[BCFSN] UBCM Food Insecurity Resolution

Fri Aug 9 12:12:05 EDT 2019

Hi everyone,

This is great and I will be reaching out to the municipal contacts that I work with in my communities.  Some background info that might help in your discussions is to align and frame it to any work your muni's might currently be doing with respect to poverty reduction and food security - to show that this is already an identified priority for them.

It might also be helpful to remind them that UBCM has already endorsed resolutions regarding food security over the years, so municipalities are aware that poverty and food security are intricately linked and this new resolution would build upon existing endorsements that UBCM has passed:

o   2013 – B56 (Ensure Food Security)

•  WHEREAS income security and food security are inextricably bound, and the number of people who are food insecure in municipalities in BC continues to rise in spite of an ever-growing number of charitable food redistribution efforts; AND WHEREAS enabling people to feed themselves with dignity requires everyone’s participation, and Canada is obligated under international law to provide an adequate standard of living which includes the human right to adequate food and nutrition; with the most comprehensive way to do this being for all levels of government to accept their responsibilities to develop policies and programs that will end hunger in Canada: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM urge the provincial government to ensure food security for all British Columbians and eliminate the need for food banks by implementing measures that provide adequate and accessible income support for the non-employed and improve the earnings of those in the low-wage workforce

o   2010 - B51 (Poverty Reduction Plan)

•  WHEREAS poverty and its effects is something that each local government is faced with: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the importance of a poverty reduction plan be communicated to the leaders of all political parties in British Columbia highlighting the need to provide adequate and accessible income support for the non-employed, improve the earnings and working conditions of those in the low-wage workforce and improve food security for low-income individuals and families.

o   2017 – B127 (National School Food Program)

•  Whereas 1.7 million Canadian households, including almost 500,000 individuals in BC alone, experience food insecurity, and the current patchwork of school food programming reaches only a small percentage of our over 5 million students, with Canada remaining one of the only Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development nations without a national school food program; And whereas the Coalition for Healthy School Food is working at a national level to advocate for the creation of a cost-shared Universal Healthy School Food Program that will enable all students in Canada to have access to healthy meals at school, serving culturally appropriate, local, sustainable food to the fullest extent possible: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities advocate for a Universal Healthy School Food Program to provincial and federal governments.

Deanna

Deanna Tan Francoeur, Registered Dietitian
Public Health Dietitian (Burnaby, New Westminster, Delta)

Fraser Health - Public Health
300 - 4946 Canada Way
Burnaby, BC  V5G 4H7
Tel: 604-918-7608
Fax: 604-918-7630

deanna.tan at fraserhealth.ca<mailto:deanna.tan at fraserhealth.ca>
[cid:image001.png at 01D297F0.142797D0]Follow me on Twitter: @deannatan1
________________________________
From: Melissa Hemphill <melissa.lei.hemphill at gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 8, 2019 9:22 AM
To: food at bcfsn.org
Subject: [BCFSN] UBCM Food Insecurity Resolution

Good morning fine foodie folks,

I am hoping that those of you with connections to local government can meet with officials that will be attending the UBCM conference in the fall to let them know about a resolution that will come before them, and request their support for this resolution.

On June 25th, Anita Ely, Specialist Environmental Health Officer with Interior Health and I presented a resolution to the Revelstoke City Council to take to UBCM. The council approved the request to take this resolution to UBCM, which reads like this:

Whereas more than one in ten households in BC, [1 in 7 households in the Interior Region], experience household food insecurity and are more vulnerable to chronic conditions leading to health care costs that are 2x higher than food secure households;

And whereas the root cause of household food insecurity is lack of income demonstrated by a sharp increase in the prevalence of food insecurity as household income falls;

And whereas rates of household food insecurity are not reduced by efforts that focus on charitable food programs, food waste redistribution, and cooking and gardening programs as these actions do not address lack of income and extreme material deprivation that are at the root of household food insecurity.

Therefore be it resolved that UBCM frame food insecurity as an income-based problem and advocate to provincial and federal governments for evidence based policy solutions to food insecurity.

Please find the powerpoint presentation and a video recording of our delegation in the following links:

Presentation to City Council:

https://bit.ly/2YTKb0n

Video of delegation:

https://bit.ly/2YNhF0g

If you have any questions, I welcome them anytime. The more support that this resolution has going into UBCM, the more likely it is to get passed, and the time to prepare and educate local government on the issue is over the summer...now.

Thanks for any efforts you can put towards this! I'd love to hear any stories about your meetings.

Melissa Hemphill

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[https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0BwuvnQ8Jor5MRmlFN0I4V0lHZEFHeUpEdV9JVXh1VmhQazBn&export=download]
Melissa Hemphill,
Food Security Coordinator,
Community Connections (Revelstoke) Society<http://community-connections.ca/community-outreach-and-development/#tab3>
(p) 250-837-2920 x31
(c) 250-814-3207

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