All Sessions are from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Includes catered local lunch.
Local Food Policy Engagement Session sites are booked, and registrations will be taken through the Agriculture registration line, 1-800-387-6030 in December. Locations and dates are as follows:
- Edmonton, January 10, 2012
- Grande Prairie, January 11, 2012
- Airdrie, January 24, 2012
- Lethbridge, January 25, 2012
- Vermilion, January 31, 2012
What is the best way to develop a robust local food system in the province? That is what a team at Alberta Agriculture (ARD) has been assessing. The team has identified a few barriers, and reviewed successful systems to see what might apply here.
Bill Reynolds is leading the work on a supportive local food policy at the department. He says the project’s outcomes will assist in providing direction to the Explore Local initiative, which was set up to help the local food industry connect and to shorten the distance from farm to plate.
The steady interest in ‘local’ foods is good news for businesses that are positioned to take advantage of it, says Reynolds. And, he says, it’s good for the Alberta agricultural economy, which benefits from serving a broad customer base in international, domestic and local markets. He believes that having the capacity to grow in all of these markets is important for the long-term sustainability of Alberta’s agriculture industry.
Reynolds says the next step is to consult with industry. As such, his group will be holding a series of regional Local Food Policy Engagement sessions in January. He says that there are certain issues and successful approaches that seem to come up as the group studies other jurisdictions and they’ll be asking people if these ring true here. Workshops, web surveys, and talking to people individually will be part of the mix in the consultations.
The kind of suggestions that come in - such as the need for the development of local food networks, food hubs, farm incubators or regionally accessible processing and distribution infrastructure - remains to be seen.
What strategies and systems are needed to make it easier to produce and market local product, and who could be involved in setting the groundwork – these are the types of things the group wants to hear from people, adds Reynolds.
