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Our food system, that paragon of mass production, has fallen into disgrace. Its reputation for healthiness and reliability is on the rocks, and now it's even failing to keep prices down. People are demanding an alternative that makes food more nutritious, safe, and ecologically sound, yet plentiful, affordable, diverse - even empowering. The following items from The CED Digital Bookshop concern initiatives to build food systems in which consumers can rely chiefly on food produced, processed, and distributed in their community or bio-region. A click on any title will forward you to the Bookshop to place your order. (All items are free of charge.) Nothing here that fits the bill? There's more. Drop us a line to let us know just what you're after. Canada's food system has come to be all about efficiency, quantity, and economy - not health, employment, environment, and self-reliance. The response of communities to this threat, while admirable, is wholly unequal to its magnitude. Aussi disponible en français. 2. Canadian Community Response to Food Issues This chart organizes the actions of Canada's civil society in terms of 10 food issues (financing, hunger, malnourishment, Peak Oil, etc.) and five approaches: charitable, community development, social enterprise (grant- and market-based), and the private sector. Aussi disponible en français. 3. Building the Ecological Food System Foodshare Toronto, originally a charitable response to urban hunger, has grown into a champion of community-led initiatives in food preparation, education, enterprise, and public policy. Yet systemic change is still far off. Aussi disponible en français. Through research, communications, political advocacy, and social entrepreneurship, Equiterre has been helping to carve out a market in Québec for local, organic, and community-supported food. Aussi disponible en français. 5. Plotting the Future of Food Three main schools of thought and strategy have emerged over the issue of food security. Two affirm the promise of technological innovation, driven by corporate investment and international competition. A third proposes something more dramatic: a food system integrated with the life of natural and human communities. Aussi disponible en français. A hypersensitivity to Big Food is tempting us overrate the capacity of Small Food to get thousands of Canadians fed. To make local food systems work, every initiative must serve to increase the share that farmers receive from each dollar that consumers spend on food. 7. Canada's Conscious Consumers "Market fragmentation" represents an enormous opportunity for social entrepreneurs in the food sectors. Each of the seven major trends in consumers' food preferences represent a wave that growers, processors, retailers, and restaurateurs can ride into the future. Aussi disponible en français. 8. Alternative Food Production & Marketing Consumers have spoken, and the answer is "no." Community-shared agriculture, certified labelling, and even farmers' markets barely register in Manitoba's current economy. It's time for government to approach locally-controlled agriculture as an R&D issue, not a matter for the market alone. In the dismantling of Canada's food security, farmers have become both agents and victims of transnational corporations. There will be no resolution to the crisis in our food system unless farmers' interests and perspectives are taken fully into account. Aussi disponible en français. Stonyfield Farm, New Hamphshire has blended economic with social and environmental goals, shaping and responding to consumers' demand for organic foods. The business, like the market, has grown exponentially and without injury to mission or profit. Will new corporate ownership keep up the good work? 11. Redesigning Canada's Food System To reverse the decline in Canada's food security, our actions must address not one factor, but several, including food supply, food access, and policy change. A national survey suggests that our success will hinge on the one sector to blend environmental with social and economic values: the social economy. With a revised Agricultural Policy Framework in the works, a prime opportunity beckons to impress the values and insights of the Ecological Paradigm on Canada's food system. To make that happen, community food practitioners must forge a movement that speaks with power, to power. Aussi disponible en français. Check out these other Hotlists! |
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