Bits and Bytes February 2014

Food and the Federal Policy

There is no shortage of action on food policy at the federal level these days!  Some matters of ongoing concern to our food movement are:

• The Federal Budget
  • Charity Chill
  • Nutrition North
  • Food Safety
• Conference Board of Canada's Food Summit

Read FSC's take on these topics.

Bill C-18 - the Agricultural Growth Act

On February 13th, 67 people from across Canada participated in a webinar hosted by the National Farmers Union, to dive into the complexities of the Agricultural Growth Act (Bill C-18). Terry Boehm, Chair of the NFU Seed & Trade Committee, explained the implications of the Act for corporate control of seed and farming practices and encouraged participants to take action.

Watch the recording.
Share your thoughts on Bill C-18.

Federal Government Taken to Court

Last August, Equiterre and the David Suzuki Foundation sued the Government of Canada over its refusal to take steps to protect Canadians from hundreds of pesticide products that contain 29 active ingredients.

These legal actions recently resulted in a considerable victory, as the Government has been forced to review the  enviornmental impacts of the aforementioned pesticides.

In similar news, the Ecology Action Centre (EAC) has also taken the Government of Canada to court, but this time to challenge its recent decision to allow AquaBounty Technologies Inc. to manufacture genetically modified (GM) salmon eggs at Bay Fortune, PEI. Read EAC and CBAN's article.

Coincidently (or not) these 3 influential environmental organizations as well as four others have become the subject of rigorous audits by the Canada Revenue Agency.

Organizational Membership - What's in it for you!

Being a Food Secure Canada organizational member offers a wide range of benefits.

• Get your news in our newsletter and reach readers from across the country!
• Hiring someone? Share your posting on our website and get the ideal candidate.
• Host a country-wide webinar and put your work on the map! Organizational membership includes one free webinar per year. Choose your topic and your speaker and we'll take care of the rest.
• You have important news to share? We'll send them to our media list.

And the list goes on.

We offer a sliding scale of membership rates depending on your organization's budget, but if you are unable to meet any of these rates, call us or send us an email. We'll be happy to discuss possibilities of other forms of collaboration.

Job opportunity

FSC is hiring!  We are looking for a new program manager on Institutional Food Procurement, a program jointly managed with the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation.  See the job posting here.

Webinar: The Child Nutrition Development Program. Presented by REACH. February 20, 2014. Sign up now.

Conference: The Organic Vision: In Search of Change. Presented by Canadian Organic Growers Toronto in association with The Big Carrot. February 22, 2014. More information.

Webinar: Sustainable Food Systems in a Healthy Communities Lens. Presented by the Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition. February 24, 2014. More information.

Teleconference: School Garden Programs Presented by the Food Security Network of Newfoundland and Labrador. February 25, 2014. More information.

ACORN Grow A Farmer Apprenticeship Program. Deadline: March 3, 2014. More information.

See full events calendar and post your own!