[WRFoodNews] May 10, 2010 Waterloo Region Food System update

[Marc Xuereb]

Please find below the latest update on Waterloo Region's food system as described on the website of the Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable at www.wrfoodsystem.ca.  Join discussions of the topics below and many more on our Discussion Forum<http://www.wrfoodsystem.ca/index.php?p=forum/view_forum&forum_id=10001>.

Online consultation on "Product of Canada" labelling requirements

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is holding an online consumer consultation on the "Product of Canada" and "Made in Canada" labelling requirements.  The consultation will be looking at specific guideline details, including exemptions for certain ingredients that are difficult to find in Canada, such as sugar. To provide your input, fill out the CFIA's quick survey<http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22AJEW933WK> before May 16, 2010.  To view background on this issue and some media coverage of it, see the Roundtable's Discussion Forum<http://www.wrfoodsystem.ca/index.php?p=forum/view_thread&thread_id=10455>.



More Details on Liberal proposal for National Food Policy

The federal Liberals released more details about their proposed national food policy<http://www.liberal.ca/pdf/docs/foodpolicy_e.pdf> on April 26. The proposed policy makes explicit links between health and the food system, and proposes to put more local food on Canadians' plates.  Among other things, it proposes to strive for the principles of ensuring adequate incomes for farmers and access to affordable nutritious foods for all Canadians.  See links to media coverage in the CBC<http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/04/26/liberal-national-food-policy.html>, Globe & Mail<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/liberals-outline-national-food-policy/article1546864/>, and Toronto Star<http://www.thestar.com/opinion/columns/article/803128--goar-good-ideas-little-sustenance-in-liberal-food-policy> on the Roundtable's Discussion Forum<http://www.wrfoodsystem.ca/index.php?p=forum/view_thread&thread_id=10133>.



People's Food Policy Project

Speaking of national food policy, the People's Food Policy Project<http://peoplesfoodpolicy.ca/> (PFPP) is gearing up to release its draft national food policy in the coming months, after having received hundreds of submissions from people across the country.  Volunteer writers are polishing up a draft right now, and public workshops and consultations on the draft will take place in the Fall.  PFPP coordinator Amanda Sheedy made a presentation on the status of the project in an online webinar last week: see her presentation here<http://www.chnet-works.ca/index.php?option=com_phocadownload&view=category&id=7%3Afireside-chat-presentations-2010&download=222%3A185-april-30-2010-peoples-food-policy-project&Itemid=13&lang=en> [links to 1.3Mb .pdf file].



Have Your Meat and Eat it, Too
You may recall Jill Eisen's outstanding 3-part series on CBC's Ideas<http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/index.html> called Organics Goes Mainstream<http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/features/organics/index.html>.  She is now releasing a new series, called Have Your Meat and Eat it Too.   It airs on CBC Radio 1 at 9:04 p.m on May 17th (factory farming and its problems), May 24th (the arguments for and against eating meat), and May 31st (alternative ways of raising livestock and consuming meat).


Upcoming Food Events
Full details on upcoming food-related events in Waterloo Region can be viewed under Upcoming Events<http://www.wrfoodsystem.ca/index.php?p=9> on the Roundtable's website.  To share news of your event, email details to the Roundtable's Site Administrator<mailto:xmarc at region.waterloo.on.ca>, who will post it to the website.  Some upcoming highlights include:

            Container Gardening - Thursday, May 13, 7-8pm, Seven Shores Café, Waterloo
            Heritage Tomato Seedling Sale - Sunday, May 16, 2-4pm, Dunbar Rd S, Waterloo
            Seedling Sale - Saturday, May 22, 9am-noon, Little City Farm, Kitchener
            Buy Local! Buy Fresh! Map launch - Saturday, May 22, 10am-noon, Kitchener Market
            Food "Waste" or Resource? - Tuesday, May 25, 7-9pm, KPL Grand River Branch
            Forest Gardening Workshop - Saturday, May 29, 9:30am-4:30pm, Emmanual United Church, Waterloo

Marc Xuereb
staff support to the Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable
c/o 99 Regina Street South, 3rd Floor
Waterloo, ON N2J 4V3
519.883.2004 x.5872
MXuereb at regionofwaterloo.ca<mailto:MXuereb at regionofwaterloo.ca>
[Note new email address: please start using this one.]

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