Roundtable Terms of Reference

Mission

To champion a vibrant and healthy local food system

Goals

To increase awareness of food systems issues and communicate with a common voice to promote action

Activities

networking/education – build new partnerships and enhance networking between existing food system stakeholders

coordinate/analyze – identify and prioritize food system needs and support creation and implementation of initiatives

evaluation – establish benchmarks and targets for achievement of mission/goals

funding – lever community resources to support mission/goals

policy – identify policy changes which support goals and advocate for their implementation

Values

Members of the Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable are committed to the following values:

• Right to Know — People have a right to know what's in their food and where and how it was produced
• Access — All people should have physical and economic access to healthy, local food
• Economic Viability — Local food businesses should be valued, supported and vibrant
• Sustainability — All sectors of society share in the responsibility for creating and maintaining an environmentally sustainable local food system

Membership

Members will be recommended by a nomination committee appointed by the Roundtable, with final decisions on recommendations made by the Roundtable itself. Up to 18 people can be members at any one time. Members may, but are not expected to, formally represent or speak for their organizations, but will be selected on the basis of their ability to speak to issues from the sector or key interest they come from. The Roundtable may decide to have certain organizations formally represented on its membership: the specific organizations to have formal membership will be reviewed by the Nominations Committee annually.

The Roundtable membership shall be representative of the key interests and sectors of Waterloo Region's food system. Key sectors and interests which could have representation include:

• Farmers
• Emergency food providers
• Food manufacturers
• Urban agriculture advocates
• Food distributors
• Academics/researchers specializing in food system issues
• Educators/teachers
• Food retailers
• Land use planners
• Restaurants
• Institutional purchasers
• Low income consumers
• Ethnic food retailers/consumers
• Organic food advocates
• Economic development organizations/ professionals
• Health professionals
• Food justice advocates
• Food marketing organizations
• Neighbourhood-based food programs
• Public Health staff

Members must endorse the Mission, Goals, and Values of the Roundtable and have skills or experience in at least one area of food system issues.

The Roundtable's membership should reflect Waterloo Region's diverse population, including, but not limited to, race, rural/urban residency, gender, and socioeconomic status.

Term

Members will be appointed for two-year terms, with half of the members' terms expiring in odd-numbered years, and the other half expiring in even-numbered years, to ensure consistency. Missing three meetings a year without prior discussion with a Co-Chair is deemed equivalent to a resignation. The Roundtable will appoint new interim members during the term as needed.

Co-Chairs

The Roundtable will, at the beginning of each term of membership, elect from its membership two Co-Chairs. The duties of the Co-Chairs include:

• propose meeting agendas
• invite guests
• chair meetings
• facilitate dialogue among Roundtable members between meetings
• liaise with Roundtable support staff, if applicable
• in circumstances prescribed by the Roundtable, act as spokespeople

Meeting Business

The Roundtable shall meet a minimum of five times per year, at dates and times to be agreed upon by the membership.

Quorum for conducting business at a meeting will be six members.

At least one meeting per year shall be open to the public. Minutes of all meetings shall, upon Roundtable approval, be available to the public.

Decisions of the Roundtable will be made by majority vote, except on decisions related to the adoption of public policy positions, which require unanimous approval. The Co-Chairs will use their discretion to select policy issues for consideration by the Roundtable, focusing largely on endorsing positions of member organizations where consensus exists.

The Roundtable may form task groups or ad hoc committees to undertake tasks that require in-depth work on behalf of the Roundtable.

Resources/Staffing

The Roundtable may enter into agreements with organizations to provide administrative and/or research support to the Roundtable, or may directly hire staff.