Wrapping Up Eat Think Vote with an Open Letter to the Prime Minister
Thank you to everyone who participated in our Eat Think Vote 2021 campaign. For this year’s rendition of Eat Think Vote we focused our energy on writing, publishing, and sharing policy backgrounders that are grounded in the analysis and policy proposals of civil society food movement actors from coast-to-coast-to-coast, and situated within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework. We also looked at what the main political parties are saying about food by analyzing their programs on food security, food justice, healthy food and sustainable food systems. The platform analysis and policy backgrounders that resulted from this work enabled our Eat Think Vote partners to write food-related articles, prepare interview questions or host virtual, hybrid or in-person events with their MP Candidates during the pre-election period.
To wrap up our work for this election campaign, we wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as well as the leaders of the Bloc Quebecois, the Conservative Party, the New Democratic Party, and the Green Party. The letter prioritizes six interrelated food-system issues that we urge the incoming government to act on:
- Addressing the root causes of food insecurity
- Building resilient local food systems
- Supporting Indigenous food sovereignty
- Championing decent work and justice for workers all along the food chain
- Ensuring everyone is at the table; and
- Advancing a school food program for Canada
Details on how exactly the incoming government can address these issues can be found in the appendix of the letter.