"Let's Talk Food Politics"

27-28 March 2015

Food Secure Canada members hosted a jam-packed luncheon “Let’s Talk Food Politics” at the Broadbent Institute’s Progress Summit. It was a great chance to engage with politicians, policy makers, journalists, trade unions and NGO leaders on our election campaign.

With 8 round table discussions on our election platform, we explored some of the dilemmas involved in getting political traction on building a more healthy, sustainable and just food system.

Participants liked the idea of sharing policy proposals with candidates over a meal, as we plan to do in ridings all across Canada. The challenge ahead is to ensure that our election campaign is rooted in sound policy and our issues are easy to understand for the general public and the media. Refining our messaging is exactly what organizations across the country are working on now, specifically with regards to our 4 key planks:

• income solutions that reduce food insecurity affecting more than 4 million Canadians;
• the food insecurity crisis affecting remote northern communities;
• providing kids with healthy food in schools;
• supporting the next generation of farmers.

The luncheon was organized in collaboration with Community Food Centres Canada and Savour Ottawa which provided delicious local cheeses, and with experts from the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Coalition for Healthy School Food, FarmStart, the National Farmers Union, the New Farmer Initiative, Show Kids You Care, The Stop and USC Canada.

The event was covered by ipolitics.