[BCFSN] BCFSN short report: Gathering 2017 and National Food Policy update - July 27 deadline for online survey

[Kathleen Gibson]

Greetings everyone 



We hope your summer is going well, though we acknowledge many of our friends and colleagues in the interior of BC could hardly say that. We are thinking of you with gratitude for you and all those who are working so hard to keep you, and hopefully your homes, land and livestock safe. We have two short reports for you. 



SUCCESSFUL 19 TH ANNUAL GATHERING AT UBC FARM 



About 100 of us were fortunate to enjoy time together at the BCFSN Gathering at UBC Farm in Musqueam Territory from July 14-16. The event came together effectively thanks to the hard work of Carrie James, our Gathering Coordinator, as well as Brent Mansfield, MC Seebohm (and her son Evan), Abra Brynne and members of the Steering Committee, who all pitched in to keep things on track. 



We were very grateful for the leadership of Musqueam Elder Jeri Sparrow, who welcomed us and guided a tour of the Indigenous Garden at the Farm, and for Ronnie Dean Harris, who shared Indigenous perspectives and news from the Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty and the Wild Salmon Caravan. Ronnie gave us the image of the food movement as a turtle shell, with each plate being different types of food systems and actions working together. 



Other learning opportunities included a description from the “Grumpy Locavore” about the realities of life and food in rural BC; a description of the complexity and challenges of fisheries in BC; a networking session (who knew Linda is only with us today because her reserve chute opened?); and an Open Space discussion session where five groups self-organized around land trusts; food insecurity; decolonization; measurement tools for food sustainability work; and food literacy and food in schools. 



We spent part of Saturday at the Faculty of Land and Food Systems where we were able to learn more about national food policy; food services at UBC; food policy and local government; indigenous food sovereignty; farmers’ markets and more. Through the two days we explored cross-cultural work and the basics of understanding oppression, with leadership from Colin Dring and Stephanie Lim and help from the folks at PeerNet who also facilitated the design of a post-it tree at our opening as a way of thinking about holding safe space. 



As usual, there were important and some uncomfortable conversations. All of us continue to grow and learn as we encounter the challenges of communicating across cultures. There can be strength in the diversity of how we frame issues, the approaches we take to action and how we measure and share the results of our efforts. A number of issues were raised that the BCFSN leadership is discussing and will embrace, in particular how to reform our leadership and work so that it can be more inclusive. Stay tuned for our next newsletter! 



NATIONAL FOOD POLICY – ONLINE SURVEY CLOSES JULY 27 



The federal government is working on development of a National Food Policy for Canada for release in spring 2018. You can find out more about the process here . There are a number of ways you can be involved. 



Food Secure Canada (FSC) is coordinating engagement with civil society food organizations and offers the attached Five Big Ideas about our Food System as potential “asks” you could make of the federal government. You can find out more on FSC’s website here . 



The first thing is to ensure you have responded to the national online survey , which closes July 27. We suggest you consider your priorities for a National Food Policy before you get into the survey – you may find FSC’s Five Big Ideas helpful. Each question has an area where you can contribute your thoughts. Unfortunately many of the questions require you to answer and make choices between elements of what we believe should be a joined-up approach, but you can address those concerns in the comment boxes. 



In addition you can contribute to National Food Policy work by: 

    * Joining the National Food Policy Twitter conversation #FoodPolicy4Canada, #PolitiqueAlimentaireCanada, @AAFC_Canada, @FoodSecureCAN 
    * Attend a FSC webinar on National Food Policy (watch website for details) 
    * Support your MP in a National Food Policy discussion - consider attending one or helping organize one: a FSC toolkit for such events is coming soon 
    * Sign up to contribute to a FSC Working Group on one or more of the Five Big Ideas 
    * Join FSC to stay in touch and receive Inside Scoop , which provides up-to-date status reports about the development of the policy 

All the best 

Kathleen Gibson 
Co-Chair, for the BCFSN Steering Committee 
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