I am so pleased that food has become a topic of discussion during election campaigns. Yes,
there are many things that humans need to thrive. But before we get to thrive,
we must first survive. And there are three things that humans need to survive:
water, shelter, and food. Food quality and food security are very important
issues for me. I was therefore very happy to voice my support for food-related strategies
put forward by the Guelph-Wellington Food Round Table.
As an elected
official I will endeavour to:
· Enable,
through policy and zoning, economic drivers such as food
trucks and mobile food markets.
·
Work with purchasing/supply management
departments and municipally-run or funded institutions to increase the
procurement of locally produced and processed foods.
·
Work with our economic development office to
assess and address barriers to local food distribution, processing and storage
businesses.
·
Encourage coordination
across city departments to streamline approvals/regulatory requirements for food
enterprises.
·
Work with public health and local boards of
education to enable all residents to improve their food skills and food
literacy by supporting
community food programs such as
community gardens, good food boxes and neighbourhood markets.
·
Work with public health and procurement
departments to encourage all health facilities in the City to purchase fresh, local produce.
·
Work with parks and recreation, businesses and
homeowners to encourage the creation and protection of pollinator habitat (Speaking of which, I
currently sit on the board of directors for the local not-for-profit
Pollination Guelph, whose mandate is to do just that).
·
Protect surrounding farmland by maintaining Guelph’s
current urban boundary.
