jillumbach General Information, Media

5 Canadian Premiers Stepping Up to the Local Food Plate

17 Jun 2013

The political will to get more local food onto the public plates – is gearing up. No less than five Canadian Premiers have made solid commitments to furthering the local food movement. Three Premiers have specifically  said they want to see more  publicly funded institutions purchasing local foods and one Premier has set a target of 50% local on every plate!

New Brunswick’s  Premier David Alward  wants New Brunswickers to buy into local – especially blueberries . Here are a couple of  snippets from the NB throne speech (delivered November 27, 2012).

“In response to industry’s desire to expand blueberry production in Northeast New Brunswick, your government has put increased emphasis on identifying suitable land and infrastructure required to further develop this crop.”

“Your government has committed to promoting local community food products to residents, visitors and businesses as part of its strategy to grow the Value-Added Food sector. Your government will build on this effort with initiatives to promote the benefits of healthy food choices.”

Manitoba’s Premier, Greg Selinger  specifically wants students, patients, seniors and others in receiving care in publicly funded institutions to enjoy local foods.  The MB throne speech (delivered April 16, 2013) articulated:

“Our government will support a new local sustainable food initiative to increase purchasing from local agricultural producers, promoting community economic development by creating linkages with local farmers to bring more fresh healthy foods into public institutions and facilities”

Nova Scotia’s  Premier Darrell Dexter  has made a commitment to a a “Buy local” campaign .  Here are two key points in the NS throne speech (delivered May 26, 2013):

“Buy Local” has broad support from Nova Scotians, who know their farmers and fishers produce the best and safest food in the world. Buying locally produced food means Nova Scotians are getting fresher, healthier food and practicing environmental responsibility, and it makes good economic sense, too.

My government will increase Buy Local efforts through an expanded Select Nova Scotia marketing and awareness campaign. These efforts will help educate Nova Scotians about where our food comes from while supporting farm growth, farmers’ markets, locally harvested fish, and direct marketing initiatives.

Ontario’s Premier, Kathleen Wynne  has not only appointed herself as the Minister of Agriculture – elevating the status agriculture in that province to a level it so richly deserves –  but she is also pressing forward with a comprehensive food act – the Ontario Local Food Act (bill 36).  The purposes of the Bill are:

1)  To foster successful and resilient local food economies and systems throughout Ontario

2)  To increase awareness of local food in Ontario, including the diversity of local food

3)  To encourage the development of new markets for local food [Source: Local Food Act]

The Bill includes the establishment of local food goals and targets in consultation with stakeholders, ongoing work with public sector organizations to meet the goals and targets, regular reporting on efforts to support local food, and the establishment of “Celebrate Ontario Local Food Week” and other awareness activities.

And a whole new level of provincial government support for local foods was achieved when Quebec’s Premier, Pauline Marois  declared Quebec’s food sovereignty and promised her government would aim to ensure 50% of the food on Quebec plates would be from nearby farms, rivers and lakes.

“Whether it is at the grocery store, at the restaurant or in Quebec homes, Quebec foods will be raised to the level of jewels of our economy and emblems of our identity,” Marois said in her rural riding of Charlevoix-Côte-de-Beaupré. (Source:  The National Post, May 16, 2013).

Bottom line?  ”The future for Farm to Cafeteria in this country is so bright – I need sunglasses”, says Joanne Bays, National Manager Farm to Cafeteria Canada

jillumbach General Information, Partner Activities

Working Bridges: an employer collaborative

Working Bridges is an employer collaborative dedicated to improving workplace productivity, retention, advancement and financial stability for employees

Employers know the success of their businesses and economic health of our community depends on employee retention and enhanced productivity. Through Working Bridges, they also recognize a steady job is the most reliable ticket out of poverty for individuals.

Working Bridges is convened and managed by the United Way of Chittenden County (Vermont) and aligns with the Income priorities of its community impact agenda.  Currently, almost 50 employers participate in Working Bridges.

How We Work

We are a collaborative of employers working to design and test innovative workplace practices that:
  • Help workers from all economic classes minimize work disruptions and improve financial stability;
  • Build business’ retention and advancement.

Working Bridges enables you to develop and test new employee benefits and management practices both within your own organizations and on a shared basis.  Working Bridges includes:

  • An employer workgroup that
develops new approaches to assist employees succeed in the workplace.
  • Bridges out of Poverty, an introductory education session to create understanding about economic class and its implications at work.
  • An employee loan/savings program that addresses a gap in existing employee benefits programs and helps employees build credit and long-term financial stability.
  • A shared “resource coordinator” to help employees and supervisors connect with community resources and resolve work barriers and disruptions.

What’s the impact?

  • Employers see improvements in employment trends–75% of core participants report improvement in employee retention, attendance or overall productivity.
  • Employers attribute some of the success to Working Bridges, although recognize many factors are at work.
  • 100% of core participants report Working Bridges is helping them achieve their original goals:
    • Hiring, retaining, and advancing lower income workers
    • Maximizing workforce effectiveness
    • Helping workers achieve financial stability
jillumbach General Information, Partner Activities

Building Human and Social Capital in the Community

by Lisa Stoddard

It’s so difficult to get our collective “head” around the issue of poverty because it’s such a complex issue. One of the ways that we began to develop a better understanding of the complexity of the issue of poverty was by trying to think of our work in terms of how it applies to the four areas into which a vast majority of the research about poverty falls. After surveying all of the poverty-related research out there, aha! Process found that there were really four major causes of poverty. In Bridges Out of Poverty those causal areas are (1) behaviors of the individual, (2) human and social capital in the community, (3) exploitation, and (4) political/economic structures.

The most common area of focus among human service organizations is the first one—behaviors of the individual. At Community Action Partnership (CAP), we’ve found that just focusing on helping our program participants learn new behaviors isn’t enough. We also have to address human and social capital, issues of exploitation, and the political and economic structures that exist. One of our projects is called “Bridges to Work.” This project is focused on developing skills with both entry-level employees and their supervisors in order to increase retention and the opportunity for additional training, advancement, and income. We’ve found that we can have the greatest impact if we give entry-level employees and their supervisors a shared understanding. To that end, we use information from Getting Ahead in a Just-Gettin’-By World with entry-level workers as part of a comprehensive course to help them “do better” at work.

Additionally, we provide a poverty simulation and Bridges training to supervisory staff. Feedback from employers is that this is an eye-opening learning experience for them. One employer described his change in mindset as moving from “what is wrong with this employee” to “let’s see what we can do to help this employee retain his job” because he now had a better understanding of the issues. Bridges is one of the tools that are allowing us to help both employees and employers develop more beneficial strategies for mutual success. CAP is changing mindsets, and these changes are impacting workers and businesses alike.

– See more at: http://www.ahaprocess.com/blog/archives/967#sthash.YFxQQOxU.dpuf