FSC News
World Food Day 2013
Share your World Food Day Activities
 Are you hosting an event for the World Food Day this year? Why not share it with the movement and find out what others are doing? Fill out this form so that your event can appear on our national list of events! This year’s theme is Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition.
Sign up for our Webinar with Wayne Roberts!
At FSC we shall be hosting a webinar featuring some of Canada's leading food thinkers -- including Wayne Roberts, author of The No-Nonsense Guide to World Food -- drawing the connections between the local and the global. More news coming soon. Priority access will be given to FSC members.
Our New Website - Big Reveal on World Food Day!
World Food Day is also the time we plan to launch our brand new interactive web platform and reveal our brand new logo! You can help us by sending us your best pictures of food, gatherings, community events, and help us illustrate how strong and vibrant our movement is. Deadline: October 1st. Hurry! Send them to communications[at]foodsecurecanada[dot]org.
FSC to CFIA: National Food Policy Needed for "Local Food"
It is prime harvest time in many corners of the country and Canadians  are abuzz with all the positive benefits of local food economies - health, economic, environmental, cultural, to name the obvious ones. Following in the footsteps of Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Quebec, is Ontario's exciting announcement of their new program on local food. Congratulations Kathleen Wynne and Sustain Ontario!
However, the interim definition of "local" by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency threatens to undermine all this good work. The Canadian food movement wants them to know this is unacceptable. Read Food Secure Canada's letter to Dr Bruce Archibald, President of the CFIA.
Raising the Bar on School Food Programs 
The Conference Board of Canada has joined the chorus of those who recognize the need for a pan-Canadian School Food Program* in its recent report Enough for All: Household Food Security in Canada. To date, these programs (and the people who run them) have suffered from a lack of funding, recognition and support in their efforts to ensure that children across Canada attend school well nourished and ready to learn.
Food Secure Canada applauds this recognition from the business community and invites all from a diversity of sectors and interests to join us to push this critical issue forward. Read more.
Community Foundations of Canada - Focus on Food
 FSC at CFC's 2013 Conference
Earlier this summer, FSC attended the 2013 Community Foundations of Canada Conference. Diana Bronson, along with food leaders like Nick Saul and Kreesta Doucet, was on the panel Chew On This: Understanding the growing movement around food, equity, environment, and health, co-sponsored with the Canadian Environmental Grantmakers Network. You can watch it here and view her slides here.
Webinar - Sneak Preview of Vital Signs 2013 Report on Food
On September 30, Food Secure Canada’s will host a webinar with network members interested in Community Foundations of Canada’s Vital Signs 2013 national report on food security. Come learn the story behind the report – unpacking the intersecting issues of food in our communities and discussing opportunities for shared action. This is a great opportunity to highlight the role that community foundations can play locally and nationally in the food sector and to engage in a dialogue with the movement.
Governance Update: New Bylaws, New Board!
 Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on our new draft bylaws. Your suggestions have been discussed and integrated and our Steering Committee will be approving the next version in early October. Our new proposed bylaws will be submitted to our members for approval on at our Annual General Meeting in Montreal on November 27. Thanks also to our hard-working governance committee who has helped us think through these issues over the past year, preparing us for the next phase of FSC’s development: a dynamic and growing organization with a strong commitment to democratic process.
We are gearing up to start the nominations process for our new Board of Directors. Nominations will open at the beginning of October for about three weeks and anyone who is a Food Secure Canada member can nominate someone or run for our Board. Our Steering Committee has adopted the following criteria to guide our selection of Board members, and in the coming weeks it will finalize a Nominations Committee. Stay tuned! If your membership is not up to date, its time to renew now!
And welcome back to everyone who responded to our special appeal for membership renewal. It is not too late if you did not get around to responding to that email.
Dismantling Racism in the Food Systems - Cooking Up a Paradigm Shift
From August 1-3, Growing Food Justice for All Initiative, an  initiative aimed at dismantling racism and empowering low-income and communities of color through sustainable and local agriculture, facilitated an Intensive Leadership Facilitation Training training centered around dismantling racism for key actors in the food movement . The 3-day training took place at the Black Creek Community Farm in Toronto, an enchanted haven in the heart of the city and a perfect location to engage in challenging but necessary discussions. More than 30 representatives from leading organizations, including Nydia Dauphin from FSC, attended the training.
Discussing race relations in Canada is never easy. Try having a 5 minute conversation about racism and see how quickly it drifts towards more “palatable” inequality-determining factors, like poverty. But the truth of the matter is that our food systems are not immune to racism and are just as hierarchically colour-coded as other systems in our society. This fact cannot be changed without individuals actively engaging in anti-racist exercises and at times difficult introspections.
The training provided the participants with the necessary tools to begin this lifelong journey towards a decolonization of our ways of thinking.
Heifer International Canada Closes
Food Secure Canada has learnt with great sadness that Heifer International Canada is closing its doors. Heifer International Canada was the key funder behind the People's Food Policy and we had hoped to continue our collaboration with them for many years to come. They also supported a great deal of other important work including on indigenous and northern issues. They will be missed and we hope that other funders will be able to seize some of the fantastic opportunities to support social change through Canada's dynamic and growing food movement.
Put Food in the Budget! Pre-Budget Consultation Submissions
Food Secure Canada responded to the Federal Government’s electronic consultation on the 2014 federal budget. Our recommendations addressed three issues: food security in the North, young farmers and student nutrition. You can see our submission in French here. It will soon be available in English as well.
Food Secure Canada will continue to call for the Federal Government to Put Food in the Budget. To get involved, contact Diana at director@foodsecurecanada.org.
UPCOMING WEBINARS
Don't miss our webinars series this Fall!
New Job Opportunity at FSC!
Fundraiser and Membership Development Coordinator
Our head-office in Montreal is looking for a Membership Development and Fundraising Coordinator to help build our movement and our organization. This person is ideally located in Montreal although other locations will be considered. The contract is initially for one year but we are expecting the position to be full-time and permanent. Read and share the job description. Deadline is October 1st.
Calling all Volunteers
There are lots of ways to show FSC your support. One of them is through volunteering some of your precious time. Maybe you would like to donate food for one of our meetings, or airline points to support our travel. Just think what you have that we might need. Visit our website for a list of ways to get involved and fill out this form to help us get to know you better.
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