27Sep 2023 by admin No Comments
Join the Good Food Box Board of Directors

Join the Good Food Box Board of Directors

Featured News, News, Regional News
The Good Food Box Society of the North Okanagan is looking for new members to join the Board of Directors. The program is based in Vernon but is looking for people located in the North Okanagan who are interested in the areas of social media, writing and accounting. Positions will require between 4-8 hours per month.  Open Board of Director Positions: Director at large: Oversee a long-term project and chair the subcommittee (2-4 hours monthly) Treasurer: Report to the Board on monthly finances and prepare monthly and annual financial statements. (The new website will do most of the information gathering)  (4-6 hours a month)  Secretary: Write meeting minutes and manage correspondence for the Board (4-6 hours monthly)  All Board Members will be expected to attend one monthly zoom meeting (~2…
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11Sep 2023 by admin
BX Ranchlands Development Plan

BX Ranchlands Development Plan

News
Visit the BX Ranchlands Info Booth at the BX Farm Tour, Sept 16-17, 2023 What are the BX Ranchlands? The BX Ranchlands is a 167-acre property located on Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) land near Vernon, BC. Historically, the area was an important site for Indigenous hunting and gathering, however, these activities were greatly disrupted by the implementation of Settler agricultural practices in the 1870’s. Settlers used the land to provide pasture for the horses of the BX Express stagecoach, which moved people, goods, and communications throughout the province. In recent years, it has been primarily used for growing forage and hay crops, and over-wintering horses and cattle. Approximately 33 acres have been used to form a perimeter trail network. It is also an ecologically diverse site, containing habitat areas that…
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31May 2023 by admin
Update: Food Costing in BC 2022 report released

Update: Food Costing in BC 2022 report released

News, Regional News
The Food Costing in BC 2022: Assessing the affordability of healthy eating report has been released. The report highlights the challenges of affording a nutritious diet for people and households who live on low incomes, especially for those who live on income and disability assistance. When incomes are low, households are especially sensitive to the rising costs of living (food, rent, etc.). The British Columbia Centre for Disease Control collaborates with the five regional health authorities and the Ministry of Health to oversee the monitoring of the cost and accessibility of a nutritious diet in BC. The purpose of the report is to highlight that inadequate incomes are the root cause of household food insecurity. In May 2022, the average cost of a nutritious diet for a family of four…
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15Dec 2022 by admin
L2T Reflections 2022

L2T Reflections 2022

L2T Updates
In a word, 2022 for Land to Table felt like “settling-in” (technically two words)... for us this has meant gaining clarity about the value of a Network organization, including growing in our capacity building role; being creative about how we partner to access funding, and house our growing L2T team; and focussing in on two clear streams of work (value chain development and community food security). We continue to be guided by a vision to build a thriving, healthy, just and resilient regional food system... And believe that a well connected and coordinated network, with a shared purpose and vision can create meaningful systems change in the North Okanagan.  Here is how we think about the roles that we play as a Network: The first is to build a connected…
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25Oct 2022 by admin
L2T October Highlights

L2T October Highlights

L2T Updates
Land to Table was busy this month. Here are some of our highlights from October. On October 5th, Network Director, Liz Blakeway attended the United For Food Summit, hosted by United Way BC (one of our key funding partners) at the Red Barn on the traditional territory of the Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN). What a treat to meet in person, exchange stories with fellow Regional Community Food Hubs and learn about TFN “celiselem” Community Farm. It was encouraging to hear about UWBC’s commitment to working with partners on the ground to create greater access to funding, streamline reporting, and provide greater support toward community impact and advancing advocacy. On October 22nd, we hosted a farm tour for a group of students and staff from UBCO. Tour stops included farms and…
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24Oct 2022 by admin
Food as a Lever

Food as a Lever

Regional News
In preparation for the fall 2022 elections, the Kamloops Food Policy Council created a blog series titled Food and the City - exploring deeper civic issues that relate to “food [as] a lever” for civic engagement, connection, policy change and action. The articles include a list of recommended policy options to support action for each topic - transportation, healthy ecosystems, common land-use opportunities, safer communities, decolonization, and food security. These are thoughtful, thought provoking, action-oriented, and perhaps most importantly, useful for election now newly elected officials. We highly recommend that all candidates (and those interested in food systems and policy) have a read. The KFPC blog posts have us thinking about: how we are doing in the North Okanagan, the ways in which food systems and food security provide opportunities…
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28Sep 2022 by admin
What is L2T Up to this Year?

What is L2T Up to this Year?

L2T Updates
Land to Table took on an extraordinary number of projects last year (March 2021-2022 with a summary report coming soon). And from that great work and engagement, there are two clear ‘project paths’ that we are excited to be expanding on over the next six months. Local Food Procurement through Value Chain Development With new funding from Feed BC, UBC, and also the RDNO (Rural Economic Development Grant) we are pleased to be expanding our work the focusses on growing the local food economy. Building on the successes and foundation of a first-year collaborations and achievements with UBCO, the focus this year is to deepen our work and impact wit UBCO, expand our knowledge and lessons learned to build relationships with other institutions and undertake some research of our own.…
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13Jun 2022 by admin
Media Release: Land to Table Continues to Steward United Way BC Regional Community Food Hub Initiative

Media Release: Land to Table Continues to Steward United Way BC Regional Community Food Hub Initiative

L2T Updates, News
NORTH OKANAGAN-SHUSWAP, JUNE 13, 2022 – We are pleased to announce that Land to Table will be continuing on as a steward for United Way British Columbia’s (UWBC) Regional Community Food Hub in the North Okanagan.  Over the past year, in collaboration with UWBC, Land to Table has been fulfilling this role by working collaboratively with our partners at the Okanagan Indian Band, The Good Food Box and the White Valley Resource Centre to address challenges and opportunities within the local emergency food sector, to increase organizational capacity and impact. Together, we have delivered over 3,200 hampers and meals, filled with local eggs, meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables, to seniors, young families and those impacted by the wildfires of 2021. In all program delivery, there is a focus to include…
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15Feb 2022 by admin
OKIB Meat Drive Update

OKIB Meat Drive Update

L2T Updates, News
The staff of OKIB, L2T, and SPARC BC would like to celebrate the success of the Fire & Flood Recovery Meat Drive.  With incredible support from our network we were able to exceed our goal of $5000, raising an outstanding total of $8070.  We are now working with 5 local farmers who were impacted by the rising cost of feed and highway closures to secure chicken, pork and beef for the OKIB community. As far as traditional food, your generosity has helped us to support a local OKIB hunter in bringing in deer meat for the community. On top of this we are working with an OKIB community member to revitalize traditional Indigenous trade routes and bring in salmon and halibut from the coast.  Despite their own struggles, many of…
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07Dec 2021 by admin
Ending the Year: L2T Reflects

Ending the Year: L2T Reflects

L2T Updates, News
Hello L2T Family,  Though the extremes in weather have made this an exceptionally difficult year for many in our food network, it has been encouraging to see our community come together to face these challenges head on.  While there is still a great deal of work to be done, we would like to take a moment to highlight and acknowledge some of our exciting projects that you/our network have helped make a reality.  Over the past year, we have had the opportunity to work alongside farmers/farms like Enderberry Farm and Curlew Orchard and members of the UBC Okanagan campus to pilot an innovative model for local food procurement. At each step of the project, we have sought to understand the gaps in our local food system and develop solutions that…
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