Edible Strategies Enterprise Ltd

We grow less than 10% of the food we eat on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. This problem of food security has been taken up by a group of community organizations, farmers, small scale food processors and locally owned food businesses who together wish to work towards relocalizing our food system.

A number of activities are going on and a number of completed projects are reported on this web-page. For up to the minute information, email us at ediblestrategies@shaw.ca

Community Based Research Project Completed!

“Contending with the Local Food Access Puzzle” was a community based research project funded by the BC Medical Services Foundation and completed in the summer of 2007. The report concludes that the demand for local food is growing. People are more and more concerned about climate change, health and food security and ‘eating local’ not only addresses these issues, it also contributes to local economic development. The study focused upon institutional purchasing by publicly funded agencies where personnel expressed strong interest in working towards increasing the amount of local food in their menus. The crux of the puzzle lies with the plight of the farmer—although the number of farms has not diminished in the past few years, the trend over time has shown a major loss of farms and food system infrastructure. As a community-based research initiative, efforts were made to more clearly understand some of the barriers that farmers are facing.

Access to friendly financing is crucial and the project brought together potential funders who are now meeting on a regular basis to create strategies to better assist community based food development initiatives.
Access to labour is a huge problem for farmers. The Islands Good Food Initiative in partnership with Nanaimo Association for Community Living is now investigating the feasibility of setting up a worker’s coop.
There is not enough food handling and processing facilities on the islands and many meat- processing facilities are under threat. Work through the Initiative to develop more facilities is under way.
Farmers face legal problems particularly when looking to serve institutional and government customers. As part of the study, the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre investigated these issues and identified possible courses of action.

The report results are contained in the following documents:

Report
Contending with the Local Food Access Puzzle

Appendices:
Community meeting feedback loop
The Vancouver Island Good Food Business Network Monograph
Short Survey
Long Survey
Good Food Box Story
Circulation Overview
Food Localization Review
Bibliography of Farmer stories
Ipsos Reid Local Food Poll
Vital for Life
Vancouver Funders’ meeting presentation
UVic Environmental Law Centre’s press release, Reports Target Food and Agricultural Policy Reform
Memo 1 Legal Barriers to Increased Local Food Production and Distribution
Memo 2 Trade Restrictions on Local Food Production and Distribution
Literature Search re: Institutional Purchasing Best Practices

Completed Projects

October & November 2007 (radio): The Island Good Food Initiative brought Jon Steinman, from the radio show "Deconstructing Dinner," to Vancouver Island in October for a few foodie events. An hour long radio show was broadcast on Nov 29th introducing the Island Good Food Initiative and the Vancouver Island Heritage Foodservice Co-op. We appreciate this radio show because it provides a background and corporate history for the incorporation of the Vancouver Island Heritage Foodservice Co-operative Association on Nov 28, 2007. Jon introduces this radio program as the third in a series, which he calls CO-OPERATIVES - ALTERNATIVES TO INDUSTRIAL FOOD: Part III, The Heritage Foodservice Co-operative.

May 2007: The Vancouver Island Good Food Business Network Monograph: This document reports on all activities of the Islands Good Food Initiative to date and introduces the new development—plans for a multi-stakeholder co-operative that will take forward the business ideas that emerged from the development work so far.

January 2007: Updated list of Good Food Box Programs in BC

October 2006: Good Food Box Story: This report looks at the Good Food Box experience across BC and analyses its effectiveness. This monograph is meant to reflect the aspirations of many people who work in their communities ensuring that people have access to fres, nutritious food. As research rolls in making a strong link between how important eating fruits and vegetables is for good health, the stories shared by Good Food Box sponsors and workers and volunteers take on new dimensions.The report shows that the Good Food Box makes a difference in the lives of the customers for the program but that there are structural problems to sustain its operation without ongoing government support. However, a possibility of development of a social enterprise is suggested that would tap into the growing interest in local food purchasing.

September 2006: Vital For Life: Impacts Of Eating Fruits & Vegetables. Summary of Research For The Vancouver Island Good Food Box Collective. Funding and support provided by: BC Medical Services Foundation & Coast Capital Savings CU. Prepared by Rachel Reaugh, Edible Strategies Enterprise Ltd.