Food Security

1 © 2016. London Food Bank. All rights reserved. Published by: London Food Bank 926 Leathorne Street London, ON, Canada N5Z 3M5 www.londonfoodbank.ca Tel: (519) 659-4045 This report was prepared and written by Eco-Ethonomics Inc., a management consulting company, committed to solving problems that matter to people and the planet through social innovation, ethical leadership, community mobilization and cross-sector collaboration. Eco-Ethonomics specializes in advancing sustainable food systems through increased food sovereignty in Canada. www.ecoethonomics.ca Written and edited by Ryan Turnbull, Trevor Benson, and Devon Gregory Funding for this project was generously provided by the London Community Foundation 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Eco-Ethonomics Inc. would like to thank the following organizations for their participation in the Middlesex-London Community Food Assessment: AgriFood Capital Corp. Middlesex Centre Arva Flour Mill Middlesex County Beautiful Edibles Middlesex County Library Brescia University College Middlesex-London Health Unit Canada Post Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Centre for Sustainable Food Systems Morton Wholesale Ltd. City of London National Farmers Union City of London Library Old East Village Business Improvement Area Community Gardens London Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association Cooking Matters Ontario Student Nutrition Program Covent Garden Market Ontario Trillium Foundation Crucian Brothers Orchards On The Move Organics Culinary Nutrition Solutions ReForest London Edgar and Joe’s/ Goodwill Industries SCOR Food Hub Fanshawe College Sisters of St. Josephs Food Not Lawns Slegers Greenhouses Four Counties Health Services Sprouts Children's Garden Program Gemini Sportsplex St. Paul’s Cathedral – The Daily Bread Growing Chefs! Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital Hamilton Road Food Coalition Sustain Ontario Heeman’s The Business Help Centre of Middlesex County Ilderton Arena & Curling Club The Mill House Komoka Wellness & Recreation Complex The Salvation Army Centre of Hope London Community Foundation Transition London Ontario London Community Resource Centre Tri-Township Arena London Farmers’ & Artisan Group Southwest Middlesex Arena London Food Bank Southwest Middlesex Health Centre London Gets Local United Way London & Middlesex London Intercommunity Health Centre Unity Project London Training Centre Western Fair District Lucan Community Memorial Centre Western University Informa Market Research Co. Ltd. Wild Craft Permaculture 3 Eco-Ethonomics Inc. would also like to extend a special thank you to all the members of the Middlesex-London Community Food Assessment Implementation Team, for all of their hard work and dedication to this project. Name Affiliate Organization Heather Blackwell Western Fair District Jamie Chowns Sisters of St. Joseph of London Michael Clark Old East Village BIA Mary Ann Colihan Writer and local food advocate Karen Eatwell National Farmers Union Cara A. Finn Middlesex County Ellen Lakusiak Middlesex-London Health Unit Don McLeod Transition London Ontario Margaret Milczarek Community Volunteer Martha Powell London Community Foundation Jane Roy London Food Bank Tom Schell Centre for Sustainable Food Systems Cheryl Smith City of London Gary Zavitz Fanshawe College 4 GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS Area to Cultivate (or Cultivation Area): an identifiable area within a local food system where both challenges and opportunities exist and can be explored by the community towards creating the change they want to see. Asset: a tangible resource unique to a region/geographical area and held in common by a community, or available to be leveraged by the community towards creating positive change. Asset Type: there are various types of assets and these can be grouped into 7 unique categories: social and political assets; cultural and spiritual assets; living assets; financial assets; experiential assets; intellectual assets; and material assets (see 1.2 for further explanation and examples). Asset Harvesting: the act of identifying and/or cataloguing existing assets in a specific region/geographical area. Asset Mapping: the act of plotting identified assets in a region/geographical area onto a map of the region/geographical area or onto a conceptual framework, such as a food system diagram. Community Food Assessment (CFA): a participatory and collaborative process engaged in by members of a community who are interested in exploring their community’s food system strengths and issues. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA): a group of individuals who have contributed dollars or pledged support to one or more local farms prior to the growing season, with growers and consumers sharing the risks and benefits of food production. CFA Implementation Team: a group of individuals from Middlesex-London who work in the local food system and have come together to help guide the Community Food Assessment process. Emergency Food Program: refers collectively to emergency meal programs and food banks. Emergency Meal Program: places that provide free meals to people in need. The meals are prepared by the agency and eaten on site. Food Bank: places that provide free food and personal hygiene products to people in need. Goods are often non-perishable and are taken home by the individual to be consumed/used at a later time. 5 Food Desert: “…parts of the country vapid of (i.e. missing) fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas. This is largely due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and healthy food providers.”1 Food System Asset: a tangible resource that is located along the food system supply chain and held in common by a community, or available to be leveraged by the community towards creating positive food system change. Food system assets can be grouped into the same categories as assets. Local Food: food that is grown, harvested, or produced in Middlesex-London, or made from ingredients that are grown, harvested, or produced in Middlesex-London. Local Food System: includes all people, activities and resources needed to feed the people in a given area. This includes everything needed to grow, process, package, distribute, consume and dispose of food. For this assessment, Middlesex-London is the area for our local food system. Local Sustainable Food System: a sustainable food system provides healthy food to meet current needs while at the same time, keeping the local ecosystem and environment healthy so that food can be provided to future generations. Food Literacy: a set of skills that help us plan, prepare, and cook meals for ourselves and our families. These skills help us prepare food that is healthy, tasty, and affordable. They can also build our confidence and help us problem solve when working with food.2 Food Procurement: the activities and processes related to the act of obtaining or purchasing food. Food Security: “When all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”3 Food Sovereignty: “Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.”4 1 Nutrition Digest, “USDA Defines Food Deserts,” Vol. 37, No. 4, American Nutrition Association, 2015, Web, at http://americannutritionassociation.org/category/newsletter-volume/volume-35-no-3. 2 Ontario Society of Nutrition Professionals in Public Health, Food Literacy Flyer, Web. at http://www.osnpph.on.ca/upload/membership/document/foodliteracy-flyer-final-ps.pdf 3 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome Declaration on World Food Security and World Food Summit Plan of Action, November 13, 1996, Web, at http://www.fao.org/wfs/. 4 International Forum for Food Sovereignty, Declaration of the Forum for Food Sovereignty, Nyéléni 2007, February 27, 2007. 6 Regional Food Hub: “a regional food hub is a business or organization that actively manages the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of source-identified food products primarily from local and regional producers to strengthen their ability to satisfy wholesale, retail, and institutional demand.”5 Urban agriculture: growing produce and/or raising animals in urban and peri-urban areas and settings. Urban agriculture is strengthened by complementary activities, such as the processing and distribution of food grown and the sharing of agricultural knowledge and skills with community members. 5 National Good Food Network, “Food Hub Center: What is a Food Hub?,” Wallace Center, 2009, Web, at http://www.ngfn.org/resources/food-hubs. 7 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ……………………………………………………………………………… 11 1.0 INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………………………. 18 1.1 Background ………………………………………………………………………….. 19 1.2 Methodology ………………………………………………………..……………… 27 2.0 POPULATION ……………………………………………………………………………….. 35 2.1 Findings ………………………………………………………………………………… 36 2.2 Gaps in Knowledge …………………………………………………………….... 47 2.3 Strengths and Assets ……………………………………………………………. 47 2.4 Areas to Cultivate ……………………………………………………………..…. 48 2.5 Opportunities to Change ……………………………….…………………….. 49 3.0 FOOD PRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………….. 52 3.1 Findings ………………………………………………………………………………… 53 3.2 Gaps in Knowledge …………………………………………………………….... 70 3.3 Strengths and Assets ……………………………………………………………. 71 3.4 Areas to Cultivate ……………………………………………………………..…. 73 3.5 Opportunities to

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