This is the Local Food Election!
[…] There was lots of media hype (both positive and negative) about the passage of the Local Food Act late last year, with all parties scrambling to show how they were the most supportive of Ontario’s local food scene, farmers, food access programs, etc.
But as Sustain Ontario’s latest assessment makes clear, only pieces of the Act have been ‘proclaimed’ —and therefore legally binding.
The sections [of the Local Food Act] that have not yet been proclaimed are:
- the creation of a tax credit for farmers who donate to community food programs and food banks
- setting goals or targets to aspire to with respect to
– public procurement of local food– increasing access to local food
A New RUAF Website!
RUAF is the only global resource centre on urban agriculture with over 15 years of on-ground experience in urban and peri-urban agriculture project implementation, policy design and action-research in over 40 cities in more than 20 different countries in the world. After these 15 years of operation, we considered it timely to renew the RUAF website in order to further enhance its functionality for the continuously increasing number of users (actually close to 1 million unique visitors/year!). Check out the new site!
Beyond Honeybees: Now Wild Bees and Butterflies May Be in Trouble
Wild bees and butterflies are out on the landscape, making them difficult to count, and a lack of historical baselines makes it challenging to detect long-term trends. Slowly but surely, though, results from field studies and anecdotal reports from experts are piling up. They don’t paint a pretty picture. Many pollinator populations seem to be dwindling. Full story at Wired.
City Regions as Landscapes for People, Food and Nature
City Regions as Landscapes for People, Food and Nature is a new take on integrated landscapes that highlights important linkages between cities, peri-urban areas and rural areas. Challenges like poverty, climate change, and growing demand for resources are issues faced across the urban rural continuum, and they all relate to food. With food and agriculture linking the ecosystems, economies, and public health of communities rural and urban, we must plan for food systems on a city region scale in order to meet 21st century challenges and reduce the risk they pose to food and nutrition security. Download the report.
Community Investments
Spring 2014: Volume 26, Number 1 (pdf 2.5 mB)
Special Focus: Collective Action for Community Development
It’s not surprising that the idea of collective action has gained rapid interest and followers recently. The framework, which seeks to produce true alignment of purpose across related sectors working on social, economic, and environmental challenges, offers a great deal of promise for making significant improvements in the life chances for disadvantaged populations.