As a United Way Regional Community Food Hub (RCFH) Steward organization, Land to Table connects and supports community organizations who are working to secure more equitable access to local, sustainable, healthy, and culturally connected food for those living in the North Okanagan.
A lot has changed over three years as a result of events and disruptions created by the pandemic, extreme climate events, ongoing rising food costs and the housing crisis. Currently, L2T supports three local organizations – known as “Spokes” (to our Hub) – through funding and coordination time. Our goal is to increase their capacity, so that together we can more effectively address food security needs in the North Okanagan.
We are partnering with the Okanagan Indian Band, The Good Food Box, and the Whitevalley Resource Centre to fill gaps, develop plans, secure additional resources, launch new programs, connect to local food sources, and strengthen volunteer networks.
As a Hub Steward, in 2023-2024 L2T endeavors to build relationships with new organizations across the region (through meetings and events) to better understand the gaps and map out opportunities for collaboration between local food producers and those working to offer food and meal programs in the community. In a move towards collective governance, we met with our spokes to define a Community Agreement outlining the roles and expectations of members of the RCFH. We will use this document as guidance to inform our Hub projects, engagement, and work.
This year’s projects include:
The North Okanagan Food Security Coordinator is funded through the United Way, to support L2T’s Community Food Hub activities in partnership with “spoke” organizations. Sammy, our Coordinator, helps to identify food security opportunities and resources for local partners and assists with coordinating and executing annually funded capacity-building projects.
Spoke Projects
To learn more about L2T’s role as the Regional Community Food Hub for the North Okanagan, reach out to our food security coordinator Sammy at hello@landtotablenetwork.com
Here are some examples of what we have achieved in partnership with Spoke organizations in 2022, including a description of program support and impact.