Food Policy - News Archive

Index of Postings

• Canadian Wildlife Federation. A Pollinator's Paridise. Published March 6, 2009, by Olivia Craft - NEW
• Globe and Mail: Cancel the reservations, we're cooking it ourselves. Published March 2, 2009, by Carla Weeks - NEW
• The Province: Is local food poisoning natives? Published Mar 1, 2009 - NEW
• Canadian Press / CTV - Medical community urges health food supplement. Published February 19, 2009 - NEW
• CBC. Albertans Meet to Discuss Food Security. Published Sunday, Feruary 1, 2009
• The Guardian. Slow food: Have we lost our appetite? by Leo Hickman, published February 4, 2009
• National Post: Farms in the city win backing - but not pigs in the city Toronto councillor backs away from permitting chickens or livestock, By Allison Hanes. Published February 6, 2009 - NEW
• Vancouver Sun: Sustainable food systems offer great challenges and opportunities for British Columbia in economics, culture, health and the environment. By Mark Holland and Janine De La Salle. Published February 10, 2009
• The Guardian - Families struggling as bills begin to bite. By Esther Addley.  Published May 29, 2008
• Washington Post - Firms Seek Patents on 'Climate Ready' Altered Crops.  By Rick Weiss.  Published May 13, 2008 - NEW
• Globe and Mail. Time to fix our food labelling fiasco: Product of Canada? Don't be so sure. By David Boyd. May 7, 2008
• New York Times - Urban Farmers’ Crops Go From Vacant Lot to Market.  By Tracie McMillan, Published: May 7, 2008
• Toronto Star - Poultry in motion: Chickens adopting urban lifestyle - You can raise them in New York but not here. Toronto locavores are hoping to change that.  By Leslie Scrivener.  Published May 4, 2008
• New York Times.  An Unlikely Way to Save a Species: Serve It for Dinner. By Kim Severson.  Published April 30, 2008
• The Wall Street Journal - Green Acres II: When Neighbors Become Farmers - Suburban Arugula Is Organic and Fresh, but About That Manure. By Kelly K. Spors. Published on April 22, 2008
• Vancouver Courier - Garden plot: The city wants to add hundreds of new community garden plots by 2010. Backed by enthusiastic supporters and criticized as Olympic boosterism, the project has a long way to go.  By Naoibh O’Connor. Published Wednesday, April 16, 2008
• Vancouver Courier Food security people want better food access for West Side seniors, disabled: Malnourishment a city-wide problem. By Sandra Thomas.  Published Wednesday, April 16, 2008
• Macleans Magazine. Local schmocal: Just because a food is “local” doesn’t mean it’s the better choice. By Pamela Cuthbert. Published March 6, 2008
• New York Times - Near Arctic, Seed Vault Is a Fort Knox of Food. By Elisabeth Rosenthal. Published February 29, 2008
• Democracy Now – Interview with Michael Pollan
• Calgary Herald. Urban agriculture big news in zero-mile-diet world.  By Kim Covert.  Published February 25, 2008
• New York Times.  My Forbidden Fruits (and Vegetables).  By Jack Hedin.  Published March 1, 2008
• Globe and Mail.  Healthy eating - it's elementary: This month, the Vancouver School Board launched an experimental program that uses cooking to teach kids everything from nutrition to science and language arts.  By Fiona Morrow.  Published February 29, 2009.
• South Asian Focus - Growing veggies in Peel community gardens.  By Sunil Rao.  Published February 20, 2008
• Richmond News - Kwantlen may cultivate urban agriculture program: Proposal targets 40 to 50 acres of farmland in Richmond, which could be found in the Garden City lands. By Nelson Bennett. Published February 9, 2008

Canadian Wildlife Federation. A Pollinator's Paridise. Published March 6, 2009, by Olivia Craft - NEW
“Pollinators will soon be buzzing in Vancouver parks and greenways again thanks to the efforts of a youth organization dedicated to increasing the number of mason bees in their neighbourhood. The recent recipient of a $5,500 Canadian Wildlife Federation project grant, the Environmental Youth Alliance is aiming to bring blue orchard mason bees back to Vancouver parks as part of a larger effort to reverse the decline of native bee populations across North America...”

:: To see the full article visit the CWF Website

Globe and Mail: Cancel the reservations, we're cooking it ourselves. Published March 2, 2009, by Carla Weeks - NEW

“Cooking classes are getting a boost from the economic downturn as people seek to replace once- frequent restaurant meals and scale back costs.

Good old home cooking is suddenly back in fashion.

After years of scarfing down breakfast sandwiches on the way to work and treating restaurants like their personal refrigerator, newly money-conscious Canadians are learning to eat the old-school way: by cooking for themselves.

But for many, this new era of dining in doesn't just involve tossing a frozen dinner in the oven. Nor does it involve tricky soufflés or reductions. Rather, a growing number of people are picking up cookbooks and heading to classes simply to learn the basics of cooking that were once a rite of passage to adulthood...”

:: To see the complete article visit the Globe and Mail webpage

The Province: Is local food poisoning natives? Published Mar 1, 2009 - NEW

“You might think that eating foods harvested locally is always best, but for some of B.C.'s aboriginal communities, local foods are not necessarily the healthiest choices -- they may even hurt people. University of Northern B.C. toxicologist Laurie Chan has launched an investigation of the benefits and risks to First Nations communities of eating traditional foods. His work has a lot to teach all of us.

How bad things happen to good food sources

Even in isolated areas far from industrial activity, scientists have found evidence of environmental chemicals in fish and other traditional foods aboriginal communities rely on. What isn't known yet is the level of contamination in people's diets and how much is coming from their local food sources...”

:: To see the complete article visit the Province webpage

Canadian Press / CTV - Medical community urges health food supplement. Published February 19, 2009 - NEW

“A $100 monthly increase for Ontario welfare recipients would help put fresh, nutritious food on the tables of people who rely on social assistance, an advocacy group said Thursday as it further pressed the government to include a "healthy food supplement" in the upcoming budget.

"We don't want to live in a province where people don't have enough to eat," said Janet Gasparini, chairwoman of the Social Planning Network of Ontario...”

:: For the complete story see the CTV website

CBC. Albertans Meet to Discuss Food Security. Published Sunday, Feruary 1, 2009
“People from across Alberta gathered in Edmonton Saturday to talk about the food they eat and where it comes from...”

:: For the complete article see the Yahoo website.

The Guardian. Slow food: Have we lost our appetite? by Leo Hickman, published February 4, 2009
“With purse strings tightening and sales of organic food falling, can the world afford the luxury of 'slow food'? Leo Hickman meets its founder, Carlo Petrini, who believes that his vision of farmers' markets in every neighbourhood, community vegetable allotments and network of small local producers could help to shape a global re-evaluation of food and farming...”

:: For the complete article see the Guardian website.

National Post: Farms in the city win backing - but not pigs in the city Toronto councillor backs away from permitting chickens or livestock, By Allison Hanes. Published February 6, 2009
“Corn stalks growing along the Gardiner Expressway, tomato plants lining University Avenue, and chicken coops in thousands of backyards.

Urban farming advocates offered Toronto policymakers food for thought yesterday, as the city drafts its first urban food production policy...”

:: For the complete article see the National Post website.

Vancouver Sun: Sustainable food systems offer great challenges and opportunities for British Columbia in economics, culture, health and the environment. By Mark Holland and Janine De La Salle. Published February 10, 2009
“Over the 20th century, town planning turned its back on food, in B.C. and everywhere. In fact, today it is easy to see cities as the enemy of food and farming.

Urban development has eliminated agriculture in cities, paved over agricultural land across the province, largely eliminated the mom-and-pop food store from our communities, and located our food supply almost exclusively in large supermarkets that primarily stock foods produced on far away industrial farms and transported long distances by land, air, and water. Our experience of food in our communities is no longer a rich celebration of the senses, culture, family, and health...”

:: For the complete article see the Vancouver Sun website.

The Guardian - Families struggling as bills begin to bite. By Esther Addley.  Published May 29, 2008
For the two weeks in every month that her husband Jim is working offshore, abseiling off the side of oil rigs to check and replace gas detector units, Sharon Wall is at home with their four young children. As Wall does not drive, and their home town of Peterhead, near Aberdeen, is not well stocked with affordable, good quality food shops within walking distance, feeding the junior Walls is a little more complicated than for most families.

The first thing that Jim Wall does on his way home is call in at a large Tesco on the outskirts of Aberdeen, to buy "a bit of everything". Though the family has a weekly box of vegetables delivered from a local farmers' market, and toiletry essentials are mailed from Avon, his return is eagerly expected.

:: For the complete story see the Guardian Website. 

Washington Post - Firms Seek Patents on 'Climate Ready' Altered Crops.  By Rick Weiss.  Published May 13, 2008
A handful of the world’s largest agricultural biotechnology companies are seeking hundreds of patents on gene-altered crops designed to withstand drought and other environmental stresses, part of a race for dominance in the potentially lucrative market for crops that can handle global warming, according to a report being released today.

Three companies -- BASF of Germany, Syngenta of Switzerland and Monsanto of St. Louis -- have filed applications to control nearly two-thirds of the climate-related gene families submitted to patent offices worldwide, according to the report by the Ottawa-based ETC Group, an activist organization that advocates for subsistence farmers.

The applications say that the new “climate ready” genes will help crops survive drought, flooding, saltwater incursions, high temperatures and increased ultraviolet radiation -- all of which are predicted to undermine food security in coming decades…

:: For the complete article, visit the Washington Post website.

Globe and Mail. Time to fix our food labelling fiasco: Product of Canada? Don't be so sure. By David Boyd. May 7, 2008
The federal government is turning a blind eye to the widespread and flagrant violation of the Food and Drugs Act. The act specifically prohibits any food importer, manufacturer, or retailer from putting information on a label that “is false, misleading or deceptive or is likely to create an erroneous impression regarding its character, value, quantity, composition, merit or safety.”

While legal language is often fuzzy or obscure, this provision is crystal clear. Yet many food items labelled “Product of Canada” are made primarily from foreign ingredients. Suppose you buy a can, bottle, or box of apple juice made from concentrate. The label says “Product of Canada.” Seems reasonable — apples are grown all across the country, from British Columbia to Nova Scotia.

:: For the complete story see the Globe & Mail Website.

New York Times - Urban Farmers’ Crops Go From Vacant Lot to Market.  By Tracie McMillan, Published: May 7, 2008
In the shadows of the elevated tracks toward the end of the No. 3 line in East New York, Brooklyn, with an April chill still in the air, Denniston and Marlene Wilks gently pulled clusters of slender green shoots from the earth, revealing a blush of tiny red shallots at the base.

“Dennis used to keep them big, and people didn’t buy them,” Mrs. Wilks said. “They love to buy scallions.”…

For years, New Yorkers have grown basil, tomatoes and greens in window boxes, backyard plots and community gardens. But more and more New Yorkers like the Wilkses are raising fruits and vegetables, and not just to feed their families but to sell to people on their block.

:: For the complete story, see the New York Times Website.

Toronto Star - Poultry in motion: Chickens adopting urban lifestyle - You can raise them in New York but not here. Toronto locavores are hoping to change that.  By Leslie Scrivener.  Published May 4, 2008
It’s an idyllic scene in a sunny backyard in North Toronto. The forsythia is bright as springtime, and Sally, Heidi and Clucky wander by contentedly. They are plump, vigorous, egg-laying hens that, despite their beauty and utility, are illegal in Toronto.

Nonetheless, their owner has kept them quietly in her backyard coop through the winter and now lets them range freely in the yard, which is shallow but 15 metres wide.

“It makes total sense to me, rather than getting in the car, driving to the grocery store and buying eggs trucked in from a far away farm, to go to the back yard and get eggs,” says “Alice,” who asked that her real name not be used. A middle-aged mother of two teenagers who works at home in the food business, she had identified herself on the telephone as a “renegade” chicken owner. “Besides, I know they are healthy and what they’ve eaten.”

:: For the complete story see the Toronto Star website.

New York Times.  An Unlikely Way to Save a Species: Serve It for Dinner. By Kim Severson.  Published April 30, 2008
“Some people would just as soon ignore the culinary potential of the Carolina flying squirrel or the Waldoboro green neck rutabaga. To them, the creamy Hutterite soup bean is too obscure and the Tennessee fainting goat, which keels over when startled, sounds more like a sideshow act than the centerpiece of a barbecue.

But not Gary Paul Nabhan. He has spent most of the past four years compiling a list of endangered plants and animals that were once fairly commonplace in American kitchens but are now threatened, endangered or essentially extinct in the marketplace. He has set out to save them, which often involves urging people to eat them.

Mr. Nabhan's list, 1,080 items and growing, forms the basis of his new book, an engaging journey through the nooks and crannies of American culinary history titled "Renewing America's Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent's Most Endangered Foods."

The Makah ozette potato, a nutty fingerling with such a rich, creamy texture that it needs only a whisper of oil, is one of the success stories. It is named after the Makah Indians, who live at the northwest tip of Washington state and have been growing the potatoes for more than 200 years.

The Seattle chapters of Slow Food and the Chefs Collaborative adopted the rare potato. In 2006, Slow Food passed out seed potatoes to a handful of local farmers and gardeners, and chefs like Seth Caswell at the Stumbling Goat Bistro in Seattle began putting them on the menu.

:: For the complete article see the New York Times Website

Bonus – the website comes with an excellent interactive map which divides North America into several food “nations” based on aspects of their heritage diet.  Much of BC is included in an area called Salmon nation (stretching southward into Washington and beyond).  Among the heritage foods that were part of the diet here?  The Gillette fig, Eulachon Smelt, Marshall Strawberry, Orcas Pear and the Makak Ozete potato. The latter, “a nutty fingerling with such a rich, creamy texture that it needs only a whisper of oil, is one of the success stories. It is named after the Makah Indians, who live at the northwest tip of Washington state and have been growing the potatoes for more than 200 years…The Seattle chapters of Slow Food and the Chefs Collaborative adopted the rare potato. In 2006, Slow Food passed out seed potatoes to a handful of local farmers and gardeners, and chefs like Seth Caswell at the Stumbling Goat Bistro in Seattle began putting them on the menu.

:: See the Interactive Map

The Wall Street Journal - Green Acres II: When Neighbors Become Farmers - Suburban Arugula Is Organic and Fresh, but About That Manure. By Kelly K. Spors. Published on April 22, 2008
“When suburbanites look out their front doors, a lot of them want to see a lush green lawn. Kipp Nash wants to see vegetables, and not all of his neighbors are thrilled.

“I’d rather see green grass” than brown dirt patches, says 82-year-old Florence Tatum, who lives in Mr. Nash’s Boulder neighborhood, across the street from a house with a freshly dug manure patch out front. “But those days are slipping away.”

Since 2006, Mr. Nash, 31, has uprooted his backyard and the front or back yards of eight of his Boulder neighbors, turning them into minifarms growing tomatoes, bok choy, garlic and beets. Between May and September, he gives weekly bagfuls of fresh-picked vegetables and herbs to people here who have bought "shares" of his farming operation. Neighbors who lend their yards to the effort are paid in free produce and yard work.

:: For the complete article see the Wall Street Journal Website.

Vancouver Courier - Garden plot: The city wants to add hundreds of new community garden plots by 2010. Backed by enthusiastic supporters and criticized as Olympic boosterism, the project has a long way to go.  By Naoibh O’Connor. Published Wednesday, April 16, 2008
“On a narrow strip of land alongside the tracks flanked by East and West Boulevards at 57th Avenue, raised garden beds line a path. Some await spring planting, while three form a winter garden producing vegetables such as radishes, spinach, mixed greens, broad beans and kale. The site, one of Vancouver's growing number of community gardens, is clearly still under construction.

“A work in progress,” says Tricia Sedgwick one cool April morning when asked to describe the fledgling effort….”

:: For the complete story, see the Vancouver Courier website.

Vancouver Courier Food security people want better food access for West Side seniors, disabled: Malnourishment a city-wide problem. By Sandra Thomas.  Published Wednesday, April 16, 2008
“Many people believe all the residents of the West Side have money and eat well, says Spring Gillard with the Westside Food Security Collaborative.

“It’s a shock how many don’t,” she said. “I don't know if I can say people living on the West Side are going hungry, but some of them are malnourished because of a lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables.”

The Westside Food Security Collaborative is a coalition of groups, organizations and individuals who live or work on the city’s West Side and are interested in food security, a term used to describe a local food system that’s independent and sustainable enough so that everyone living in a community has enough to eat…”

:: For the complete story visit the Vancouver Courier website.

Macleans Magazine. Local schmocal: Just because a food is “local” doesn’t mean it’s the better choice. By Pamela Cuthbert. Published March 6, 2008
Buying local foods has proven so trendy that the New Oxford American Dictionary named “locavore” the word of the year for 2007. “Localvore” is the spelling preferred by some. The discrepancy is a sign of how early in its evolution this concept is in spite of gangbuster popularity, especially among eco-foodies. But what precisely does “local” mean? The ideology is commonly equated with good: fewer food miles are spent on transport; local economies, including family-run farms, are supported; the environment comes out cleaner in the wash as do consumers’ consciences. Imaginations run free and even the livestock are said to lead idyllic lives. Naturally, the taste is superior. It’s a tall order.

Step into a big-box supermarket and you’ll find produce, meats and other goods that fit the bill. But the fact is, the majority of “local” stems from the industrial model: foods grown with environment-destroying fertilizers and sprayed with pesticides that prove residual, farm to fork; animals raised in inhumane conditions using cheap labour for maximum profit and yield; genetically modified crops and more. Even the question of spared food miles is murky upon closer inspection: locally grown foods can leave a large carbon footprint depending on the mode of transport and other conditions including storage systems.

:: For the complete article see the Macleans Webpage.

New York Times - Near Arctic, Seed Vault Is a Fort Knox of Food. By Elisabeth Rosenthal. Published February 29, 2008
“With plant species disappearing at an alarming rate, scientists and governments are creating a global network of plant banks to store seeds and sprouts, precious genetic resources that may be needed for man to adapt the world’s food supply to climate change.

This week, the flagship of that effort, the Global Seed Vault near here, received its first seeds, millions of them. Bored into the middle of a frozen Arctic mountain topped with snow, the vault’s goal is to store and protect samples of every type of seed from every seed collection in the world….”

:: For the complete story, see the New York Times Webpage.

Democracy Now – Interview with Michael Pollan
A discussion with the notable food advocate and author. Available in print and video versions.

::To listen to or read the interview – visit the Democracy Now webpage.

Calgary Herald. Urban agriculture big news in zero-mile-diet world.  By Kim Covert.  Published February 25, 2008
Three chickens were forced to fly their city coop in Halifax on Monday, depriving their owner of fresh eggs - but also reigniting the discussion about where our food should come from.

Some say that in the era of the zero-mile diet, urban agriculture is something that will have to be dealt with more constructively than by setting the government foxes on the henhouses.

The woman who owned the chicken, Louise Hanavan, says she believes people in cities should be able to grow some of their own food, and she wants the city of Halifax to change a bylaw prohibiting that.

"I'd really like to see the city take a more active position in promoting urban agriculture, and encouraging people to do creative things like this to promote sustainability in urban areas," she said.

:: For the complete article see the Calgary Herald webpage.

New York Times.  My Forbidden Fruits (and Vegetables).  By Jack Hedin.  Published March 1, 2008
If  you’ve stood in line at a farmers’ market recently, you know that the local food movement is thriving, to the point that small farmers are having a tough time keeping up with the demand.

But consumers who would like to be able to buy local fruits and vegetables not just at farmers’ markets, but also in the produce aisle of their supermarket, will be dismayed to learn that the federal government works deliberately and forcefully to prevent the local food movement from expanding. And the barriers that the United States Department of Agriculture has put in place will be extended when the farm bill that House and Senate negotiators are working on now goes into effect.

As a small organic vegetable producer in southern Minnesota, I know this because my efforts to expand production to meet regional demand have been severely hampered by the Agriculture Department’s commodity farm program. As I’ve looked into the politics behind those restrictions, I’ve come to understand that this is precisely the outcome that the program’s backers in California and Florida have in mind: they want to snuff out the local competition before it even gets started.

:: To read the complete article, see the NY Times Article Webpage.

Globe and Mail.  Healthy eating - it's elementary: This month, the Vancouver School Board launched an experimental program that uses cooking to teach kids everything from nutrition to science and language arts.  By Fiona Morrow.  Published February 29, 2009
'"What are the snacks you like to eat?" asks Barb Finley of a class of 9- to 11-year-olds at Vancouver's William Osler Elementary School. The responses are, predictably, set squarely in the chips and chocolate camp. "What about healthy snacks?" Ms. Finley counters. Thirty sets of shoulders shrug in unison.

Ms. Finley smiles: This is exactly the challenge she relishes.

A teacher turned chef, Ms. Finley is heading an experimental school program with the Vancouver School Board called Project CHEF, which teaches students in Grades 4 and 5 about healthy eating and nutrition, and shows them how to prepare and cook a range of dishes. The privately funded project was piloted in one school in conjunction with the school board last fall, and earlier this month they began a rollout to nine more Vancouver schools..."

:: For the complete story see the Globe and Mail website.

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South Asian Focus - Growing veggies in Peel community gardens.  By Sunil Rao.  Published February 20, 2008
This spring could well be the season of community gardens of Peel.

Under an initiative launched by Miag (Multicultural Inter-Agency Group of Peel), land around such public institutions as schools and places of worship is being opened up to grow ethnic produce in community gardens.

The project also aims to expand food gardens, and will be able to afford residents with a green thumb but no land-- such as those residing in condos or high-rises, for instance-- an opportunity to grow their own veggies for their table.

:: For the complete article see the South Asian News webpage.

Richmond News - Kwantlen may cultivate urban agriculture program: Proposal targets 40 to 50 acres of farmland in Richmond, which could be found in the Garden City lands. By Nelson Bennett. Published February 9, 2008
“The City of Richmond will consider a proposal by Kwantlen University-College to establish a post-secondary urban agriculture program in Richmond.

The city’s planning committee agreed Tuesday to consider a proposal by Kent Mullinix, a sustainable horticulture specialist with Kwantlen, to develop a new urban agriculture research and education centre in Richmond...”

:: For the complete story see the Richmond News webpage.

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