In cities, towns and rural communities alike, all must be fed to survive, and those with the means have two or three meals a day. The right to food cannot be separated from the right to housing, adequate water and sanitation, decent employment and all the other rights related to a life of dignity. In rural and smaller communities, it is fairly easy to see how people are fed or go hungry; the larger the community, however, the more difficult it is to comprehend the food system.

Significant attention has been paid to many issues that will be part of this year’s Habitat III conference on cities as well as the global urbanization strategy that will come out of it, the New Urban Agenda. But there has been a notable lack of reference to food, nutrition and the provisioning challenges to urban sustainability in the preparations for the conference, despite the fact that many key urban issues — housing, transportation, infrastructure, health, ecosystem resilience, urban-rural linkages, territorial development and spatial planning — have important food-system and rural components. Compared to Habitat I and II, there is a marked overemphasis in the Habitat III preparations on the urban with inadequate reference to the rural. Read more……

The Laurier Centre for Community Research Learning and Action (CCRLA) in partnership with Laurier’s Social Innovation Venture Creation (SIVC)invites you to attend an exciting one day workshop on May 2^nd in Kitchener to discuss Theories of Change inspired by six inspiring local and national thought leaders from non-profit, governmental and academic sectors. There will be two panels followed by interactive group discussions. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. A parallel event was held recently in Auckland, New Zealand, and an international exchange is planned (http://theoriesofchange.org/ ). Please help us spread the word about this event by sending this email to your networks.

The day’s speakers include:

Catherine Fife (MPP of Kitchener-Waterloo)

Catherine Fife is in her second term as MPP representing Kitchener-Waterloo. For the past decade, Catherine worked tirelessly on behalf of the families of Kitchener-Waterloo to help improve the quality and their access to education. She served as Trustee and Chair of the Waterloo Region District School Board, Vice President of the Canadian School Boards’ Association, and President of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association. She met the challenge of these roles by successfully balancing a 675 million dollar budget for an organization serving 60,000 students and 5,500 staff. Through her leadership, an additional 1,600 new childcare spaces were created in the region at no additional cost to Waterloo Region taxpayers.

 Joe Mancini, Co-Founder, The Working Center

Joe Mancini co-founded The Working Centre with Stephanie back in 1982. Using a radical model of hospitality and relationship building, The Working Centre has evolved into a village of integrated supports in multiple areas such as food, employment, health, outreach, bike repair, thrifts stores, housing, and social enterprise.

Jessica Bolduc, Executive Director, 4R Youth Movement

Jessica Bolduc, is an Anishinaabe-French young woman living in (Baawaating), Sault Ste. Marie, Batchewana First Nation territory. Jess is the Executive Director of the 4Rs Youth Movement where she is walking alongside young Indigenous and non-Indigenous change makers exploring critical conversations about reconciliation.

Dave Meslin (Toronto-based Artist, Community Choreographer)

Dave is a Toronto-based artist, community organizer, author and trainer. Using non-traditional methods and creative tactics, he spent twenty years as a social and political entrepreneur leaving a trail of non-profit start-ups, campaign victories, viral videos, new magazines, and public space interventions in his path. His thesis is simple: We’re stronger and smarter when we’re all involved. A recent Ted Talk by Dave on apathy can be viewed here: https://www.ted.com/speakers/dave_meslin .

Christiane Sadeler, Executive Director, Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council

Christiane grew up in Germany and via a couple of other country stops made Canada her home in 1989 where she embarked on her most significant task of raising her son. ‎A keen observer of human actions coupled with a deeply felt impatience about the same have drawn her to places where people share her passion for visioning a better tomorrow. And when our todays – as they do- get a little exhausting (if not exasperating) it is always nature that provides her with reprieve and reflection. All other things are just the pencils with which to colour within the above lines. But if you must know more check out www.preventingcrime.ca

James Orbinski, CIGI Research Chair in Global Health at the Balsillie School of International Affairs

Dr. Orbinski is a humanitarian practitioner and a leading scholar in global health. He believes in humanitarianism, in citizenship and in actively engaging and shaping the world in which we live, so that it is more humane, fair and just. As of September 2012, Dr. Orbinski is CIGI Research Chair in Global Health at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, and professor of International Policy and Governance at Wilfrid Laurier University. At the University of Toronto, which he joined in 2003, he is full professor of Medicine at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, and Senior Fellow at both Massey College, and the Munk School of Global Affairs. He has extensive field experience with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), having worked as a medical doctor in Peru (91) and Brazil (92), and as MSF’s medical co-coordinator in Baidoa Somalia during the 92-93 civil war and famine, and in Jalalabad, Afghanistan in 1993-94 during the civil war.  He led MSF’s mission in Kigali, Rwanda during the 1994 genocide and civil war, and in Goma, Zaire during the 1996-97 civil war and refugee crisis. After completing a Masters Degree in International Relations, he was elected international president of MSF from 1998 to 2001. During this time, he launched MSF’s Access to Essential Medicines Campaign (1998) and accepted the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to MSF in 1999. In 2004, Dr. Orbinski co-founded Dignitas International, which is now supporting over 200,000 people with full treatment for HIV, and is scaling up its Primary Health Care treatment model to serve a population of 3 million in Malawi. Dignitas also has established an extensive research capacity, with over forty major publications focused on improving health systems in the developing world.

When: Monday, 2 May 2016 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM (EDT)

Where: 120 Duke St W-Room 101 – 120 Duke Street West Kitchener, ON N2H 6P6 CA

For more information…….

Double-digit leaps in home prices across the Vancouver region could force farmers off the land and threaten local food security, a report from Vancity credit union suggests. Farmland prices, including in the rich and productive soils of the Fraser River delta, now range from $150,000 to $350,000 per acre for parcels less than five acres, the study said. Statistics from agricultural lender Farm Credit Canada show land prices above $80,000 per acre can make farming unsustainable.

“The prices are, at the very core, threatening the viability of farming,” said report author Brent Mansfield, director of the BC Food Systems Network. “The cost of farmland, and being able to access that, whether that is for a new farmer with limited access to capital or a farmer who wants to expand their business … is actually beyond the farm income potential,” he said.

The report said non-farmers control large tracts of actively farmed land within the Agricultural Land Reserve and lease it to farmers. As much as 35 per cent of that land is owned by businesses, many described as holding companies with terms such as holding, investment, estate, property, land or development in their name, Mansfield said. That raises concerns that it is being purchased on speculation for future estate homes, development or other non-agricultural use, Mansfield said. Read more……

The Researchers of Laurier initiative was created to showcase the important and innovative graduate student research happening across each campus. This program is designed to celebrate selected individuals and their research to both the Laurier and broader communities. You work hard thinking, researching, and writing. Let us help you promote your work.

Faculty, staff, and students are invited to nominate exceptional graduate student researchers to be recognized across campuses and on the GSA and Laurier websites. One winner per semester, beginning in the fall will be showcased, and all successful Researchers of Laurier will be eligible for the Researcher of Year award at the conclusion of the year. This award includes a $500.00 cash prize, a professional development package, and opportunities to mobilize your research in the Laurier Library Exhibit.

Below, you can learn more about the fall and winter term winners by clicking their names. Then, you can cast your vote for the 2015 – 2016 Researcher of Laurier winner. Only graduate students affiliated with Laurier will be able to vote. Please only vote once.

Congratulations to:

• Michele Vitale
• Monica Molinaro
• Anthony Piscitelli
• Alex Hirniak
• Divyang Patel
• Byomkesh Talukder (Affiliated with Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems)
• Ryan Anningson

The United Nations General Assembly today proclaimed a UN Decade of Action on Nutrition that will run from 2016 to 2025. FAO welcomed the decision, calling it a major step towards mobilising action around reducing hunger and improving nutrition around the world.

Today, nearly 800 million people remain chronically undernourished and over two billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies. Meanwhile some 159 million children under 5 years of age are stunted – meaning they are too short for their age. Approximately 50 million children in the same age bracket are wasted – meaning they have low weight for their height. Another 1.9 billion people are overweight — 600 million of these are obese. And prevalence of people who are overweight or obese is increasing in nearly all countries.

Today’s resolution recognises the need to eradicate hunger and prevent all forms of malnutrition worldwide. The Decade of Action on Nutrition will provide an umbrella for a wide group of actors to work together to address these and other pressing nutrition issues. Read more……

Irena Knezevic with contributions from Peter Andrée

Photo credit: Maranda Grant

For most of us who think about the food system, the link between food and climate  change seems obvious. Figuring out exactly what that relationship is can be more blurry. Carleton Climate Commons hosted a roundtable on this topic on March 17^th which was attended by more than 50 students, faculty and community members. Andrew Spring from Wilfrid Laurier University and Dr. Sonia Wesche from the University of Ottawa opened up the discussion with vivid accounts of how climate change affects food systems in Canada’s North. From melting permafrost to increasingly unreliable ice-roads, to changing flora and fauna, they established a clear link between climate change and one of Canada’s most pressing challenges – food insecurity in the North. Though their accounts were mostly grim, they also offered hope through showcasing initiatives like the Northern Farm Training Institute in Hay River, community gardens, and substitutions strategies where communities are moving to eating wild game that is more abundant now as caribou herds continue to decline. Dr. Leah Temper from Seeds of Survival (USC Canada) brought an international perspective to the discussion by describing the international programs focused on seed security and diversification. She offered an optimistic account of how seed saving and sharing can not only facilitate adaptation to climate change, but also support small-scale farmers who are struggling to survive in the globalized food system.

Carleton University’s Dr. Peter Andrée acted as a respondent and provided an insightful commentary reminding the audience that we need to consider these issues in the wider context of how the global food system contributes to climate change, through monoculture-heavy agriculture, industrial meat production, and monumental food waste. Dr. Andrée noted some key themes across the three presentations, including the centrality of issues of social justice, the links between realizing food security and food sovereignty, and the need for climate change adaptation processes to be based in the participation of those communities and individuals most severely affected. The general discussion that followed engaged the audience in an exploration of how we can contribute to addressing climate change and food problems through both individual and collective action. By bringing together speakers from three universities and one organization, as well as diverse audience, Carleton Climate Commons offered a space for learning, dialogue and hope for action.

We are recruiting participants for the second round of interviews for our study Canadian “family farms” in the twenty-first century. This study aims to better understand how well the term “family farm” applies to today’s farms in Canada. The questions you will be asked will consist in understanding some of the day-to-day on your farm, the importance you place on the ideas and values around “family farming”, and your experiences and opinions on the broader Canadian agricultural landscape (e.g. changes you are seeing in your area in farm ownership or your community). Our research team consists of Dr. Irena Knezevic (Carleton University), Dr. Kelly Bronson (St. Thomas University) and Chantal Clement (graduate student at Carleton University).

We are interested in speaking to Canadian farmers over the age of 18, whose farms fit the designation of a “family farm”.  (A family farm is any farm not managed by a commune, co-operative, or a non-family corporation). If you are interested to participate you will be asked for one 30-60 minute phone interview. If you would like to participate in this research project, or have any questions, please contact Chantal Clement atchantal_clement@carleton.ca. Alternatively, you can also contact Dr. Irena Knezevic at (613) 520-2600 ext. 4121 or Irena.Knezevic@Carleton.ca.

SPRING FORUM PROGRAM

Thursday, March 24, 2016, 1pm to 4pm

Laurier Concourse

 PROGRAM

1:00 PM Welcome and Land Acknowledgments

1:10 PM On Campus Partner, Class and Community Food Project Presentations

• Sustainability Office – Claire Bennet – Manager, WLU Sustainability Office
• WLU Farmers Market
• Laurier Special Interest Research Group
• GS441 Ecological Citizenship Class Presentation on School Gardens – Dr. Stephen Svenson and Students
• Mino-Kummik: Aboriginal Community Garden
• Seven Shores – Steve Tulloch
• Young City Growers – Faith Nifa – YCG Volunteer

1:55 BREAK

2:00 PM Keynote Speaker Introduction: Lauren Ames – Volunteer, Young City Growers

2:10 PM Keynote Address and Q & A – Anan Lololi – African Food Basket, Founder & Executive Director

2:50 PM BREAK

3:00 PM Panel Presentations and Discussion

PANELISTS:

Joel Knight – Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable & 365Local Urban Aquaponics, Dr. Alison Blay Palmer – Laurier Centre for Community Service Learning and FLEdGE Project, Fanis Juma Radstake – Young City Growers & Anan Lololi – Afri-Can Food Basket

 3:50 PM CLOSE

Farm Site Address: Northdale Campus, Wilfrid Laurier University, 66 Hickory Street, Waterloo, ON Ÿ Office Address: C/o KW Counselling Services, 480 Charles Street East, Kitchener, Ontario. N2G 4K5 ŸEmail: youngcitygrowers@gmail.com Ÿ Website: www.youngcitygrowers.org