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Working Together to Plan for the Future
Old Orchard Inn, Sunday, 17 Jan, 10 am - 3 pm
Bill Carr, Keynote Speakers, Food Summit Co-chairs, Citizens and Leaders from Government and Organizations will gather to start "Putting the Pieces Together". Everyone is invited - come and contribute your ideas! There will be a charge for lunch, but other costs will be covered by the Food Summit fund. The phrase heard most frequently from the 250 people who attended the Nova Scotia Food Summit in October - students from many faculties, farmers, educators, fishers, economists, food processors, chefs, concerned citizens, people engaged in healthcare and health promotion, food security, environment, tourism, media, retail - was "working together". We buy less than 20% of our food from local sources, therefore local farmers and the Department of Agriculture are not primarily responsible for our food and food security. All stakeholders, leaders, and citizens must assume responsibility for food, because it affects our health, economy, environment and every other aspect of our lives.
By the end of the Summit there was a clear understanding that we can address many of our problems if we get food right. For this reason Summit participants advocate the formation of a broad-based, multi-stakeholder, consensus-building Food Policy Council that will inform participants about the issues, raise public awareness of solutions, and advocate for food policies that are appropriate for all Nova Scotians.
The Summit Co-chairs were asked to facilitate the development of a Food Policy Council. This is the next step in that process.
Notes from Summit participants: Richard Melvin, President of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture :
Sustainable food production and energy production are absolutely within our reach, but we have to have a vision, and we have to have a plan, and we have to make it happen, and we don’t have forever - for farming we have 5 years to turn the corner. We need a Nova Scotia Food Policy Council and we need it to be visionary, to act on what we know today, and to help evolve direction for tomorrow.
Alan Stewart, Stewart Organic Farm , Conference Organizer:
Time after time, participants implied that no progress would be possible until everyone started to work together. After a while, it soon began to sink in that the "everyone" that they were talking about was himself or herself. This occurred at about the midpoint of the Summit, and the speakers from that point on kept throwing fuel on the growing fire, leading on Tuesday to a mandate to form a Food Policy Council.
Dr. Edith Callaghan, Arthur Irving Academy for the Environment , Acadia University, Conference Organizer:
In three days we heard from farmers, social workers, nutritionists, health care practitioners, agriculture policy makers, educators, politicians, grocers, community advocates, and more. The pictures that were painted by many of the presenters were scary to say the least – from the inability of many people to put nutritious food on their tables, to the inability of farmers to make a decent living wage; from a failing natural environment, to an expensive and overburdened healthcare system; from an educational system that does not adequately equip people to deal with complex issues, to the pressure we all feel to just find a solution and get it fixed. However, given all the dire statistics, the overall mood of the conference was positive. Toward the end of the Summit people were expressing the sentiment that as a society we know what the problems are, the studies have been done, and now we are ready to do the hard work, together, to tackle the issues.
Linda Best, Friends Of Agriculture in NS , Conference Organizer:
The single most important outcome of the Summit was the realization that we truly are in this together. Many of the solutions, including good policies, have already been clearly identified by individuals, organizations, Government Departments, Universities, businesses and others. What is different as we look forward from the Summit is a shared responsibility for bringing those solutions to a “Food Policy Council" table. A Provincial Council, comprised of representatives of all parts of the food system, learning from one another, will be able to advocate for policies that will insure healthy, sustainable food for our future.
Lori Stahlbrand, Local Food Plus , Former Member Toronto Food Policy Council:
TFPC advises government on a wide range of food policy issues – healthy, poverty, environment, justice, land-use – anything that pertains to food is the mandate of the Council. TFPC has a Food Charter and that acts as the mandate of the Council – that is a means for getting consensus – everyone who joins the council members knows what they’re working towards. Here's an example of the kind of mandate you could use: that a Provincial Food Policy Council would help the Province implement policies that further a food system that is health-centred, environmentally responsible, socially just, and stimulates meaningful employment in the food sector. That’s all you need to get started – something you all believe in and that’s broad-based enough that you can start the discussion about the issues. The Council becomes a bridge for dialogue between people who may not be used to talking to each other, and it is solution-oriented rather than polarizing - meeting around one table catalyzes relationship-building. |
