The 15-member advisory council, which will be chosen in June, will also have to look at difficult issues like raising chickens and bees in the city, or how to set up a food hub at the local community league, said Hani Quan, principal planner with the city’s new food and urban agriculture strategy. Read more…
Thursday, May 16
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Pacific / 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Eastern Baltimore offers an important example of a city that has successfully implemented an inter-governmental initiative to increase access to healthy and affordable foods in underserved neighborhoods.
This webinar offers an in-depth exploration of Baltimore’s healthy food retail programs and accomplishments including its virtual supermarket program, the financing of two recent healthy food markets, and a just released study mapping food quality in Baltimore food markets.
Presenters Include:
Thursday, May 16, 3:30 – 4:45pm ET
The Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems and the Union of Concerned Scientists cordially invite you to a public webinar
Monday, May 20th – from 3:00 to 4:30 pm EST
Brief Summary – To address the current state and future direction of economic analysis with regard to local and regional food systems, Michigan State University’s Center for Regional Food Systems and the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Food & Environment Program convened a meeting of a group of economists and local food researchers on January 31 and February 1, 2013. This webinar will provide a brief synopsis of the meeting outcomes, with a focus on questions one should consider when conducting or commissioning a study on the economic impacts of local and regional food systems. There will be adequate opportunity for participants to weigh in with comments and questions to continue to inform the discussion on future economic impact studies of local and regional food commerce.
To get on the webinar, go to: https://connect.msu.edu/
The webinar will be recorded for those who are not able to participate on May 20th. For additional information please contact:
Rich Pirog – Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems –rspirog@msu.edu
Jeff O’Hara – Union of Concerned Scientists – johara@ucsusa.org
Thursday, May 30
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Pacific / 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Eastern
This webinar will provide an overview of the “Find Money” section of the Healthy Food Retail Portal and provide examples of specific federal, state, and local resources that can be tapped to create or expand healthy food retail opportunities in underserved communities.
Presenters Include:
Community Engagement: Pedagogy, Partnership, Practices
26th Annual Teaching and Learning Innovations Conference
Jointly sponsored by the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences and the Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Connie Nelson, Lakehead University
“Service Learning and Democratizing Knowledge”
In the past month we’ve seen a huge revival in the use of the term ‘sustainable’ in the foodosphere (that’s the ‘blogosphere’ as it relates to food) – as I tried to capture in the last Feast (vol. 6.2). Whether talking about farm insurance, food marketing, food systems, food justice, food hubs, food regulation, the future of farming, or the future of food, it’s gotta be ‘sustainable’ (again). Here is a small (but important) sample:
http://fox6now.com/2013/04/27/
http://learn.uvm.edu/
http://www.farms.com/
The Small-Minded, Small Farm Conundrum
Our ideas are not small in any way, but we end up time and time again arguing our case primarily on the basis of size. … But size alone seems not to be the primary driver of risk. Rather, such factors as time, distance and system complexity are the most immediate keys to controlling risk, and that would make local and regional food systems a critical part of any effective national food safety strategy. Read more…
Local and Regional Food System Marketing Program Opens Up New Round of FundingThe USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has announced a request for applications for its latest round of funding for the Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program (FSMIP). Two previous priority categories remain for the 2013 round of grants:
Greenbelt Fund Green Papers – Volume 6 – People: Attitudes and Beliefs
When making changes to the food purchasing process, the challenge public institutions face is that they tend to involve a long list of staff members that play a role in this process… Any one person on this long line of those directly and indirectly affected can stymie institutional change. It is therefore of utmost importance that relevant staff is engaged when initiating change. Read more…
Locavesting is a call to rethink the way we invest, so that we support the small businesses that create jobs and healthy, resilient communities. Read more…
… and finally, regular Feast readers will have been struck by the number of articles on the investment in infrastructure happening at a a state level in both Michigan and New York. Here’s more:
What is a food hub? Part 3: Michigan Hubs
The Michigan Food Hub Learning and Innovation Network facilitates:
State approves $2.5 million for Madison County ‘food hub’
The grants from Empire State Development Corp. will help Growing Upstate Food Hub LLC, a consortium of farm businesses, build the $4.2 million shared-use facility in Canastota. Read more…
WATERLOO – A new report by Ontario researchers documents how farmers’ markets, co-ops and other sustainable food systems strengthen the economic, environmental and social health of local communities.
After extensive consultation with the Ontario food community, the report — called Models and Best Practices for Building Sustainable Food Systems in Ontario and Beyond — will be made available to the public today through the Nourishing Ontario website: http://nourishingontario.ca/models-and-best-practices/
Until 30 April 2013, the UN FAO is running an open e-consultation on ‘Food losses and waste in the context of sustainable food systems’
Financing Farmers and Food Hubs
April 30, 2013
2:00-3:30pm
Michigan Food Hub Learning and Innovation Network
Learn more about two exciting financing projects: the Shade Fund (part of the Conservation Fund) and the Northwest Michigan Farm and Food 20/20 Fund.
To participate in the webinar, go to: https://connect.msu.edu/richpirog
Read more…
Stocking the Pantry: Fundraising in the community food sector
Upcoming free webinar: Wednesday, April 24, 12:00-1:00pm EDTJoin Nick Saul, President & CEO of Community Food Centres Canada, and Cheryl Roddick, Director of Development at The Stop Community Food Centre for a conversation on fundraising for small to mid-size organizations. The discussion will touch on the evolution of fundraising at The Stop, key development moments, the art of stewardship, the importance of diversified funding, and more. Click here to register – https://cfccanada.webex.com/
Food Hackathon was the first of its kind event empowering food lovers and developers with a focus on building hardware and software products and services that positively impact the production, storage, distribution, access, discovery, sharing, consumption, and social impact of food. Read more…
Crowdsourcing crop improvement and local indicators?
Can we preselect varieties for a future climate, from a similar climate here and now?
What indicators of season changes will stop being useful to farmers? Will these work in a different place in the future? Read more…
On Monday of this week, the Ontario government re-introduced the Local Food Act. The new Bill 36, “An Act to enact the Local Food Act, 2013” (pdf) contains two provisions generating most of the response in the press: local food procurement and Local Food Week. Some have complained that the Act would replace “Ontario Agriculture Week” with “Local Food Week” -by celebrating both in the week before Thanksgiving.
Local food procurement by public sector organizations is the focus of most of the Act’s provisions, which lay the groundwork for mandated “goals or targets” for various sectors. These goals or targets are a way of addressing one of the practical constraints to encouraging procurement of local food in the public sector: metrics**. Research on Ontario’s health care sector suggests that these mandated “goals or targets” are only half of the ‘metrics’ that are required. The report’s authors found that the province must first establish clear and definitive boundaries around the concept “local food” -and how it is to be measured- and then give public sector organizations the opportunity to establish baselines. This is the approach used by the Canadian Environmental Law Asoociation’s model bill [Ontario Local Food Act 2013 – pdf], which contained -as a first step- the assessment of existing local food procurement (along with production, processing, and distribution).
The call for abstracts for the 5th AESOP Conference on Sustainable Food Planning is now open. The conference will focus on innovations in urban food systems, with specific sessions on flows, land and governance.
Abstract submission deadline is June 15, 2013.
Social Innovation Pop-Up Lab, March 21, 2013 – Brantford
Finance, Farms and Food – Exploring new ways to organize and raise money for sustainable food system projects. If you are interested in some new ideas and can travel to Brant County on March 21, we encourage you to participate in this learning event. Come out to hear from a variety of organizations on how they are using new tools and approaches to raise money for sustainable food projects. Details.
Petition to Support local food & good jobs in Ontario
The Premier of Ontario has committed to re-introducing a stronger Local Food Act to support our local farmers and eaters. We think the government can do more to create jobs in Ontario like they’ve done with sustainable energy, by supporting the fast-growing local sustainable food sector, while making the province a more awesome place. Please sign if you agree and want more diverse local food!
A draft Ontario Local Food Act, from the Canadian Environmental Law Association, with funding from the Metcalf Foundation, and building on work done by Sustain Ontario and it’s members.
Greenbelt Fund Green Papers: Volume 5
Access: Aggregating Ontario Product
Historically, farmers in Ontario have delivered their produce directly to local grocery retailers, restaurants, and institutions. This practice has largely disappeared for two reasons. First, distributors emerged as a one-stop shop for restaurants and institutions to obtain product, eliminating the need for multiple suppliers. Second, as franchises and corporate foodservice companies became more dominant, fixed contracts with select distributors to supply categories of products have become the norm. Read more…
New 2nd edition of the Resource Guide for Organic Insect and Disease Management [pdf]
Brian Caldwell, Dr. Eric Sideman, Abby Seaman, Emily Brown Rosen, Dr. Tony Shelton, and Dr. Christine Smart
Partners from the Intervale Center, the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) and the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project (New Entry) will discuss farmland matching programs, helping farmers access capital, and the structure and challenges of continued support for graduates.
| Title: | NIFTI Webinar 6 – Transitioning Farmers Off the Incubator Site |
| Date: | Tuesday, March 26, 2013 |
| Time: | 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM EDT |
Food policy councils are becoming an effective way to foster healthy food environments in communities across the country. Join us for an in-depth examination of the successful Los Angeles Food Policy Council.
| Title: | Food Policy Councils: Improving Healthy Food Retail in a City |
| Date: | Wednesday, March 20, 2013 |
| Time: | 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT |
Limited retail access to healthy foods affects the dietary patterns and health outcomes of many Americans. Join us to learn how new research and evaluation practices are helping to generate innovative solutions that stimulate change in local communities.
| Title: | Food Access & Health Impacts: Trends and New Research |
| Date: | Thursday, April 4, 2013 |
| Time: | 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT |
Australian Food Hubs Network – understandizng, promoting, experimenting with introduction of Food Hubs to Australia
The AFHN is a collaboration of individuals from diverse backgrounds, who are bound by … the vision of fair, sustainable and resilient food systems for all Australians.
We recognise the severity of the many social, ecological and economic challenges our food systems face, locally, nationally and globally. We are convinced of the urgent need for transformative changes in these systems. Read more…
Could a simple green calorie label make people see nutrition-poor foods as healthier?
2nd Annual UVM Food Systems Summit – June 2013
This June, UVM’s Food Systems Summit will be the venue for intense examination and exchange of ideas, knowledge, and practical skills. A valuable part of the summit is the The Necessary [r]Evolution for Sustainable Food Systems Conference on June 27.
Read the full story…
5th AESOP Sustainable Food Planning Conference
The next AESOP Sustainable Food Planning Conference will be held October 28 and 29 in Montpellier France. The main theme of the 2013 conference is ‘Innovations in Urban Food Systems’.
Read the full story…
Regional Sustainable Food Systems Coordinator (Oxfam)
Climate change, lack of access to agricultural markets, and financial resources, high food prices, dispute for natural resources, and gender discrimination issues are just some of the factors preventing a fair and sustainable food system for the people of Latin America. And with the aim to find lasting solutions to poverty, Oxfam is working hard to make a difference. Shaping plans and putting them into action, you’ll help us to help people to help themselves. Read the full job posting…
Waterloo Region Food Charter
Vision: A healthy, just, and sustainable food system is one in which all residents have access to, and can afford to buy, safe, nutritious, and culturally acceptable food that has been produced in an environmentally sustainable way, and that supports our rural communities. Such a food system promotes social justice, population health, and profitable farms, reflects and sustains local culture, and supports ecological viability.
Read the full Charter…
Endorse the Waterloo Region Food Charter…
More Money For Food Hubs in New York State
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The state is making $3.6 million available for the creation of four new food distribution centers that link small farms and growers to large buyers. New facilities are proposed for the North Country, the Mid-Hudson Valley, the Finger Lakes and Central New York. So-called “food hubs” were a major topic of discussion at a recent Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group conference at Saratoga Springs City Center, with more than 400 people on hand from Maine to West Virginia.
Read the full story…
Cooperative Community Shops
Community-owned village shops continue to be one of the leading success stories of the UK co-operative and social enterprise movement. In 1992 there were just 33 community-owned shops; 20 years on there are 303, with a further 20 anticipated to open by the end of 2013. Read the full story…
Home-grown food part of a new vision of urban development
Cities feeding themselves is an idea that is gaining traction. In Burlington, Vermont, more than 8 per cent the food consumed by residents is grown within the city limits.
Read the full story…
USDA Releases Report on the Growing Importance of Food Hubs in Rural America
…”The dramatic increase in the number of food hubs since President Obama took office has been supported by state and federal efforts including USDA programs like Rural Business Enterprise Grant, Rural Business Opportunity Grant, Value-Added Producer Grant, and the Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program.” Read the full story…
Exploring New Possibilities in Land Tenure
Partner wanted for new farm
We’re looking for a farm couple / farmer with experience in any of vegetables, berries, fruit, mushrooms, medicinal herbs and / or livestock to help re-create a farm, preferably using permaculture / biodynamic principles, on this 150-year-old former dairy farm. It ís 200 acres, about 50 acres pasture / meadow, most of the rest forest, in East Meredith, NY (Delaware County, near Delhi / Oneonta).
There ís plenty of water, sun and worms. The barn burned down. The land is organic (unofficially). Would like to develop a relationship beginning with rent or lease, leading to some kind of cooperative arrangement.
This is a unique opportunity for the right people to establish an operation from scratch. To discuss possibilities, please call Carl Arnold at 718 788 5944 or 607 278 5820, or e-mail resume and letter to carlarnold at mac.com
Metro Toronto Convention Centre and Local Food Procurement (YouTube video)
… and finally
Urban Food Strategies Webinar: Foodlinks European Research Project.
In Foodlinks we are analysing and engaging in knowledge brokerage activities and creating effective linkages between scientists, civil society actors and policy makers, to promote research and practice on sustainable food systems. To achieve this, Communities of Practice (CoP) were established in different themes, one of them revolving around Urban Food Strategies, where we are tackling the rise of municipalities and city-regions as food policy makers, pointing to new relations between the government and civil society.
In the framework of this work and jointly with Purefood European Project, we are holding a webinar on Urban Food Strategies to explore recent and ongoing research in this field.
The webinar will take place on 12th of March 2013, 15:00 – 16:00 (GMT)
After a brief introduction by Professor Kevin Morgan, Jessica Jane Spayde and Jess Halliday will present different structures and governance approaches that urban food strategies (UFS) and food policy councils (FPC) use in working toward sustainable urban and peri-urban food systems.
Jessica Jane Spayde will discuss the key roles UFSs and FPCs play in urban food systems. She will also discuss the ways in which UFSs and FPCs are focusing on integrating and facilitating between civil society, government, and the private sector. They also are using their positions to raise awareness of the problems in the food system, which helps create a culture where people are more likely to demand sustainability changes from governments and private food companies.
Jess Halliday will explore how each urban food strategy is enabled and/or constrained by its multi-level governance context. Using examples from her own research on UFSs in England she will set out a framework consisting of factors that can affect the ability of a strategy to meet its own objectives. She will explain how it can be used to draw comparisons between strategies in very different governance settings, and can be used to help cities formulate strategies that are context appropriate.
After the presentations, there will be an interactive Q&A session moderated by Dr. Ana Moragues Faus. Please join us for this exciting event.
Register here: http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=E953DA83824931
If you have any queries about the webinar or the Foodlinks project please get in touch: MoraguesFausA1 at cardiff.ac.uk
For more information visit: http://purefoodlinks.eu
https://knowledgehub.local.gov.uk/web/foodlinksurbanfoodstrategies
Farm to Cafeteria Canada‘s “Dig In” webinar series, in cooperation with the Ontario Farm to School Challenge, are pleased to bring you an exciting opportunity to learn about local food hubs serving the needs of school food programs. Julia Erlbaum, Founder and Principal Consultant at Real Food Colorado, will discuss her experience with existing food hub models and programs that support schools’ ability to access and use more locally-grown food.
This webinar will be held Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 3pm and will be 30 minutes long. To register, please go to Sustain Ontario‘s webex site
Join the National Incubator Farm Training Initiative (NIFTI) for a webinar on managing shared infrastructure and incubator sites. Partners from the Intervale Center, the New American Sustainable Agriculture Project, the International Rescue Committee and the Minnesota Food Association will discuss a wide variety of topics including leasing land, soil fertility management, infrastructure development, urban farming initiatives and general site maintenance (budget, staffing, etc.).
This webinar is designed for those interested in or already operating land-based beginning farmer training programs. We will include ample time at the end for participant questions.
Please note, a recording of this webinar will be available online afterwards at https://nifti.wikispaces.com/Webinars.
Title: NIFTI Webinar 5 – Land and Site Management
Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Time: 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM EST
Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now
February 27: Intro to Social Enterprise and Earned Revenue Strategies for Nonprofits
(presented in English at 10:30am and French at 1:00pm)
Is your nonprofit interested in generating funds that aren’t designated to a particular project? Is your organization already exploring business ideas?
Are you a social entrepreneur with an idea for a community enterprise?
Are you wondering if your business idea is feasible?
The Rural Social Enterprise Constellation (RSEC) is pleased to present our Social Enterprise Webinar Series, beginning on February 27. This series is sponsored by the Rural Social Enterprise Constellation (RSEC) of the Ontario Nonprofit Network and will be of particular interest to rural nonprofit leaders and social entrepreneurs. For more information about the RSEC Project visit Rural Social Enterprise Constellation
Registration will open on February 1
“The Food Hub will retail local food products from our Gardens and from local partner growers, bringing Convenience to local food shopping and increasing the distribution capacity of our local food supply systems.”
…offering large and small-scale adaptations to improve sustainable outcomes
Often considered to be “born green” because they grew up in a society where eco-consciousness was becoming a norm, and often to baby boomer parents who founded the environmental movement, it is only recently that Generation Y has begun to show leadership in the sustainable marketplace.
Althaea Herb Farm is located 1/2 km. outside of Guelph, ON and is accessable by bus, walking or car-pool.
There are 2 positions on offer this year:
# 1 – Barter positions – 5 hrs. / wk. commitment. Trade your labor for plants, fresh herbs, dried herbs, tinctures, etc.
# 2 – General Volunteers – agree to be on phone / e-mail list and they’ll call / e-mail when they need help.
Get in touch for more details.
Access: Identifying Processed Food Origin
“Some say you can’t make a living faming: we respectfully disagree.”
… and for something completely different:
Social Enterprises and the New Wave of Food and Farming Co-operatives
Hannah Renglich, Glenn Valliere, and Randy Whitteker
When: Wednesday, Feb 13th, 2012
Time: Noon – 1:30 pm
View the webcast here (Adobe Connect – Social Economy Centre, U of T)
Is Community Supported Agriculture for you?
Tarrah Young, Green Being Farm
Live! Monday, January 28 @ Noon EST
Click here to register. (AgWebinar)
… and one recent webinar is now available online:
Production Planning to Increase Market Efficiency:
Reducing Financial Risk Through Food Hubs – an NGFN webinar