WRFoodNews February 15, 2011

Below are a number of recent news items concerning the health of Waterloo Region's food system. You can read this issue of Waterloo Region Food News and all previous issues on our website at http://www.wrfoodsystem.ca/wrfoodnews. Upcoming events are listed at the bottom and on the Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable's website at www.wrfoodsystem.ca/events.

1. Local Workforce Planning Board sees Potential in Food Sector
The Workforce Planning Board of Waterloo Wellington Dufferin sees agriculture and food manufacturing as areas of key importance for creating new employment. The Board, which analyses employment data for the local economy with a view to suggesting areas in need of new training or “adjustment” in the labour force, identified the two food sectors are priorities in its April 2010 Trends, Opportunities, and Priorities report. The report notes a high demand for workers in both agriculture and food manufacturing, and recommends measures to recruit and train workers in the sectors. 

2. Student Research on Local Food Issues Published
The Roundtable has devoted a new section of its website to research conducted by students on Waterloo Region’s food system. Recently published papers include a study of the potential for growing more ethnic vegetables locally, an analysis of the potential for foraging wild foods in the city, and a study of the feasibility of making local food available in convenience stores. See links to these papers and more at http://www.wrfoodsystem.ca/studentresearch.

3. Sustain Ontario to develop proposed Ontario Food Act
Sustain Ontario, the provincial non-profit organization dedicated to promoting healthy food and farming, is asking for input on its ideas for a new Ontario Food Act. The proposed Act would (among other things) direct public institutions to set targets for local and sustainable foods, pay farmers for ecological services, and help consumers make healthy food choices.

4. Job Opportunities in Food
Several job postings have been posted in the Work Opportunities in Food section of the Roundtable’s website, including a researcher/writer for a documentary on food sustainability, a coordinator for a Guelph urban agriculture program, and two positions in Toronto.

5. Call for Government Action on Poverty and Hunger
The Make Poverty History campaign is calling on Canadians to Support the Report of a recent House of Commons Committee which makes several recommendations for addressing poverty, including raising the Child Tax Benefit, easing EI restrictions, and calling for a national housing strategy. The organization is calling on people to write to federal Human Resources Minister Dianne Finley to encourage her to endorse and implement the report’s recommendations. Meanwhile, the Ontario Income Security Advocacy Centre has released a fact sheet on the Special Diet Allowance, which the provincial government promised to eliminate in its 2010 budget, but which it reinstated – with new rules – in November. The Special Diet Allowance enables Ontario Works recipients who qualify to earn additional income to address a number of health conditions: the government reacted to allegations of fraud in the implementation of the Allowance, but advocacy by anti-poverty groups across the province led to a reversal of that decision.

6. Contribute to Active Food Discussions
Several discussion threads have been updated recently on the Roundtable’s Discussion Forum. Steffanie Scott posted a presentation on the Ontario government’s various programs to support local foods, Ellen Desjardins contributed new links to information on the potential of bio-char to provide carbon-friendly fertilizer for agriculture, and Louisette Lanteigne shared a photographic blog comparing the effects of pasteurized versus raw milk. Read and contribute to these and more discussions on the Roundtable’s Discussion Forum.

7. Join a CSA!
In another month or so the snow will be gone and our thoughts will turn to fresh produce once again.  Have you ever thought about joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program? To find out more about CSAs in Waterloo Region follow this link to Foodlink Waterloo Region’s online map of local food: http://www.foodlink.ca/index.php?p=food_maps/map.SearchResults&search=CSA.

8. Upcoming Food Events
Full details on upcoming food-related events in Waterloo Region can be viewed under Upcoming Events on the Roundtable's website. To share news of your event, email details to the Roundtable's Site Administrator, who will post it to the website. Some upcoming highlights include:

Renewing Rural Economies – Saturday, February 12, 9am-4pm, University of Guelph
Intro to Cheesemaking – Saturday, February 19, 1-3pm, Little City Farm, Kitchener
Your Food, Your Choice – Saturday, February 19, 9am-5pm, University of Toronto
Where does Your Meat Come From? – Tuesday, February 22, 6:30-8:30pm, KPL Forest Height Branch, Kitchener

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