FSC Newsletter - 2012-08
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GENERAL NEWSLETTER 8 August 2012
In this edition:
FSC Launches Local Sustainable Food Network Food Secure Canada is pleased to announce the establishment a new national network of organizations working on local and regional sustainable food systems. This network has been made possible through the generous funding of The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation. Across Canada, community organizations are doing amazing work to rebuild our broken food system: helping new farmers get land, promoting sustainable procurement in public institutions, ensuring low-income or remote community access to healthy and safe food, eroding industrial monopolies and creating alternatives that are more fair, ecological and healthy. Bit by bit, we are having an economic -- and political -- impact! This network seeks to enhance that impact through strategic joint action: better business planning, joint advocacy initiatives, systematic learning from each other. If this is the kind of work you do, this Network is for you. FSC Is Hiring Food Secure Canada is currently hiring a Local and Sustainable Food Systems Network and Communications Coordinator FSC is also looking for a Logistics and On-Site Coordinator for our November Assembly in Edmonton. Read the job posting here. Food Secure Canada's Next Assembly Is Coming Soon Reminder! Save the dates! Food Secure Canada's next biennial Assembly will be held in Edmonton from November 1-4. Powering Up! Food the the Future, Food Secure Canada's Assembly is looking more and more exciting every day. We have received over 120 workshop and activity proposals which the programme committee is reviewing with care, figuring out how to fit all these great ideas into three days. We are also busy fundraising for this important event and are very pleased to announce our the organizations that have already come through as Sun Supporters: The City of Edmonton, Heifer Canada, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Jack Wehaus Financial Inc and Edmonton's Food Bank. Food Secure Canada's other partners are Growing Food Security in Alberta and NAIT, who will be hosting us all in Edmonton 1-4 November 2012. Expect to see the draft programme and registration information in early September! And if you would like to support the Assembly as an individual, please be in touch with us: Diana@foodsecurecanada.org To learn more, click here. PMO Replies to Right to Food Letter In May, FSC was one of over 600 organizations and people to sign onto a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper regarding the government responses to the UN Special Rapporteurs on the right to food and on the rights of indigenous peoples. Help FSC Launch Our New Web Platform Tell us what you think about Food Secure Canada’s online presence! It takes less than 5 minutes and it will help us make some critical decisions about our next steps online. Take the survey now! Read the latest Food News here. Catch up on our Members' News here. Bauta Initiative on Canadian Seed Security In July 2012, 20 representatives from across the country – farmers, researchers, seed producers, seed and food NGOs (including Food Secure Canada) and farmers associations – met in Ottawa to discuss seed security in Canada. The goal: to assess progress and offer feedback on the long-term goals of The Bauta Initiative on Canadian Seed Security. The Bauta Initiative, currently in its pilot year, is led collaboratively by USC Canada – an organization that has supported family farmers overseas for decades – and Seeds of Diversity Canada – a group with an equal commitment to conserving seed biodiversity at home. The aim is to bring seed to the fore in conversations and action to promote food security, climate resilience and community well-being. BC Food Systems Network Gathering The BC Food Systems Network held its 14th Annual Gathering on July 5th through the 8th, 2012 at Gambier Island, a small island off the coast of Vancouver. It was attended by over 100 delegates from around BC and included a large contingent of children, reminding us once again why we do this work. The purpose of the Gathering is to bring the Network together to share their experiences and initiatives, to build new relationships and to strengthen existing ones. The Gathering is about connecting people and drawing on the wisdom and expertise that exists within the Network. Carrot Cache's Organic Agriculture Innovation Prize Carrot Cache is offering a $500 Innovation Prize for innovative, low-cost solutions to planting, harvesting and managing food grown on your small organic or rural farm. The prize will encourage organic farmers to share creative ways to build their farms' balance sheets as well as the soil. Experimenters, innovators and risk takers on and off farms are developing ways of adding value to support the local food movement, thus creating regional food economies. Urban Agriculture Summit The upcoming Urban Agriculture Summit, to be held August 15-18 in Toronto, will be the first of its kind, an action-oriented combination of workshops, panels, keynotes, tours, networking events and professional development opportunities. FoodShare is pleased to be partnering with Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, and many other partners and urban agriculture groups to create this landmark summit! To read more on the supporting partners and on what to expect, check out the blog. Inter Pares Is Hiring Inter Pares, a Canadian social justice organization that builds relationships around the belief that poverty is caused by structural inequalities among and within nations, is hiring a Latin America program manager. As part of its institutional co-management team, the successful candidate will be expected to share responsibility for Inter Pares’ financial, administrative, and political well-being and direction. Read more here. Food Skills Workshop Kit
The Food Security Network of Newfoundland & Labrador has launched a Food Skills Workshop Kit earlier this week as part of its Root Cellars Rock initiative! The Workshop Kit is a new resource for community groups to host hands-on workshops building local food skills and preserving traditional food knowledge, on 8 topics – Container Gardening, Composting, Seed Saving, Edible Wild Plants, Cooking with Local Vegetables, Using Culinary Herbs, Canning/Bottling, and Storing food in Root Cellars. Each of the workshop guides include information, resources, and activity guides covering each topic in depth. Community Food Security Coalition Closes Its Doors Food Secure Canada's sister organization in the USA, the Community Food Security Coalition, announced on August 6th that it is closing its operations. The following message is from the Executive Director and the Board of the CFSC: "After 16 years of leadership, collaboration, and groundbreaking work in the food justice movement, the Board of Directors and senior staff of the Community Food Security Coalition have made the difficult decision to begin transitioning our programs and services to our trusted partner organizations and coalition members. We will close current operations of the Community Food Security Coalition by the end of 2012. The inspiring growth of the food movement in the last few years has brought a diverse range of extraordinary and highly skilled partner organizations to the movement, and grant funding has become more competitive. As several of our significant grants come to a close, we had to ask ourselves a tough question: What will best serve the movement? Should we compete for funding or sow our work with great care back into the broader movement, where we know it will continue to grow. Ultimately, we came to the decision that the movement is best served by sunsetting CFSC’s operations, and embedding our work with trusted partner organizations. On behalf of CFSC, we humbly thank the hundreds of organizers, activists, staff and members who made this great organization a founding cornerstone of this vibrant movement. As we implement our transition plans over the next few months, we encourage you to follow our blog or read our FAQ page to stay updated. We welcome your thoughts and ideas as we embark upon this next chapter together." |
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and an Administrative and Communications Assistant. 
