Food council setting its groundwork

BY WENDY ELLIOTT

Kings County Advertiser

Volunteers helping with the formation of a food policy council are asking interested Nova Scotians to get involved.

Linda Best of the Friends of N.S. Agriculture says they are seeking nominations before Feb. 22 for interim members of a Nova Scotia Food Policy Council. “Many of the solutions have been identified yet, at the Food Summit, we heard over and over that ‘new alliances’ were needed across the food spectrum to increase awareness and inspire action,” she says.

Best says a committee of six who volunteered at the formative meeting Jan. 17 will tally the names.

The interim council is expected to come together at the end of March and will start working on a structure, based on information about existing councils.

The Jan. 17 session, which attracted 95 people from across the province, represented a variety of interest groups. Politicians, farmers and food researchers attended.

Dr. Patty Williams, Canada Research Chair in Food, Security, and Policy Change at Mt. St. Vincent University; shared her research on food security and the need to recognize many Nova Scotians do not have the income to provide their family with nutritious food.

Local farmer Richard Melvin, chairman of the N.S. Federation of Agriculture, spoke about the need for sustainable, economically-viable food production, the lack of an over-arching strategy in the agriculture sector and the lack of a defined goal.

Michelle Amero, representing public health, pointed out our diet-related health issues are among the highest in Canada.

Stephanie Hughes gave examples of food policy councils: there are 132 in North America.

Facilitators Bill Carr, Corrie Melanson and Janet Rhymes, along with presenters Dr. Edith Callaghan and Stephanie Hughes; discussed the outcomes of the October Food Summit and helped build the basis for a council.

Best shas a feeling the council “now launched will be a most inclusive, integrated, respectful and effective policy body because of the very thorough process of networking, the global-to-local thinking that has informed the process, the broad-based information gathering and learning together and the inclusive and thorough process involving all essential partners, including many departments of the N.S. government.”

Best is pleased Premier Darrell Dexter has indicated in a letter he wishes to explore the role of a food policy council in more depth with respect to broader community engagement and how this informs the public policy process.

Anyone interested in the nomination process may email Best, lbest@ns.sympatico.ca.