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 support small scale farmers to reach larger/institutional markets. During the latest flooding disaster, we watched as our local farmers stepped in to increase local food supply to UBCO (at a time when trucks from the Coast were not making it to campus). For this, and many more, we look forward to exploring avenues for scaling this project up in the new year to continue to grow our local food economy. Exciting ideas and new models for creating access to local food (for the campus community) are likely to form our next steps. Stay tuned.
In September we worked with some fantastic folks at Food Secure Canada to host the first ever Eat, Think, Vote event in our region. In fact, this was the first ever online event of this kind! It felt important to engage our federal election candidates in the topic of food sovereignty, food insecurity, resilient local food systems, decent work & justice for food workers, and more. This was a huge success, with four of the five candidates participating and forty-two participants on the call. To begin we heard from four panelists who offered a debrief of the impacts that this past summer of heat, fire and smoke has had on local farmers, supply chains and food insecurity. If you missed the event you can find that recording here.
We are also grateful this year, through funding from the United Way, to be starting conversations with organizations like the Good Food Box and the Emergency Food Action Network, to explore potential partnerships between charitable food providers and local farmers/food. Food insecurity is a pressing issue, and the need for immediate action is real. With this in mind, we hope to seek out strategies for motivating systemic change in both the short and long-term.
This year we are fortunate to partner with the Okanagan Indian Band to coordinate projects like the Meat Drive and explore opportunities for expanding the OKIB garden program. This partnership has only just begun but we have learned so much together, and can not wait to continue our conversation on Indigenous food sovereignty and decolonization.
This is our first year of undertaking so many projects and we are excited about the impact that this work is having. These projects, and more, could not have taken place without our brave and enthusiastic network partners.
In reflecting on all we have done and have learned, perhaps the biggest takeaway is that in these times (of climatic extremes, ongoing pandemic uncertainty, supply chain disruptions, and now increasing food costs) having the capacity to respond to what our food system network needs is key. And in turn, having access to unrestricted funding (e.g. funding tied to specific projects) is vital for an organization like ours. We’re working on that and your ideas for future funding and project collaboration opportunities are always welcome here!
As we roll into 2022, we find ourselves asking, how do we prepare for rising food costs and plan for ongoing disruptions to build a relocalized, resilient food system here? With an election on the horizon, these questions feel more important than ever.
Here at L2T we see relationship building and collaboration as key for social and political change and this is why we are dedicated to continue building connections throughout the local food system. We feel very privileged to be doing this work. Thank you for your engagement and partnerships!
All the best for 2022!