community stories

October 2001 ISBN # 1-894598-97-0

The Food Policy Council

The power of ideas decisions on food policy issues. It has a modest budget and no authority to pass or enforce laws, The persistence of hunger in the midst of but its voice is taken seriously. As its brochure plenty. Urban sprawl. Mountains of municipal notes: “It’s the power of ideas, inspired individ- garbage. The decline of the family farm. Food- uals and empowered communities that gives us based health problems, from the exotic ‘mad influence.” cow’ disease to all-too-common heart ailments. Environmental damage from pesticides and pol- lution from long-distance transportation of food. Making links

Increasingly, communities across Canada Toronto was an early supporter of the are realizing that all these issues are symptoms Healthy Cities movement, an initiative of the of deep-rooted problems in our food system. World Health Organization which encourages Wayne Roberts, project coordinator for the cities to support policies that promote health and Toronto Food Policy Council, affirms: “We wellness. A decade ago, the late Dan Leckie and have a totally dysfunctional food system. The City Councillor Jack Layton championed the problems are intractable and insoluble when you idea of a food policy council that would give look at them one at a time.” To find solutions, it community groups a voice in policy develop- is vital to look at the overall food system and ment around urban food issues. Community address issues in a coordinated way. groups and supportive city employees convinced City Council that there were problems and health The Toronto Food Policy Council is dedi- risks associated with the existing food and agri- cated to doing just that, by partnering with culture system, and that there was a need for a entrepreneurs and community groups to develop multisectoral approach to food issues. policies and programs promoting food security. The Council, with its 21 citizen members, is The Toronto Food Policy Council was cre- appointed by the Toronto Board of Health. Its ated in the fall of 1990 by Toronto City Council. staff of two is employed by Toronto Public It currently has 21 members, including city Health, but the Council is free to make its own councillors and volunteer representatives from community stories consumer, business, farm, labour, multicultural, Hunger and health anti-hunger advocacy, faith and community development groups. Rod MacRae, former coor- The Toronto Food Policy Council has played dinator of the Food Policy Council, notes that: a leading role in many policy and programming “Since most of the Toronto Food Policy Coun- initiatives related to food, hunger and health. cil’s members volunteer their time or are volun- Says Rod MacRae: “It has consciously engaged teered by their employers, a small public invest- in multiple projects, believing that solutions will ment yields large returns in ‘free’ expertise.” emerge from a diverse number of activities in The Food Policy Council’s links to the Board of contrast to pursuing a single large initiative. Health “provide immediate access to both the Because the Food Policy Council operates in an political machinery and the preventive health arena in which many players Ð including politi- care knowledge and apparatus of the city.” cians, civil servants and community people Ð can decline to participate or can halt a project, Tod a y , an important role of the Food Policy this strategy reduces risk by moving many ini- Council is to help community groups concerned tiatives forward simultaneously and by using a with food issues to connect with each other and diversity of players.” with relevant public bodies. Together, staff and Food Policy Council members serve as catalysts Over the past 10 years, the Toronto Food and brokers. The Council provides a forum for Policy Council has produced a series of 15 dis- discussing and integrating policy issues that cussion papers on various elements of a food often fall between the cracks of established systems approach to public health policy. The departments and research specialists. Toronto papers cover a wide variety of topics, including: Food Policy Council staff collect hard-to-find policy initiatives to reduce the need for food information and make it available to students, banks; the impacts of free trade agreements on researchers and community developers. Staff Canadian food security; strategies to integrate and Food Policy Council members work to the food and health systems in order to address increase public awareness of food policy issues diseases influenced by diet; implications of agri- through public lectures and workshops, and cultural policies on food security and health; the advocate for policy changes at the municipal, economic contribution of the food business; the provincial and federal levels. contribution of current retail structures to food insecurity; improving food information systems To r o n t o ’s partnership between govern- for consumers; Recombinant Bovine Growth ment and the community, supported by govern- Hormone (rBGH); urban planning for food ment-paid staff, continues to be unusual in security; and urban agriculture. These publica- Canada. There are other food policy organiza- tions are considered ‘works in progress’ which tions which are similar in outlook, but they gen- are released to encourage discussion and policy erally lack the sustained government resources development. They do not reflect formal policy that support the Toronto Food Policy Council. positions adopted by or Most community-based food policy organiza- the Board of Health. tions lead a tenuous existence, constantly searching for funding and lacking long-term The Food Policy Council also has con- staff support. The track record of the Toronto tributed to a variety of food programming initia- Food Policy Council stands as an example of tives. It developed a feasibility study of a not- what can be accomplished by a multisector part- for-profit healthy food delivery system for low- nership that has resources to support its work. income citizens, and the program was put in

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A FoodShare ‘Grow Together’ garden project for children.

place in 1992 by FoodShare, a nonprofit organi- tion led to the Food 2002 project Ð an intersec- zation. Today, the Good Food Box program dis- toral dialogue that took place between 1998 and tributes 4,000 boxes of affordable, regionally- 2000, led by FoodShare, a frequent community sourced fruits and vegetables each month partner of the Council. Food 2002 considered through 200 neighbourhood drop-off points. what would be required for everyone to have The Toronto Food Policy Council also has pro- access to affordable, nutritious food by the year vided fundraising assistance to help community 2002, and generated a number of policy recom- organizations obtain more than $3.5 million in mendations. These recommendations are being funding for projects to increase access to afford- taken forward by the Food 2020 project. (The able, nourishing food. It designed Canada’s name change recognizes that achieving the first food access grants program, which was social and political consensus needed for change approved by Toronto City Council in 1995, and will not happen overnight Ð and also reflects the administered it from 1996 to 1998. This pro- need for ‘clear vision.’) gram directed $2.4 million to 180 schools and social agencies for food access projects that The Food Policy Council also provided included improving kitchens in many public and staff and resources to City Council’s Food and community spaces and supporting community Hunger Action Committee. This Committee of economic development. five City Councillors was formed in December 1999 to study food security in Toronto and rec- Another significant effort of the Food Pol- ommend ways to reduce hunger, improve the icy Council involved helping to initiate policy nutritional health of Torontonians and support and program cooperation among many players food-based initiatives that benefit the city’s in the food security movement. This coopera- economy, environment and quality of life. The

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Committee created a Food Charter which stated that every Toronto resident should have access In May 2000, Toronto City Council voted to an adequate supply of nutritious, affordable unanimously to become a food-secure city and culturally appropriate food, and listed prin- that would strive to ensure: ciples and practices that Toronto City Council ¥ the availability of a variety of foods at a would follow to promote food security. This reasonable cost Charter recently was adopted by City Council. ¥ ready access to quality grocery stores, food service operations, or alternative The Food and Hunger Action Committee food sources also developed an action plan that includes 38 ¥ sufficient personal income to buy ade - recommendations for the City. Most of these quate foods for each household member have low or no costs for the municipal govern- each day ment. The recommendations range from urging other levels of government to adjust policies on ¥ the freedom to choose personally- and shelter allowances and social assistance, to culturally-acceptable foods making room for food security initiatives in ¥ legitimate confidence in the quality of the city-owned buildings, schools and social hous- foods available ing. Other recommendations deal with strength- ¥ easy access to understandable, accurate ening community food programs, community information about food and nutrition gardening, food microprocessing industries, ¥ the assurance of a viable and sustainable urban agriculture and composting. food production system.

There are significant long-term costs to a Excerpt from Toronto’s Food Charter, 2001 public health care system when large numbers of people go hungry, are poorly nourished or eat unsafe foods. Recognizing this, the Toronto Food Policy Council and a number of other food food-scrap ‘waste’ that adds to urban garbage security agencies co-authored the Food and woes. Long-term food security implies the need Nutrition Strategy of the Public Health for farmland in or near the city, and the Toronto Association and helped form the Greater Tor- Food Policy Council has contributed to many onto Food Policy Commission to bridge City planning and consultative processes looking at and regional Boards of Health in biotechnology agricultural land use. It continues to promote discussions. The Food Policy Council has con- the redesign of Toronto’s urban infrastructure ducted research and advocacy work on poten- towards a more sustainable model that would tially negative health impacts of rBGH. mimic ‘closed-loop’ e n e rgy pathways and cycles of nature.

Environmental issues The Food Policy Council has been involved in a number of initiatives to promote compost- In today’s industrialized food system, ing of food wastes, on both a small and large most food is produced a long way from where scale. It also coordinated a workshop on food it is consumed. The separation and distance transportation and completed a prefeasibility between producer and consumer contribute to study of neighbourhood ‘composting green- environmental problems Ð from the pollution houses’ to capture heat, nutrients and carbon associated with long-haul transportation to dioxide. In Feeding the City from the Back Forty,

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City Councillors Pam McConnell (chair of the Toronto Food Policy Council and co-chair of the Food and Hunger Action Committee) and Chris Korwin-Kuczynski (co-chair of the Food and Hunger Action Committee) with Toronto’s Food Charter. it spelled out in 23 recommendations how Tor- food that isn’t good-looking. It has worked with onto could produce 25 percent of the fruits and the Ontario Association of Food Banks on this vegetables consumed in the city by 2025. issue: The Association recently launched the ‘Reclaim Ontario’ program to increase the In other work, the Food Policy Council diversion to food banks of safe but unsalable helped lead the push for a community gardening food products. These goods range all the way strategy in Toronto, and it currently co-chairs from fresh produce to packaged food nearing its the Toronto Community Gardening Network. expiry dates. The number of community gardens in Toronto increased from 50 in 1991 to 122 in 2001. Toronto Parks and Recreation is planning to sponsor a ‘homework club’ where children One current effort concerns waste that will do homework after school, have a nutritious occurs before food gets to the city. It has been free snack provided by the Ontario Association estimated that about one-fifth of fruits and veg- of Food Banks and then use the recreation etables are not harvested Ð plowed under facilities. With funding from Human Resources because they do not meet cosmetic standards. Development Canada, street-involved youth Some farmers, disturbed by this waste, have will be hired to prepare meals for this program been donating their ‘cosmetically challenged’ as well as for food bank pantries, shelters and produce to food banks. The Food Policy Coun- other uses. If they complete a year’s work, they cil is one of a number of organizations that have will have the option of moving into a job with been looking at ways to link more farmers with a major supermarket or receiving a half-year food programs to find productive uses for good credit for a chef course at Centennial College.

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Jennifer Welsh, former citizen chair of the Toronto Food Policy Council, signs Toronto’s Food Charter at a celebration on June 14, 2001.

Says Wayne Roberts: “This initiative helps tives to promote sustainable development of the street youth, food bank clients get an upgrade in sector and encourage employment creation. the nutrient value of food bank food, and waste going to landfill is reduced. The only missing Among other projects, the Toronto Food element is payment to farmers: This is on the Policy Council has worked with the City of front burner for the future.” Toronto Economic Development Division on a consolidated approval process for public health The Toronto Food Policy Council is con- regulation of small food processing businesses. stantly looking for such ‘win-win-win’ solu- The Food Policy Council also collaborated with tions. “Look for ideas that have at least 10 good city staff and community economic develop- things that can be said about them,” says Wayne ment groups on a local economic development Roberts, “and at least three major beneficiaries. strategy for Toronto. Once you have that, things just explode.” The Food Policy Council’s research on commercial kitchen incubators for the City of Economic development Toronto Economic Development Division and FoodShare helped the latter develop an incuba- Food is big business: At least 10 percent of tor kitchen at its ‘Field to Table’ warehouse in jobs in Toronto are associated with the food sec- 1997. FoodShare rents this well-equipped, indus- to r . The Toronto Food Policy Council has under- trial-scale kitchen for a low hourly rate to small taken a number of research and program initia- food businesses that otherwise would have to

6 Caledon Institute of Social Policy community stories make a prohibitive investment in facilities. As salary every day” by finding and implementing businesses grow, they move on and make space cost-effective ideas. Identifying cost-effective for others to move in. ideas can help maintain community support Ð something which is important for an organi- zation that frequently finds itself critiquing Ideas and action municipal policies.

Communities across Canada are grappling This ‘can do’attitude Ð and a willingness to with many of the same food security issues that look at counter-intuitive solutions Ð are impor- the Toronto Food Policy Council seeks to ta n t components of the Toronto Food Policy address. Quite naturally, urban hunger is a pri- Council’s approach. “We have more food than ority issue for most. But while hunger is the we have hunger,” says Wayne Roberts. “We most visible and disturbing problem, lasting solu- have more resources than we have problems. It tions require a broader approach to food security. costs more not to solve the problems than to By addressing the environmental, health, com- solve them.” Now that is food for thought. munity development and economic issues asso- ciated with the food system as well as issues of Ann Simpson hunger, communities are more likely to have the capacity to build the broad constituencies and Ann Simpson works on the ‘community stories’ series for the Caledon Institute. political support necessary for change. For more information about the Toronto Food More coherent approaches to food security Policy Council, contact Wayne Roberts (416) 338- also can realize savings for a municipality. 7937; [email protected], or visit the web- Wayne Roberts says: “I try to pay back my site at ww w. c i t y. t o r o n t o . o n . c a / h e a l t h / t f p c _ i n d e x . h t m

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© 2001 by the Caledon Institute of Social Policy. 1600 Scott Street, Suite 620 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1Y 4N7 Ph: (613) 729-3340 Fx: (613) 729-3896 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.caledoninst.org

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