Canadians want Action on Food in Throne Speech on World Food Day
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONTREAL, 15 OCTOBER 2013 –Food Secure Canada (FSC) is calling on Stephen Harper and all other federal party leaders to mark World Food Day tomorrow by speaking up about Canada’s broken food system and what can be done to fix it. People have responded to the national initiative by posting their own videos on the Throne speech on Youtube. They are calling on the government to reduce waste, eliminate hunger, protect farmland, support local food providers and improve labeling and food safety, amongst other ideas.
“Canadians across the country want action on food and they know what needs to be done, as these videos show”, says Diana Bronson, Executive Director of Food Secure Canada. “Over 3 million people in Canada are food insecure, more than three in five Canadian adults are overweight or obese, we are losing thousands of family farms every year, and people are unable to access the healthy, local food they want to consume.”
Food Secure Canada has sent letters to Prime Minister Harper as well as to opposition leaders, asking them to raise this key issue on a day Canadians will be listening. “A Speech From the Throne on World Food Day is an opportunity to highlight the food crises we are facing and propose clear steps forward. Food is one of the most critical consumer issues facing Canadians,” added Bronson.
On World Food Day, Food Secure Canada will also be unveiling its brand new interactive web platform that will facilitate coordination between food-related organizations at the national level. FSC’s new website will provide a forum that highlights the innovative work taking place across the country to re-build our food system: student nutrition programs, local food policy councils, revitalization of traditional Native foods, community-supported fisheries and agriculture programs, local and sustainable businesses, community food centers and much more. They are all part of the dynamic and rapidly growing food movement that put together “Resetting the Table: A People’s Food Policy for Canada”. Food Secure Canada is also launching its new logo (featured above) and registered French name (now called "Réseau pour une alimentation durable").
Also for the occasion of World Food Day, at the request of FSC, Wayne Roberts, author of The No Nonsense Guide to World Food, has filmed his own Throne Speech, laying out what a vision for food in Canada could look like. He will participate in a national webinar with other food movement leaders on October 16 at 1 pm (EDT) on the same day.
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Contact: Diana Bronson, Executive Director, at 514 271-7352 or cell 514 629 9236 or diana[at]foodsecurecanada[dot]org.
Nydia Dauphin, Communications, at 514 271-7352 or cell 819-598-4416 nydia[at]foodsecurecanada[dot]org.
Food Secure Canada is a national membership-based organization concerned with zero hunger, safe and healthy food and sustainable food systems. Find out more at foodsecurecanada.org
Follow us on Twitter @foodsecureCAN
View the videos Canadians have sent on Throne Speech
To sign up for our webinar, register here.
Check our website for updates: foodsecurecanada.org