Having the presence of mind to choose a food item that is grown locally over one that originates from elsewhere in the world may not come naturally at first, but a few folks in the Northeast are doing their best to change that.
A group of agriculture, food and health industry professionals in the region has been working on a Northeast Saskatchewan Food Charter initiative, spearheaded by the Food for All Coalition. The group unveiled the document on November 15 in Tisdale at a “Food Forum and Feast”.
“A food charter is a document intended to raise the profile of food security in the region,” says Leroy Bader, an Agribusiness Development Specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food (SAF) and one of the people involved in the project. “Because we are all vulnerable to food security, we need a clear vision of the kind of food security we need now and in the future. The charter can guide community action in addressing issues of food security, including food production, storage and distribution.
“One of reasons I became involved in this project is that, in Saskatchewan, we are approximately 10 per cent self-sufficient in growing our own vegetables, whereas Manitoba and Alberta are around 40 percent self-sufficient. There is obviously a lot of room to grow our foods locally, and room for value-added processing locally as well,” he says.
Specifically, the Food Forum and Feast participants had an opportunity to learn about local food production, storage and distribution, and how to adopt food buying practices that support the local rural economy. They discovered the link between food security and social justice, culture, health and learning; they learned to identify priorities for action; and they began the process of developing a local food directory, a crucial element in the process.
“This initiative involved local health and education specialists, as well as organizations like the Metis Nation of Saskatchewan,” says Sandy Lowndes, a Livestock Development Specialist with SAF who has taken the food charter principle to heart. “The Food Forum and Feast also involved a market gardener and an organic producer. This is about changing attitudes and about what we as a population can do as a group to ensure food security.”
“It could be said that 15 per cent of Canadians are ‘food insecure’,” she says. “Food security can be defined as—among other things—access to affordable, nutritious, safe food, and all the time. Half of those people in Canada who are food insecure are children. This translates into almost two million children. It is significant.”
Lowndes and her colleagues hope this initiative will help raise awareness about the benefits of eating foods grown locally—eating foods that are fresh and loaded with vitamins and minerals, leading to more vigorous fruit (and) vegetable, processed grain and meat industries in the province.
For more information, contact:
Leroy Bader
Agribusiness Development Specialist
Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
(306) 873-1538
Sandy Lowndes
Livestock Development Specialist
Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
(306) 878-8816
