablehousing, culture and language, amily healing, etc.

4 Responsibility and relationships: Heal and rebuild(reconcile) contemporary relationships between In-digenous peoples and stakeholders (Canadian citizensand their government), and others who share the gis

o this great land we know as Canada. Tis will be ac-complished by clearly integrating our shared world viewsand outlining and articulating responsibilities, while alsosupporting the protection, conservation, and restorationo Indigenous and other land and ood systems.

n Food Sovereignty in Rural and Remote

Communities

CHALLENGES

Although rural and remote communities are primary ar-eas or ood production, hunting, gathering and shing,ood insecurity is a daily reality or many rural Canadi-ans. In the Yukon, Northwest erritories and Nunavut,or example, ood insecurity aects between 11% and32% o the population.19 Poverty is more widespread inrural and remote communities than in urban areas,20 andis compounded by reduced availability o resh produce

and other nutritious oods as well as long distances toreach high-priced grocery stores. At the same time, ag-ricultural land is being lost to recreational use, resourceextraction, and industrial activities. Tese activities alsonegatively impact surrounding ood producing lands and

waterways as well as local wild ood supplies.

WAYS FORWARD

Te Peoples Food Policy envisions rural and remotecommunities with the capacity to access and produce nutritious ood within a resilient ood system. Te centralrole o ood in building healthy and strong rural and re-mote communities must be recognized as a key prioritythat guides all land use policy discussions. Since humanactions and decisions occur within an interconnected

web o human and ecological systems, an ecosystemmanagement approach or rural and remote communi-ties is proposed, ensuring a sustainable management oood ecosystems.

nIndigenous Food Sovereignty contd


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1 Increase protection or agricultural and orest landto prevent loss to industrial, residential and recreationalactivities. All land protection must be inclusive o tradi-tional ood sources including hunting, gathering, sh-

ing, and agriculture.

2 Localize and decentralize the processing, inspectionand storage o ood destined or the local market. De-

velop approaches or inspection, processing and storagethat are exible, responsive, and bureaucratically stream-lined so that the unique needs o less industrial, moreseasonal, and variable approaches o small-scale local

producers are accommodated.

3 Support the emergence and mobilization o localknowledge related to ood production and preparation.Establish community-based knowledge exchange hubsthat acilitate the exchange o ood knowledge, inorma-tion, and ideas across cultural and generational lines.

4 Strengthen rural economies with supports or sus-tainable and innovative economic development initia-tives (e.g., green energy, local living economy initiatives).Identiy ood as a priority area or small business devel-opment and employment training (e.g., CommunitySupported Agriculture, market gardening, local oodco-operatives, etc).

5 Provide inrastructure and support or research andpost-secondary training in ood production that reectsthe diversity o rural and remote bio-regions and is inclu-sive o a range o ood sources (e.g., traditional or orestood) and non-industrial production methods.

n Access to Food in Urban Communities

CHALLENGES

Healthy ood, like healthcare and education, must beavailable to all regardless o income. However, close totwo and a hal million Canadians are currently oodinsecure.21 People in cities mainly obtain their ood by

purchasing it, but one in ten urban residents experience limited or inadequate ood access due to nancialconstraints.22 Low-income urban residents oen rely onCanadas 900 ood banks and other charitable agenciesFood bank use is on a historic rise, with a 28% increase inthe last two years alone.23 Even so, studies show that onlybetween one-h and one-third o people who are oodinsecure make use o ood banks,24 so ood insecurity

is likely ar more widespread than even these numbersrepresent. At the same time, many people experience losso dignity making use o ood banks, and are met witha lack o ood choices with which to ulll cultural orhealth considerations. People should not have to com-

promise their needs, agency, or sense o sel in order toaccess ood. In addition, as large retailers preer to ex-

pand into suburban areas, ewer and ewer ull servicegrocery stores remain in low-income communities, ur-ther undermining access to healthy ood. Communitiesare not designed or planned to encourage healthy ood

choices and as a result, unhealthy oods are the most con-veniently available.

WAYS FORWARD

o build ood sovereignty in urban communities, thePeoples Food Policy ocuses on removing economic bar-riers to ood provisioning, ensuring dignied ood accessor low-income and other marginalized populationsstrengthening urban ood production and access to local


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ood; and dissolving geographic, physical and culturalbarriers to accessing healthy ood resources within theurban environment.


1 Enact a ederal poverty prevention and elimination

strategy eaturing a guaranteed livable income or allCanadians. Tis includes a guaranteed livable minimum

wage, and a systematic review and recalibration o bothederal and provincial/territorial income assistance

programs to ensure all Canadians can aord to accessnutritious, healthy ood that meets cultural choices andother basic needs. Tis strategy, with measurable targetsand timelines, should be developed in consultation withmunicipal and provincial/territorial governments, busi-ness, the non-prot sector, and individual Canadians.Te program must include an eective aordable hous-

ing strategy to ensure that Canadians no longer have tochoose between paying rent and buying ood.25

2 Devote resources to research and development or a public ood system that guarantees universal access toadequate amounts o healthy, sae, and appropriate oodor all. Tis may include, or example, the establishmento local procurement policies (rom urban agricultureand nearby arms) or institutions such as hospitals,schools, universities, correctional acilities, care homes,legislatures, and government ofces. Mandates wouldeliminate inner city ood deserts by ensuring that loca-tions or new grocery stores are determined by housingdensity, socioeconomic demographics, and current oodaccess. Community initiatives such as ood centres, col-lective kitchens, community gardens, and so on, wouldalso be supported and unded.

3 Increase and strengthen urban ood production byincorporating policy and program support or urbanagriculture into provincial/territorial ministries o agri-

culture, supported by ederal agricultural policy rame-works and resources. Enact policies to strengthen urbanood production programs, such as assisting gardeners/armers to access land in urban areas; providing educa-tion on small scale ood production such as gardeningagriculture, and animal husbandry; linking gardeners/armers to appropriate resources and equipment, re-

searching small-scale ood production, etc.

4 Support regionally-based research and extension cen-tres to provide regionally-appropriate inormation onseeds and breeds to both households and urban agricul-tural communities that meets the interests within thosecommunities, and supports diverse ood choices.

nAccess to Food in Urban Communities contd


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n Agriculture, Infrastructure and Livelihoods

CHALLENGES

Canadas arm sector is one o the worlds least protable.Net arm income rom market sales or the period 2003-2010 is at its lowest in history below depression-eralevels to well under zero dollars per year, per arm.26Farm credit is the number one source o income orarms, and amily arms that have survived have done sobased largely on credit, o-arm income, and governmentsupport. At the same time, Canadas ood productionsystem is one o the worlds most export-oriented. Overthe past two decades our governments have quadrupledood exports creating policies that ship Canadian ood

worldwide to be traded and speculated upon in global

commodity markets or the primary benet o interna-tional business, while our ood producers struggle to stayin business and keep their lands.

WAYS FORWARD

Te Peoples Food Policy calls or an agricultural policythat unctions within a context o democratic participationin decision-making, that prioritizes eating ood as close as

possible to where it was produced, and that ensures decentlivelihoods or ood providers, Tis is sometimes called

the eed the amily, trade the leovers approach. Moreand more Canadians are realizing that we need a resilientCanadian arm sector, and are echoing global calls or asignicant shi to local ood systems. One aer another,urban and rural, Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadi-ans told the Peoples Food Policy teams that they want toserve their amilies ood produced and processed closer tohome. Re-localizing ood maximizes benets to armers,eaters, communities, and economies, all the while increas-ing the availability and accessibility o resh, healthy oods.


1 A key priority is to ensure that armers are able toearn a decent living, and to enable the entry o new armers into arming. Policy success should be measured bynet arm income rather than by export volume. Governments must set net income targets, cra strategies to at-tain those targets, and report on success. Farm policiesshould ocus on supporting small arms (where youngarmers and new armers oen start out); provide armertraining programs in rural and urban communities along

with measures such as partial student loan orgivenesor those going into arming; work with new immigrants

who have arming and ood production experience tohelp them nd a place on the land; and implement a re-tirement savings plan or armers.

2 Te ood processing system should: be designed orhuman-scale and community-scale processing equip-ment; support and encourage community-owned, shar-able inrastructure; encourage more co-operative mod-els; ocus on creating skilled workers. It must also includea scale-sensitive, processing-speed-sensitive meat inspec-tion system that ensures ood saety and quality or allCanadians without creating unmanageable burdens onsmall processors.

3 Agriculture Canada should shi signicant resourcesaway rom commodity-based, export-ocused agricultureand toward a community-based, sustainability-ocusedagriculture that prioritizes healthy eating or all Canadi-ans. Provincial, territorial, and municipal governmentsmust replicate that shi. Better integration is required in

planning and budgeting, and between our departmentso Agriculture, rade, Environment, and Health. Forinstance, the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canadas Grow-ing Forward II policy ramework or 2013-2018 and the


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Health Accord must support each other in re-orientingagricultural policy towards greater health or all Cana-dians.27

4 Canadian ood land must be owned and controlled,as much as possible, by the citizens who live on and workthat soil, with prohibitions enacted on oreign, corpo-rate, investor, and absentee ownership. Additionally, new

ways o getting land into the hands o those who want toarm are required, such as community-owned land trusts,debt-ree or interest-ree land transer mechanisms, andgovernment agencies that support seller-nance options.Controls should be placed on the conversion o oodland to other uses such as subdivisions, quarries, golcourses, etc.

5 Enorced legislation is required to ensure that non-citizen workers on arms are airly treated; given decenthousing and wages; enjoy sae and humane working con-ditions; have access to health care and citizenship rights,all without reprisals.

nA Sustainable Fishery and ReasonableLivelihood for Fishers

CHALLENGES

Fish are an important part o the human diet, culturesand economies. Fishing has long dened the culture, so-cial abric and local economies o Canadian coastal com-munities. For many Indigenous Peoples, sh harvestingrepresents an intimate and sacred relationship with theirtraditional territories and an integral part o a way o lie.Tough the east coast shery has been exporting shsince its inception, in 1977 Canadian policy shied to

insist that sh be treated primarily as an export commodity. In return, much o the seaood we eat is importedMarine resources, once part o the commons, are being

increasingly privatized by Department o Fisheries andOceans management policy. Te deleterious eects oprivatization and industrialization in the sheries weremade clear by the collapse o the cod shery in 1992urning sh quotas into a marketable asset has only in-tensied the drive to catch the maximum number o shurther undermining the sustainability o the sheriesTe current de acto policy ramework values Canadiansheries or their wealth generation, and not or theirrole in supplying Canada with seaood, or or their rolein the culture and economies o Indigenous, lakeshore

riverine and coastal communities.

WAYS FORWARD

Te Peoples Food Policy calls or a sheries policy thatrespects the local knowledge o shers and supportsthem in managing their own shery. Tis would resultin sh once again becoming a local and sustainable oodstrengthening cultures, communities and economies.

nAgriculture, Infrastructure and Livelihoods contd


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1 Te conservation, protection and restoration o shpopulations and the ecosystems that sustain them mustbe viewed as central to maintaining the ood security andlivelihoods o coastal communities.

2 Rebuilding local markets or sh products is crucial.Tis involves support or whar-gate sales, increased mar-keting o Canadian sh within Canada, and supporting

value-added sheries such as via local, sustainably caught,and air trade certication.

3 Policy should recognize Indigenous jurisdiction overtraditional lands and waters and support both Indig-enous sheries and other community-based livelihood

sheries.

4 Independent amily shers, owner-operator eets,and shing with the lowest impact gear type must be pri-oritized. Where quotas exist, especially quotas that aremeant to be sold to the highest bidder, measures shouldbe taken to develop strict transerability clauses that

protect sheries and marine ecosystems and ensure thatthese are kept within coastal communities.

5 Te labeling o sh or sale must be clear and honest:the species o sh, the place where caught, and the meth-od o harvesting. raceability measures should provide alink back to the sher.

6 Open-pen salmon arming should be banned andclosed containment enorced. Salmon and other typeso n-sh aquaculture should only be allowed whencoastal communities are the direct beneciaries and themanagers.

nEnvironment and Agriculture

CHALLENGES

Te agricultural choices we make as a society are o critical importance to our environment. Agriculture aectsand is in turn aectedby our natural surroundings. Ecologically sound agriculture ensures the ongoing health othe ecosystem and depends upon a healthy ecosystem inorder to unction. In contrast, the ossil-uel dependentindustrial sectors o the ood system treats inputs, (suchas energy, ertilizers, pesticides, and water) as thoughthey are o limitless supply and the environment asthough it is limitless in its ability to absorb waste and

pollution. We know that the oundations o the globaood system, are, in act, limited in supply and progres-

sively compromised.

WAYS FORWARD

Te United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right toFood has recently released a major report outlining howa wide-spread global shi to ecological agriculture wouldnot only be environmentally superior to continuing anextensive reliance on chemical ertilizers, but that it woulddouble ood production in key areas o hunger in lessthan ten years, while strengthening resilience to respond

to climate change. Te Peoples Food Policy supports thiscall or a global shi to ecological agriculture. It is cruciathat we move away rom industrial linear systems that arereliant on purchased inputs and environmentally harmu

practices and result in severe waste problems. Instead, ood production must move toward more integrated circulaecological systems where wastes become nutrients. Wemust ocus on the sustainable use o renewable resourceson production based on societys needs, and work withrather than against, natures nutrient, energy and water


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cycles. Tis includes respecting wilderness and learningrom the complex Indigenous oodways which rejectthe notion o natural resources and build instead onrelationships with their traditional lands and the ani-mals and plants that inhabit them.


1 Because agriculture aects, and is in turn aected bythe natural environment, policy measures must ensurethat soil, water, air and biodiversity o the environ-ment are protected or agriculture and that agricultural

practices contribute to the ongoing health o the envi-ronment. For example, i an industrial practice (such asemitting toxic particulate matter) harms surroundingagricultural land or has deleterious eects on the ood

produced, the industry must be required to alter its

process so it is sae or agriculture. In turn, i an agri-cultural practice (such as applying manure at excessiverates) harms the surrounding environment by impactingon its integrity and sustainability, those practices mustbe altered to ensure that the environment is protected.

2 Agriculture and the global ood supply are exceed-ingly vulnerable to the impacts o climate change. At thesame time, ecological agriculture provides a number osignicant benets: the increased capacity to sequester

carbon in soil; improved energy efciency due to reduc-tions in ossil uel derived pesticides and ertilizers; anda lowering o greenhouse gases emissions, particularlynitrous oxide and methane. Consequently, agricultural

policy and climate change mitigation policy must ac-tively promote the shi to ecological arming methods.

3 Program, policy and regulatory measures must pro-mote transition to more ecologically sustainable meth-ods o arming, removing nancial and scal incentives

that support ecologically damaging arming practicesCurrently, saety net programs encourage specializa-tion, concentration and increased scale o productionincreasing both environmental costs and the risks ocatastrophic ailure. At the same time, armers who con

vert to certied organic production shoulder the burdeno carrying all the economic risks during their transi-tion period. Policy should provide eective carrots andsticks to promote the uptake o ecological agriculture.

4 Education is key to ensuring broad public support orenvironmental sustainability. With that in mind, knowl-edge and understanding o the ecology o agricultureand the impacts o agriculture on the environment musbe promoted through ormal and inormal methods. As

nEnvironment and Agriculture contd


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ood becomes an ever more signicant actor or globalsocial stability, the need or populations to have a ullerunderstanding o ood production is increasingly im-

portant. School curricula at every grade level needs toincorporate both practical and academic lessons aboutecological agriculture. Community colleges, universitiesand inormal education providers should be supported

in providing research, training and skill-development toeducate the upcoming generation o ecological agricul-ture producers.

nScience and Technology for Food andAgriculture

CHALLENGES

Our ood system is based on thousands o years oknowledge and innovation by indigenous peoples,armers, shers, and cooks. Tis rich and diverseknowledge is being marginalized as risky technologiesacilitate greater concentration, industrialization andindustry control in ood and arming. Potential threats(oen originally introduced as technological xesor problems caused by previous technologies) rangerom the more widely-known platorms o syntheticchemicals and genetic engineering to the emerging ap-

plications o nanotechnology, synthetic biology, andclimate engineering technologies. Tese are occurringin the context o a global land grab to eed biomass-in-tensive green technologies, and at the expense o ood

production and ecosystem health. Te parallel erosiono biodiversity and community resilience severely un-dermines peoples capacity to strengthen local oodsystems, as well as respond to the increasing challenges

posed by climate change.

WAYS FORWARD

Decision-making processes regarding science and tech-nology need to be democratized and guided by precau-tion and common interest i we are to strengthen ourability to eed ourselves, ensure sustainable livelihoodsand protect biodiversity and healthy ecosystems into the

uture. Science should be acknowledged as including alorms o useul knowledge (codied and tacit) comingrom diverse orms o learning and practice includingindigenous and armer knowledge and peoples everydayexperience o ood. By helping to strengthen and expandecological agriculture, science and technology can playa particularly positive role in acing present and uturechallenges in ood and agriculture.


1 Democratize science and technology policy andintegrate the precautionary principle into all stages odecision-making.

2 Genetically-Modied Organisms (GMOs) are living pollution that sel-replicate. Tey cannot be recalled ocontrolled once they have been released and can spreadand interbreed with other organisms, thereby contami-nating ecosystems and aecting uture generations inunoreseeable and uncontrollable ways. Genetically-Modied (GM) crops threaten agro-biodiversity which isundamental to global ood security, as well as threaten theuture o organic ood and arming through contamina-tion. Existing GM crops should be phased out and thereshould be no urther approvals o GM crops and animalsA just transition process, including nancial and technicalsupport, needs to be established to assist armers to shiback to non-GM seed sources and to adopt ecologicalagriculture practices.


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3 Te power over seeds, and potentially breeds, repre-sented by monopoly control has become a mechanismor transerring wealth rom armers and rural communi-ties into the hands o corporations and their sharehold-ers. Canadas patent legislation should be amended toexplicitly disallow the patenting o lie, including living

organisms and genetic sequences.

4 Protect and support the open and ree sharing o non-transgenic seeds and breeds as a undamental practice oagriculture.

5 Establish a national ban on terminator technologyand actively support the existing international ban at theUnited Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

nInternational Food Policy

CHALLENGES

In a globalized economy, Canadian policies on oodand agriculture are aected by and have an impact onthe rest o the world. Canadas ood exports, trade andinvestment relationships, oreign aid (both short-termhumanitarian assistance and long-term developmentassistance), corporate land acquisitions abroad, androle in multilateral processes all have a direct impact onglobal hunger, livelihoods, and environmental sustainability. Tese policies remain anchored in a commerceoriented paradigm that privileges industrial agricultureor export to the signicant detriment o the globalmajority.

WAYS FORWARD

Te Peoples Food Policy calls or a new approach to international relations and agreements that enables countrieand communities to protect their ood systems rom theencroachment o powerul industry and government ac-tors and to prioritize peoples health and livelihoods overshareholder returns. Tis requires, rst and oremost, ashi away rom ree trade and investment agreementsand towards international cooperation ocused on the

support or local, national and international ood sov-ereignty policies and programs. It has never been more

vital or international policy and cooperation to ensureresilient and equitable ood production systems, accessto healthy ood or all, and long-term environmentasustainability. Tese must be the guiding objectives oCanadas international policies.

nScience and Technology for Food and Agriculture contd


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1 Ensure policy coherence and consistency using awhole-o-government approach based on the seven pil-lars o Canadian ood sovereignty; work with like-mind-ed states and organizations to bring this perspective tomultilateral orums and governance.

2 Te World rade Organization and the various bilat-eral ree trade and investment agreements that Canadahas entered into and continues to seek undermine coreelements o ood sovereignty (or example, the CanadaEurope rade Agreement prohibits purchasing policiesthat avor locally grown or Canadian grown ood, andimpede armers rights to save and re-use seeds). Foodand agriculture should be removed rom all such agree-ments and negotiations.

3 Pursue policies that saeguard small producers accessto and control over biodiversity (or example, the rightto save and control seeds and animal breeds) and adoptlegislation to prevent patents on lie.

4 Ensure that aid and trade policies and practices donot undermine international environmental conven-tions (Convention on Biodiversity, Biosaety Protocol,climate change accords).

5 Develop solid and coherent policy to promote justland reorm and prevent oreign investors and nancialspeculators rom acquiring agricultural land.

6 Use aid to support locally-developed ood sovereigntyinitiatives such as agro-ecological approaches to ood produc-tion, taking into account their contribution to local econo-mies, ecosystem health and resilience, and social equity.

nHealthy and Safe Food For All

CHALLENGES

Tere is growing and compelling evidence that Canadi-ans o all incomes experience chronic health problemsand sometimes premature death due to poor quality dietless than optimal nutrition, and occasional exposure tounsae ood. Tis starts with inadequate perinatal nutri-tion and breasteeding, premature weaning, and relianceon processed commercial inant and baby oods. About70% o Canadian children and adults do not eat therecommended amount o vegetables and ruit, milk andmilk alternatives or whole grain products. In additionthere are disturbing trends in the prevalence o over-

weight and obese adults, adolescents and children. In

the latest gures rom 2009, nearly one quarter o adults were obese.28 Due to their inability to purchase highquality nutritious ood, Canadians who are poor are themost vulnerable to chronic physical and mental health

problems. In 2007-2008, close to two and a hal millionCanadians were ood insecure.29 Food insecurity brings

with it with chronic disease including type II diabeteand high blood pressure, and is associated with higherlevels o depression, stress, anxiety, social isolation, eat-ing disorders, impaired cognitive abilities, and increaseduse o clinical services. Food insecurity also aects ami-

lies. It is linked to lower levels o positive parent-childinteractions, poorer inant eeding practices, poorer

psychological health among children, and depressionand suicidal tendencies in adolescents. Students withdecreased overall diet quality are more likely to perorm

poorly in school, and have more behavioural and emotional problems.30


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WAYS FORWARD

he Peoples Food Policy calls or a whole-o-government commitment to policies and programsthat guarantee universal access to healthy and saeood. his recognizes that Canadians ood choicesare mediated by their surroundings, opportunities

and conditions o lie. hese policies and programsshould eature the implementation o a ederal pov-erty prevention and elimination strategy, and a hosto supportive measures to ensure access to healthyood in workplaces, schools, municipalities and lowincome neighbourhoods. he Peoples Food Policyalso calls or a reshiting o Canadian agriculture tosupport domestic production and consumption ohealthy ood, and to rethink the ood saety regula-tory agenda to ensure appropriate protection romood borne illness, exposure to environmental con-taminants and the additions o other substances toood.


1 Enact a ederal poverty prevention and eliminationstrategy eaturing a guaranteed livable income or all Ca-nadians. Tis includes a guaranteed livable minimum wageand a systematic review and recalibration o both ederaland provincial/territorial income assistance programs toensure all Canadians can aord to access nutritioushealthy ood that meets cultural choices and other basicneeds. Tis strategy, with measurable targets and time-lines, should be developed in consultation with munici-

pal and provincial/territorial governments, business, thenon-prot sector, and individual Canadians. Te programmust include an eective aordable housing strategy toensure that Canadians no longer have to choose between

paying rent and buying ood.31

2 Te ederal government should work in partnership withprovincial and territorial governments to create a cross-Cana-da Children and Food strategy to ensure that all children haveaccess to the ood required or health at all times. A hallmarko this strategy would be the provision o at least one mealduring the school day providing oods that are locally, eco-logically, and ethically produced, sae to consume, nutritiousand culturally appropriate. Te strategy would also promotehealthy school ood systems (including student gardens

processing and composting programs) and would eatur

ood and agriculture literacy programs beginning in pre-school to ensure students graduate with an understandingo healthy ood and how to access and prepare it. Once thestrategy has been articulated, the ederal government needsto allocate nancial resources or its implementation. Tisstrategy would also eature a ban on all orms o marketing ounhealthy ood and beverages to children.

3 Community programs that enhance ood securityshould be supported with stable public unding or core

nHealthy and Safe Food For All contd


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operations. Funding that supports capacity buildingand system redesign should be the top priority. Te re-lationship between ood, health, and education wouldsupport such unding being allocated through healthand education agencies via ederal-provincial transer

payments.

4 Government policy at all levels must be re-ori-

ented and harmonized to support he althy eating orall Canadians, rom breasteeding onwards. Betterintegration is required in planning and budget-ing, and between our departments o Agriculture,rade, Environment, and Health. For instance,the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canadas GrowingForward II policy ramework or 2013-2018 andthe Health Accord must support each other in re-orienting agricultural policy towards greater healthor all Canadians.32

nFood Democracy and Governance

CHALLENGES

Food and agriculture policies are ragmented andsiloed among government jurisdictions and ood andagriculture sectors. Tis means interactions betweenthe various parts o the ood system are routinely over-looked. Consequently, many proposed solutions to existing problems neglect or ignore root causes. Furthermorethere are ew ormal processes, particularly at the ederallevel, to ensure public participation in the ongoing de-

velopment o ood policy. A systems-based approachrequires a diversity o voices in all policy developmentand emphasizes the values o interdependence, ecologyhealth and justice over those o prot and individualism

It also demands an independent research base or policyto take into account the externalities which are cur-rently ignored in ood systems cost-accounting.

WAYS FORWARD

Achieving the goal o a participatory, ecological, and justood system that provides enough healthy, acceptableand accessible ood or all requires open, democraticand transparent governance processes. Tese processes

will acknowledge current barriers to participation and

strengthen mechanisms to overcome them. Recognizingthat the ood system is an interactive, interdependent

web o relationships, it is necessary to engage government at all levels, including current municipal, provin-cial and ederal decision-making processes, as well asinternational and global orums. Food policy councilsand roundtables are models o inclusive systems-basedapproaches to ood policy and programs. Tey work toincrease collaboration across government jurisdictionssocial sectors and geographies; develop and implement


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multi-level organizational structures; recognize andsupport initiatives contributing to diverse economies;and include community-based, traditional and scien-tic knowledge. Te governance structure o a oodsovereignty-based policy or Canada will be grounded insystems-based, participatory models such as these.


1 Establish ood policy councils/roundtables to work with governments at all levels (municipal, provincial/territorial, and ederal) on policies to achieve social jus-tice, ecological resilience, and sustainable livelihoods inCanadas ood system. Tey must include representationrom all ood-related sectors, including health promo-tion, education, housing, environment, community-governed ood programs, and the business o ood rom

armers to retailers, and must ensure ull participationo dispossessed and marginalized people. Each councimust be able to organize itsel autonomously and estab-lish its own working structures in line with the valuesand principles o accessibility, transparency, inclusivityand equality. Internationally, one o the most eectiveexamples o ood policy councils has been in Brazil

In Canada, ood policy councils have been establishedby municipal governments in oronto and VancouverTere is a clear model or inclusiveness in the Com-mittee on World Food Security o the UN Food andAgriculture Organization that ensures participation othe ull range o people concerned about and aectedby hunger and ood insecurity, while balancing genderregions, constituencies and sectors.

2 All ood policy needs to be grounded in an inte-grated analysis o the ood system in its entirety. Tis isto ensure that solutions address root causes and avoidcreating urther challenges due to silo-based thinkingAn example o ood systems analysis can be ound in thecross-ertilizing approach o the Region o WaterloosHealthy Community Food System. Work has includedbuilding capacity to link local armers to local consum-ers, local policy development, cultivating partnershipsto ensure access to healthy ood, the creation o a oodsystems network and o A Healthy Community FoodSystem Plan. Outcomes include provisions to protectagricultural lands, to ensure arm viability, and encour-age neighbourhood markets and community gardens inurban areas. Te Region also works in schools, workplaces and with a myriad o community partners to ensureaccess to healthy ood.

3 Initiatives contributing to a diverse economy mustbe recognized and supported, including new economicapproaches that value ethics o interdependence, sus

nFood, Democracy, and Governance contd


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tainability, health and justice over those o prot andindividualism. For example, Canadas hundreds o ood-coops create better markets or producers and providehigher quality ood or consumers.

4 Knowledge based on community experience as wellas scientic knowledge must be included in publiceducation, training, and capacity building eorts. Te

policy environment and broader public knowledgebase can only be strengthened and improved by tak-ing into account the contributions o urban and ruralarmers, sher olk, hunters and gatherers, gardeners,and Indigenous Peoples. Tree current ood-relatedCommunity-University Research partnerships which in-clude people rom local communities, non-prot organ-izations and academia demonstrate how it is possible tobring together knowledge rom various sources towards

a common vision.

Conclusion

Trough country-wide kitchen-table conversations policy meetings, conerences, online discussions anworking groups, 3500 people across Canada shared theirideas or a Peoples Food Policy. Tese have been com-

piled into the recommendations outlined above. Tivision lays the groundwork or a ood system where alCanadians can aord to buy and/or produce sae, nutritious, and culturally acceptable ood that sustains the en

vironment, economies, and communities. Te PeopleFood Policy is part o an ongoing, interactive, and par-ticipatory process that models the kinds o relationshipthrough which a ood sovereignty-based ood system

would be built in Canada. It is rooted in the work o theood movement and brings together examples o exist-

ing initiatives that are already changing the way peoplegrow, raise, catch, harvest, process, package, access, eatand understand ood.

Te Peoples Food Policy is being launched in collaborationwith Food Secure Canada, the voice o the ood movementin Canada, uniting groups and individuals working towardsa ood system that is healthy, ecological, and air or pro-ducers and consumers. Te membership o Food SecureCanada and other organizations and individuals are alreadycampaigning on a wide variety o policy options outlined

in this document. In the coming months, urther strategicalliances will be developed to strengthen and expand policyinitiatives based on the Peoples Food Policy. Participationis welcome rom anyone interested in building a better oodsystem or Canada. Please reer to our website or up-to-date campaign and other inormation:

www.peoplesoodpolicy.ca


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Acknowledgements

Te Peoples Food Policy Projectwas initiated by members o Food Secure Canada,

with core unding or the project rom Heier Canada International.We are also grateul to Inter Pares, the Assembly o First Nations and

USC Canada or their nancial contribution.

Graphic design: www.graphidome.comLandscape photography and photos on pages 3, 10, and 25:

www.mikebeedellphoto.ca


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1 Household ood insecurity, 2007-2008, Canadian Community Health Survey, Statistics Canada. Available online at: www.

statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-625-x/2010001/articla/11162-eng.htm. See also Household size, by province and territory (2006 Census),2006 Census o Population, Statistics Canada. Available online at: http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/amil53a-eng.htm

2 Household Food Insecurity in Canada in 2007-2008: Key Statistics and Graphics, Report, Food and Nutrition, Health CanadaAvailable online at: www.hc-sc.gc.ca/n-an/surveill/nutrition/commun/insecurit/key-stats-cles-2007-2008-eng.php

3 Hunger Count 2010: A comprehensive report on hunger and ood bank use in Canada, and recommendations or change,Food Banks Canada, 2010. Available online at: www.oodbankscanada.ca/documents/HungerCount2010_web.pd

4 Canadian Health Measures Survey: Adult obesity prevalence in Canada and the United States, 2007-2009, Report, StatisticsCanada. Available online at: www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/110302/dq110302c-eng.htm

5 Household Food Insecurity in Canada in 2007-2008: Key Statistics and Graphics. Op. cit.

6 NFU Participates in Agriculture 2020 Consultations: ells AAFC to stop distorting arm income gures, Press release,National Farmers Union, 26 May 2010. Available online at: www.nu.ca/press_releases/2010/05-26-2020_consultations.pd

7 Te nancial picture o arms in Canada, 2006 Census o Agriculture, Statistics Canada. Available online at: www.statcan.gc.ca/ca-ra2006/articles/npicture-portrait-eng.htm

8 Facts Blast: Global Impact on Hunger, Report, United Nations World Food Program, March 2010. Available online at: http://documents.wp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/communications/wp187701.pd

9 Business and Water, Te Economist, 21 August 2008.

10 Te climate crisis is a ood crisis: Small armers can cool the planet, GRAIN, November 2009. Available online at: http://www.grain.org/m/?id=275

11 Te international ood system and the climate crisis, GRAIN, October 2009. Available online at: http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=642#_re

12 Rising ood prices: Policy options and World Bank response, Background report, World Bank. Available online at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/NEWS/Resources/risingoodprices_backgroundnote_apr08.pd

13 Food prices remain high in developing countries, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization o the United Nations), 23 April2009. Available online at: http://www.ao.org/news/story/0/item/12660/icode/en/

14 Hunger and the Pursuit o Prot: Food System in Crisis, Development and Peace, June 2008. Available online at: http://www.devp.org/devpme/eng/advocacy/doc/DPFood.pd

15 Ibid.

16 http://www..com/cms/s/0/51241bc0-18b4-11e0-b7ee-00144eab49a.html#axzz1IcA1PvN

Endnotes

i


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17 Agriculture at a Crossroads, IAASD (International Assessment o Agricultural Knowledge, Science and echnology or

Development), April 2008. Available online at: www.agassessment.org/

18 Eco-Farming Can Double Food Production in 10 Years, says new UN report, Press release, United Nations HumanRights, Ofce o the High Commissioner, 8 March 2011. Available online at: www.srood.org/images/stories/pd/press_releases/20110308_agroecology-report-pr_en.pd

19 Household Food Insecurity in Canada in 2007-2008: Key Statistics and Graphics. Op. cit.

20 Burns, A., Bruce, D., & Marlin, A. Rural Poverty Discussion Paper, Rural Secretariat, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada,2007.

21 Household ood insecurity, 2007-2008, Canadian Community Health Survey, Statistics Canada. Available online at: www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-625-x/2010001/article/11162-eng.htm

22 Kirkpatrick,S. and arasuk, V., Food Insecurity is Associated with Nutrient Inadequacies Among Canadian Adults andAdolescents, Journal o Nutrition, March 1, 2008, Vol. 138, No. 3, pp. 604-612.

23 Hunger Count 2010: A comprehensive report on hunger and ood bank use in Canada, and recommendations or change.Op. cit.

24 Letters, Canadian Medical Association, March 11, 2008. Available online at: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2263083/pd/20080311s00024p730.pd

25 Tis is also recommended in Healthy and Sae Food or All, this document.

26 NFU Participates in Agriculture 2020 Consultations: ells AAFC to stop distorting arm income gures. Op. cit.


28 Canadian Health Measures Survey: Adult obesity prevalence in Canada and the United States, 2007-2009. Op. cit.

29 Household ood insecurity, 2007-2008. Op. cit.

30 Pollitt, E., & Jacoby, ER. Fasting and cognition in well and undernourished school children: a review o three experimentalstudies, American Journal o Clinical Nutrition, 1998 67 (suppl), 779S-84S.). See also Florence, M. D., & Asbridge, M. Dietquality and academic perormance, Journal o School Health, 2008 78(4), 209-214.


32 Tis is also recommended in Agriculture, Inrastructure and Livelihoods, this document.

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