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Food Policy

An example of a healthy food system, free range chickens

What is Food Policy?

Policy is the framework within which decisions are made. Our current food policy supports the industrial food system through regulation, subsidies, and a host of initiatives from local removals of land from the Agricultural Land Reserve to federal agreements on trade and genetic engineering. The B.C. Food Systems Network advocates a food policy which places community food security as the highest priority.

Why put food first in all policy decisions?

  1. Because public as well as personal health depends on access to good food;
  2. Because the only secure access to food is local;
  3. Because we can only have real control of the quality, integrity and safety of food produced here;
  4. Because no-one has the right to experiment on the public or jeopardize our food supply;
  5. Because honest cost-accounting shows that local, small-scale and ecological agriculture is cost-effective;
  6. Because in principle we should preserve capacity (land, water, seeds), skills, and tools (including infrastructure such as processors) to feed ourselves;
  7. Because everyone has the right to food;
  8. Because we don't want to take advantage of people in other countries.

POLICY: Put Food First

The Network insists on a democratic process for policy development and encourages public policies that foster economic viability, ecological health, and social justice.

This means that B.C. must "put food first" - the creation and maintenance of a robust, ecologically sound agriculture and the provision of healthy food for the entire population must become the central objectives of the provincial government, so that policy in all areas would have to be seen through the lens of food security.

Many communities across Canada are using the concept of a Food Charter to raise awareness and develop food policies at the municipal level. The Charter is a statement of principles upon which policies for community food security can be based. They may include statements such as the following, from the food policy adopted by the Thompson Health Region in B.C. A similar statement was adopted by the City of Merritt, and incorporated into the City of Kamloops' Social Plan:

Communities in British Columbia are starting to create and adopt municipal Food Charters. Vancouver adopted the Vancouver Food Charter in February 2007; the Village of Kaslo in February 2008; and the town of Salmon Arm in June 2008. Across Canada, read the Food Charters from Manitoba ; Prince Albert; Saskatoon; and Toronto (please note that the Saskatoon Charter is a large file to download: 1.64MB).

Documents and Position Statements

Organizations

For our purposes, a food policy organization is one working to create a sustainable, just local food system in which farmers can make a living and nobody goes hungry.The BC Food Systems Network connects food policy organizations in communities all over BC. These organizations in turn link individuals and groups at the local level who are involved with food and determined to create a sustainable, just local food system. They do this by bringing together people from all parts of the food system to create direct relationships and to foster the projects such as community gardens, farmers markets and community kitchens which are the seeds of a sustainable local food system.

The BC Food Systems Network also seeks to provide a link among the various groups in the province who are dealing with issues of justice and sustainability in the food system.

Regional food security policy organizations in BC, listed in alphabetical order, with contact names, include:

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