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WHY SOURCING LOCAL FOOD MATTERS? On average, food travels about 2,500 kilometres before it reaches our plates. Alternatively it is quite possible to eat food grown, raised and processed that travels only 50-250 km. That food is a lot less dependent on the fossil fuels that negatively impact our environment. With the upswing in the local food movement trend, it is also becoming more convenient to access local food suppliers. Our area is lucky to have all the ingredients needed to sustain a local food network - protected farmland; a diversity of farm products grown and raised in the area; a large population; and a concentration of food service industries and institutions. Buying local has a lasting impact on sustaining family farms, supporting our local rural and urban economies, encouraging agricultural diversity, and promoting sustainable environmental practices. It also secures a predictable and more stable food source for the future and provides a cushion against a vulnerable global food system.
WHAT IS FOOD INSECURITY? Halton Region Health estimates over 6300 families are food insecure, meaning without sufficient access or income to buy healthy food on a regular basis. Good Food Access means maintaining one’s dignity when acquiring food, making your own culturally appropriate food choices, and having good quality food available close to home. Less than 25% of Halton’s local rural farms actually produce market crops and products. Most area farms produce commodity crops, animal feed, or are horse or niche farms. There is a need to encourage more new farmers, younger farmers, experienced farmers from the immigrant population, and urban agriculture to produce and supply food for the local population. According to the Metcalf Foundation, at the core of the problem is an outdated system designed for the export market that is no longer producing local food for local markets. Farmers are in a financial crisis. Agricultural land is fast disappearing. Food bank use is increasing. Health is declining due to lack of access to nutritional food. Solutions are needed to address these issues through new, integrated approaches that span sectors and interests. For more information on food security policies being recommended please check out the reference links further below. WHERE & WHAT IS LOCAL? "Local" or "locally grown" generally means that the products described originated within a limited number of kilometers of the place where they are sold, or is a food that is manufactured, processed, produced or packaged in close proximity to where it is sold. (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Farming and Rural Affairs)
FOOD SECURITY POLICY RESOURCE LINKS: Community Food Security Resetting the Table: A People's Food Policy for Canada Canada urgently needs a national food policy. Close to two and a half million Canadians are food insecure. Farmers and fishers are going out of business, our natural environment is being pushed to the limit, a quarter of Canadians are considered obese, and we are the only G8 country without a nationally-funded school meal program. The status quo is no longer an option. The need for change is widely recognized and plans to develop national food policies or strategies are being advanced by many sectors, including all five federal political parties and influential industry groups. The People’s Food Policy is significantly different from these initiatives. It is the first-ever national food policy to be developed by the food movement itself – a diverse and dynamic network of organizations and individuals working to build a healthy, ecological and just food system for Canada READ MORE HERE Metcalf Food Solution Reports offer a range of strategies to promote local economic development and improve access to healthy and abundant locally-produced food. More HERE Recommendations:
Reports:
Halton Food Council bringing community food security to Halton www.haltonfoodcouncil.ca Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario (EFAO) develop and provide programs promoting the practice and advancement of ecological agriculture which maintains and enhances the health of the soil, water, crops, livestock and the diversity of the environment. Find out more here . More Local Food Information is available by clicking on the following links:
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