News Archive

09Jul 2024 by admin
Recap: Rural Food Banks Webinar

Recap: Rural Food Banks Webinar

Event Recap
https://youtu.be/cNcQEl2KypI?feature=shared Recap: Rural Food Banks Study Webinar On June 26, 2024, Land to Table hosted a webinar to highlight the significant results and recommendations of the Rural Food Banks Study. This study was conducted in partnership with KPU’s Institute for Sustainable Food Systems (ISFS) and Community Connections (Revelstoke) Society, involving four rural food banks in the Interior: Golden, Invermere, Revelstoke, and Sicamous. The study aimed to address the unique challenges faced in rural food access programs.  Access our Rural Food Banks Study (PDF) Twenty-one people attended the webinar from across the province, including food bank representatives from Armstrong, Merrit, Pemberton, Agassiz-Harrison, Kimberley, Lake Cowichan, Penticton, Chemainus, and Gabriola.  Purpose of the Webinar The purpose of the webinar was to: Present an Overview of the Study Purpose and FindingsLand to Table…
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13May 2024 by admin
Jun 26th, 2024 | Rural Food Banks Study Webinar

Jun 26th, 2024 | Rural Food Banks Study Webinar

Events, Past Event
Rural Food Banks Study Webinar June 26th, 2024 | 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. PDT   Zoom Online Webinar Register Now Land to Table is proud to share results from a Rural Food Banks Study completed in collaboration with Community Connections (Revelstoke) Society, and four rural food banks in the Interior. The study was undertaken to help understand and co-develop solutions to the unique challenge of feeding people in rural communities in British Columbia in the face of increasing demand for food bank services. Register for the upcoming Rural Food Banks Webinar and join us as we facilitate a conversation with the four participating food banks on Zoom on June 26 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. PDT. The purpose of this session  We are excited to to co-host a discussion sharing…
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26Apr 2024 by admin
Equitable Access, Nutritious Choices: Dietitians’ Guide to Food Bank Purchasing

Equitable Access, Nutritious Choices: Dietitians’ Guide to Food Bank Purchasing

Featured News, L2T Updates, News
Equitable Access, Nutritious Choices: Dietitians' Guide to Food Bank Purchasing We extend our gratitude to Seamus Damstrom and Linda Boyd, Public Health Dietitians with Interior Health's Healthy Eating and Food Security Program, whose expertise enriches this discussion. - During our Rural Food Banks Study project, it became apparent that food banks and food security organizations are having to purchase more food than ever before to keep up with program demands. Typically, food banks rely on food donations as the bulk of the food they distribute. As purchasing budgets increase and food organizations are forced to make food procurement decisions regularly, food banks and programs are finding themselves in a position of choosing what food is offered to their food insecure clients. Since most of these programs have historically relied on donated…
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26Apr 2024 by admin
Rural Food Banks Study

Rural Food Banks Study

Featured News, L2T Updates, News
Rural Food Banks Study Over the last year, Land to Table (L2T) with Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Institute for Sustainable Food Systems (ISFS) conducted a Rural Food Banks Study in collaboration with Community Connections (Revelstoke) Society, and 4 rural food banks, to help understand and co-develop solutions to the unique challenge of feeding people in rural communities in British Columbia, in the face of increasing demand for food bank services. As the demand for emergency food services increases country-wide, during a time when  public and private monetary and food donations have been at an all time low, these rural food banks decided that working together was the best way to address shared challenges including:over-stretched budgets and staff coupled with ever changing circumstances amid ever increasing demand. Funded by a generous, anonymous…
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26Apr 2024 by admin
Spring Reflections from a Local Farmer

Spring Reflections from a Local Farmer

Featured News, News
Spring Reflections from a Local Farmer Contributed by Kat Saxton, Farmer at Pilgrims' Produce Learn more at www.pilgrimsproduce.com - Somewhere between laying the farm to rest in late fall and launching into a bustling new spring, amongst snow flurries and deep darkness, we farmers get a unique chance to reflect during a quieter season. Lately I’ve been thinking about how fortified and fabulous our local farm scene is. We live in a beautifully abundant area where options for farm fresh foods are plentiful: from seasonal, organic veggies and fruits, to grass-fed meats, milk, cheeses and free-range eggs, from bee-foraged honey and artisan preserves, to freshly roasted coffee and baked bread. Not only are there plenty of food choices at the ready, but the ways in which consumers can access this…
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22Mar 2024 by admin
Recap: 2024 Community Food Security Planning Session

Recap: 2024 Community Food Security Planning Session

Event Recap
Recap: 2024 Community Food Security Planning Session Land to Table hosted its second annual in-person Community Food Security Planning Session on March 6, 2024. A gathering of 27 individuals from 21 different organizations and institutions who work on building community food security throughout the North Okanagan and neighboring Shuswap region. Who was there? Food Security Orgs and Institutions in the region. The day was filled with networking, sharing, learning, and creative brainstorming of what the future of food security could look like in our community through collaborative efforts. To start, attendees participated in a networking activity to get to know each other. “Land to Table is a network and look what’s been created, it’s a true network and it’s creating those connections” Linda BoydPublic Health Dietician As a group, we…
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26Feb 2024 by admin
Mar 6th, 2024 | In-Person Community Food Security Session

Mar 6th, 2024 | In-Person Community Food Security Session

Past Event
In Person Community Food Security Session March 6th, 2024 | 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. PST   Schubert Centre, 3505 30th Ave, Vernon, BC V1T 2E6 RSVP by Feb 28: Hello@landtotablenetwork.com As a valued member of the community addressing needs through food (including growing food and in some cases donating food), Land to Table (L2T) would like to invite you to the in-person 2024 Community Food Security Session on March 6th from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. PST at the Schubert Centre in Vernon. Lunch, coffee/tea, and snacks will be provided. The purpose of this session  This Community Food Security Session is designed to offer an opportunity to reconnect in order to better understand the nuanced challenges and increased community need across the food security sector in the North Okanagan. At this…
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31Jan 2024 by admin
2023 Reflections

2023 Reflections

Featured News, L2T Updates, News
Another year has come and gone, and the learning and growing we experience at Land to Table persistently keep us on our toes. We remain genuinely grateful, interested, and engaged in local food systems work. In last year's reflection blog post, I used the phrase 'settling in' to describe Land to Table in 2022. During that year, we further clarified our role as a network through capacity building and fostering connections across many different organizations and sectors. We worked to ensure that more of the food grown here reaches the people who live here. We have always emphasized that without local farmers and their ability to grow farm businesses, our food security is limited. For that reason we will continue to draw links between the local food economy and community…
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31Jan 2024 by admin
Recap: Growing for Community

Recap: Growing for Community

Event Recap
Food Security Session: Growing for Community This month, 14 participants representing various farms and food access agencies gathered for another Food Security Session focused on growing food for the community. Participants were encouraged to Connect through a roundtable introduction; Learn, as Land to Table shared examples of growing agreements and the context for why we are focused on growing agreements right now; and to Participate, through discussion regarding their reactions, sense of barriers, and expectations based on examples shared and what to work on locally. Ultimately, the goal for this session was to inform further thinking about how to develop growing agreements in our region (e.g. format, approach, considerations for success). Connect In a roundtable style, 14 participants shared their food system/work affiliations and what they wanted to learn about…
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05Jan 2024 by admin
Jan 10th, 2024 | Growing for Community

Jan 10th, 2024 | Growing for Community

Past Event
Community Food Security Session: Growing for Community January 10th, 2024 | 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. PST (online)  Register now! What is this event? This session is designed for institutions, organizations, and programs interested in purchasing local food for the upcoming growing season and local farmers. The focus will be on creating growing agreements between farmers and local food organizations and schools, aiming to secure reliable end markets for farmers while providing fresh, local, and affordable supply for local organizations and institutions. Why should you come? Your attendance at this event will offer networking opportunities to connect with end-markets and farmers. Your voice will play a crucial role in shaping how these agreements are written and managed, including mutually beneficial price expectations. There will be opportunities for in-person/zoom follow-up meetings to…
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