September Network Meeting

Join us on Wednesday, September 4, and meet some of the folks who are involved with the Food Hub Pilot Project. We’re excited to introduce our new Food Hub Coordinator, Research Assistant, members of our Working Group, and the businesses who will be participating in the first cohort! Time permitting, we will have space for a discussion related to the feasibility part of the project — what will help this Food Hub to carry on in Kamloops?

5:30 – 7:30 PM
Mount Paul Community Food Centre
Meeting Agenda

Bring a dish to share!


Network Meeting Summary

July 3, 2019

Secwepemc Word of the Month (review)

Weyt-k  (why-t-k).  _______ ren skwest = Hello. My name is _______ .

Board Update
– We’re looking forward to the AGM in August! Please join us — help us welcome the Board members who will take us through the next year, share in our legendary potluck, and enjoy some visiting.

Staff Update
– Welcome to Mariana, our new Gleaning Abundance Coordinator! She has jumped into learning the process with the onset of cherry season and we’re loving her enthusiasm for helping to capture Kamloops’ abundance.
– GAP has been busy, picking more than 1,100 pounds of cherries so far. Sadly, there will be no apricots or early plums this season, so there will be a rare break between the varieties of fruit.
– Catharine is completing her 4th year social work practicum placement with KFPC and the Boys and Girls Club. She has been working with My Place and McDonald Park Public Produce. We’re so fortunate to have her thoughtful, creative energy with us over the summer.
– The Real Estate Foundation food policy implementation project is excited to have submitted a funding application on Tuesday! If successful, the funding will go towards a combined feasibility study and pilot project to start a Food Innovation and Processing Hub. Six local food businesses would be selected to participate in business planning (through an Entrepreneur in Residence, aka business mentor) and connecting with available commercial kitchen space through a full-time food hub coordinator that would be hired for this project. In addition, a customer needs survey and the validity of the pilot will be assessed through the feasibility side of the project (so that we can launch into the next phase of this). Wish us luck!

Community Spotlight

Organic Waste Collection – Addie de Candole
Organic waste is not appropriate for the landfill, however 43% of what is going into it is compostable (this includes food scraps and lumber). This increases greenhouse gas impacts because it is not being handled appropriately. It’s time to let City Council know that we don’t want organic waste in the landfill. You can do so by signing this petition and writing a letter of support.

Climate Change Research – Hanna Martens
Hanna shared some of her research findings from a course she took in her 4th year of Geography studies at TRU. Her research question was, “How do we feed ourselves in the face of climate change?” As she reviewed the literature, the following was identified as what we can expect based on the rate of warming that is being recorded:

  • longer growing season with more extreme weather (e.g., more rain and less snow pack will mean an extended fire season with worse fires), pests and disease
  • increased risk of drought and lack of precipitation
  • warmer winters means weaker pest control and possible damage to perennials
  • increased food insecurity
  • livestock will suffer because there will be less feed and water with increased disease

Potential Solutions
– Equity needs to be top of mind because poorer populations will be impacted more severely, particularly Indigenous communities.
– Innovation and change will be needed in agricultural practices (e.g., different types of food grown; shifting when seeding and irrigating; new technology; increasing urban agriculture).
– Food hubs and incubator farms were named in a report, which is interesting because the REF policy implementation project has a working group for each of these.

Hanna graciously shared a Climate Change Agriculture Summary and Climate Change Powerpoint slides related to her presentation. There is also a full (23 page) document from Hanna that you can request from michelle@kamloopsfoodpolicycouncil.com and she can forward it to you.

Announcements
– Bren’s farmstand will be opening on the weekend of July 20 & 21. It will be open Saturdays and Sundays from 9 AM to 5 PM. 4195 Westsyde Road.

– Love Hard Kamloops described their efforts to address hunger in Kamloops at street level. Two times a year, they provide a free meal for anyone who is food insecure. They also carry out a weekly outreach program, in which they drive around Kamloops in two vehicles, offering 60 – 70 sandwiches per week, cookies, fresh fruit, hot meals, coffee, tea, whatever they can prepare/provide based on what is donated. They need volunteers and can be contacted through their Facebook page.

The Big E is 48 pages of pure content, no ads. To keep it thriving, it needs participation to help it succeed. If you are a photographer, poet, writer, storyteller, have an event you want to promote, get in contact with them. thebigeditionkamloops@gmail.com or facebook or 250-879-0465.

– On Friday and Saturday nights, the Kamloops Film Society is screening movies at the Paramount. They need two volunteers per show to help keep independent film in Kamloops.

– Elaine Sedgman has just released a book, A Bee Named BOB, about Blue Orchard Bees (BOB).  Congratulations, Elaine!

– Food Skills for Families Training (August 20 – 23). This is free training (a train-the-trainer program) and meals are provided during training, however there are criteria to be eligible. For full details, click here: Food Skills Facilitator Training Invitation_2019.

Upcoming Events – Save the Dates & Get Tix!
Gardengate Seasonal Veg Sales – starts on July 15
Runs Monday to Friday, 11:30 AM to 1 PM
915 Southill


Farm 2 Chef Grazing Event – July 21, 5 – 8 PM
@Thistle Farm

KFPC AGM – August 7, 5:30 to 7:30 PM
If you are interested in learning more about what it means to join the Board of Directors, you can read over the expectations and terms of reference on the KFPC website.

Next Meeting is KFPC’s AGM: August 7, 2019, 5:30 – 7:30
@ Mount Paul Community Food Centre
A brief business meeting and election; legendary potluck; with time to visit in the garden (weather permitting)
Chair: Carole Hebden
Set Up: Deb A.
Clean Up: Matt


Network Meeting Summary

June 5, 2019

Secwepemc Word of the Month
skwlúlecw (sku-loo-low)= mid-summer

Board Update
– Several grant applications have been submitted by the leadership team, which we are excited about.
– Carole visited the new Garden Collective and is impressed with what is happening in the McDonald Park site. It has been given a new life with the attention of volunteers and guidance from Hamish.
– Looking forward to the AGM in August. Interested board members can find information on our website related to terms of reference and expressions of interest (scroll down past the Board members for the details).

Staff Update
– Catharine, a Social Work practicum student, has joined KFPC for the summer. Welcome!
– Green living expo was attended by Bonnie and Sandra to promote seed cleaning and the seed library.
– Farm to School: The spring celebration was held at the Food Centre on May 29th. There were over 100 kids and adults, with 9 community partners that had stations for the kids to engage in. Bonnie also attended the National Farm to School conference in Victoria and made lots of great connections and learned about excellent programs.
– PopCycle, the KFPC social enterprise, was launched at Brewloops. We are making fruitpops from fresh, local gleaned fruit, and 100% of the proceeds go to supporting community food action in Kamloops. We sold nearly 250 fruitpops at Brewloops!
– The KFPC is moving forward with the policy implementation project. In particular, there are two working groups: food hub and agricultural training initiatives. The food hub working group is gaining a lot of energy and there seems to be good potential there.

Community Spotlight

 

Insights were shared from the feedback received following Nourish. Small groups were also invited to answer questions that will be incorporated into the final evaluation report. To see the presentation slides, click on this link: Nourish Powerpoint Slides – June 5

 


Announcements
Interior Community Services hosted their grand opening on June 4th. Nick Saul came from Community Food Centres Canada, along with several local elected officials and community members. The food was great and the activities were engaging. Congratulations ICS!!!
– There is a hiking group Lawrence is leading on Sundays. If you are interested in coming to it, get in touch with him at flylawrence@shaw.ca

Upcoming Events – Save the Dates & Get Tix!
Farm 2 Chef Grazing Event – July 21, 5 – 8 PM
Thistle Farm
Early Bird prices ($50 per ticket) until June 30

KFPC AGM – August 7, 5:30 to 7:30 PM
If you are interested in learning more about what it means to join the Board of Directors, you can read over the expectations and terms of reference on the KFPC website. There is also information about how to submit your expression of interest by 4 PM on June 18.

Next Network Meeting: July 3, 2019, 5:30 – 7:30
An open session to share events and announcements
Chair: Emily P.
Set Up: Deb A., Bill
Clean Up: Mike

Network Meeting Summary
May 1, 2019
~ Much gratitude to Addie de Candole for the beautiful photos ~

Celebrating Laura
What a crowded hall it was on this special evening, a true testament to how many people Laura Kalina has impacted over her 30+ year career with Interior Health. Glenn Hilke kept the energy light and speeches were shared from Sheila Nelson (who helped found the Kamloops Food Policy Council with Laura), Tatjana Bates (an Interior Health Dietician who shared memories and also graced Laura with a whimsical handcrafted garden vest — see photo at the top of the post), Carole Hebden (KFPC President shared a note from Paula and Mendel Rubinson who also helped to form KFPC), and a message from Kendra Besanger who shared her gratitude all the way from Montreal.

The potluck was epic, including intricately decorated ‘pollinator’ cupcakes from Shirley Culver. Cheryl and Sheryl (who mentioned that Laura appreciates it when colleagues share the same name; it sure keeps things simple!) shared a hilarious slide show spanning topics such as: Laura, ‘The Promoter – Alert the Media!”, Learning About Food!, She is now ready to teach! and a Typical Work Day (which involved a whole lot of mountain biking and nordic skiing 😉 — looked incredible).

When the floor was opened up for Open Mic, many people spoke to how Laura inspired them to get involved in food security, focus their graduate studies on various aspects of the food system, and move to the city because of how many food-related initiatives there are here (most of which were started through Laura’s efforts). Without a doubt, Laura has accomplished so much in her career. Throughout, however, she held family as being of utmost importance.

 

 

Left: Laura receiving Secwepemc People, Land, and Laws by Ron and Marianne Ignace.

 

Laura’s daughter and husband spoke to the amazing balance Laura was able to hold between an abundant career and being a very present and loving mother (Laura’s son also called in to offer congratulations).  What was palpable in the room was the deep appreciation to Laura for welcoming so many to the community through food (action), helping people to feel at home here, being a person so rich in gratitude (and encouragement), and for generously sharing her bountiful gift of knowledge.

City staff offered thanks to Laura on many levels; personally, on behalf of the City of Kamloops, and the broader community. Rob Wright (Gardengate) and Glenn Hilke spoke to how Laura was a catalyst and a connector to bring a food-based social justice to Kamloops, to bring to the forefront the need to alleviate poverty and household food insecurity in our community.

Anyone who meets Laura is aware of her intensity, something which comes from the heart. Through this, as someone so aptly described during the celebration, Laura has helped “make Kamloops shine…for everyone.”

Although Laura has officially retired from Interior Health, she continues to work part-time with Qwemtsin Health and will be Kamloops Food Policy Council’s Honorary Director and Founding Member….forever. We love you, Laura!

Announcements
We Would Love Your Input!
You may have been at one of the three network meetings where discussions have been held about Kamloops Food Policy Council’s vision and new value statements. Here is the latest revision and we’d love to hear your feedback about them. You can click on the word ‘revision’ above and you will be taken to a working document. You can add a comment by highlighting the word or section of interest, then click on the speech bubble that shows up on the right to add a comment.

You can also download the Vision Statements for Kamloops Food System and email comments to lindsayellenharris@gmail.com

BC Food Costing Report Evaluation
Interior Health is collaborating with the BC Centre for Disease Control and to evaluate the BC Food Costing Report 2017 and Dissemination project. Please use the survey link:  https://ext-qiqa.bcchr.ca/redcap/plugins/surveys/?s=AHJP9HH33N to provide feedback on the Report, Infographic and key messages. The anonymous survey should take about 15 minutes to complete. Deadline for your response is May 12th!

The purpose of the Food Costing in BC 2017 report is to provide data to assess food affordability – the amount of income required for individuals and families to eat a nutritionally adequate diet. This report is undertaken every two years, and this year we also released an infographic to help promote the key messages.

Upcoming Events – Save the Dates!
Farm 2 Chef Grazing Event – July 21, 5 – 8 PM
Thistle Farm
Early Bird prices ($50 per ticket) until June 30

KFPC AGM – August 7, 5:30 to 7:30 PM
If you are interested in learning more about what it means to join the Board of Directors, you can read over the expectations and terms of reference on the KFPC website. There is also information about how to submit your expression of interest by 4 PM on June 18.

Next Network Meeting: June 5, 2019, 5:30 – 7:30
A report back from Nourish: A dialogue on the root causes of household food insecurity

** Would you like to help out at our June Network meeting? If so, email info@kamloopsfoodpolicycouncil.com. We need someone to chair and two sets of two people to help with set up and clean up. **
Chair:
Set Up:
Clean Up:

Network Meeting Summary
April 3, 2019

Secwepemc Word of the Month: sulénsem (sul-en-sum) = Flower

Table Introductions:

If you were asked to rate Kamloops’ food system, what evidence would you use to do that? In other words, what activities, policies, feelings, characteristics would you use to describe the food system in and around Kamloops?

KFPC Board Update
KFPC hosted a very successful Nourish Forum on March 29. The Board extends a big thank you to Bonnie Klohn for organizing and collaborating with such a diverse group on such an important topic.

PopCycle is ramping up. KFPC member, Sonya Rokosh, conducted a fun and informative field report for CBC about our social enterprise project that transforms gleaned fruit into tasty fruitpops! Listen to it here.

KFPC Staff Update
Nourish was a full house and the broad support to help make it happen is appreciated. The June network meeting will be a report back about Nourish.

March was packed with outreach activities. Bonnie and Sandra presented on how to start a food policy council at the Nicola Valley Food Connection Event in Merritt — interestingly, the room was full of the perfect group of people to form a food policy council! KFPC had a table at Green Drinks  prior to the screening of David Suzuki’s film Beyond Climate. This event raised almost $800 for KFPC! The Kamloops Film Festival features community groups alongside many of the films and KFPC attended with the first-ever film shot in Haida, Sgaawaay K’uuna (Edge of the Knife).

KFPC will be at Green Living Expo on May 11, featuring the seed library and demonstrating how to use the winnower and thresher.

Garden Collective is in full swing at McDonald Park, using part of the Public Produce space with funding from United Way. The first workshop and work bee took place on March 31. The plots are looking fantastic and are thriving on this influx of new energy and attention.

Michelle attended a forum hosted by the North Okanagan Land to Table Network. Hosting an annual forum, this one focused on the environment — looking at how sustainable ways of growing food can be encouraged, how to manage waste more effectively, and looking at impacts and resilience to climate change.

Harriet Friedmann, a long-time member of the Toronto Food Policy Council and professor emeritus, visited Kamloops in mid-March. Over several gatherings with Board and staff, Harriet shared some of her learnings from Toronto (their food policy council is a committee of City Council, therefore is funded through the city) and expressed both fascination and enthusiasm about what the Kamloops Food Policy Council is involved in. In particular, she was excited to hear about our social enterprise project, PopCycle, and how various community partners are coming together to bring policies and plans to life.

Community Spotlight ~ Deep Dive Into Our Ideal Food System with Robyn McLean and Lindsay Harris
Last year, the Board updated the strategic plan, presented this at the AGM in August 2018, and published the new vision and value statements on KFPC’s new website. It was acknowledged that something was missing — there was a need for some wider engagement and collaboration with KFPC members and network to flesh out the value systems. This will help to develop a tool to assess where the Kamloops food system is as a whole.

At the November and December network meetings, members were asked to consider what an ideal food system looks like. This helped to refine KFPC’s vision and value statements. These revised vision and value statements were discussed and rated, by members at the April network meeting, on a scale from seed (little to no development, however lots of potential) to fruit (area is very strong and gaps are well managed). Some of the statements were quite complex and harder to delve into (such as a resilient food system: healthy land and water), while others were easier to find evidence to describe where the food system sits now (such as our network: celebrating people as gifts and the cultivation of connections).

Folks were into this conversation and it was a challenge to bring them to a close to get ready for the next presentation. This level of engagement and interest around our ideal food system bodes well for what is to come. The information from this discussion will be interwoven into the existing statements and a tool to help with decision making will be developed.

Examining Local Food Procurement, Adaptive Capacity and Resilience to Environmental Changes in Fort Providence, Northwest Territories with Paulina Ross

Paulina is currently in the Masters of Environmental Science program at TRU under the supervision of Dr. Courtney Mason. Paulina’s research interests include environmental and sustainable policies, as a means to encourage, regulate and respond to environmental issues as they affect Northern Canadians. Paulina was born and raised in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, a sub-arctic community with high costs of living and geographical remoteness. She has witnessed first-hand the implications of climate change and the need to carefully manage the delicate and volatile Northern landscapes, cultures and ecosystems.

She spoke about how Fort Providence, a small sub-arctic community, is working towards more resilience in their food system by focusing more on land based food access rather than market foods, which tend to be expensive, low in nutrition, and low quality. One of the key outcomes of Paulina’s research was to highlight the need to include local voices in planning because there is a longstanding experience of ideas/plans being brought in from the South and they tend not to work because they are not a good fit for the community. Paulina indicated a need to focus on land based foods such as whitefish and what the harvesters gather.

Paulina spoke to the many barriers to food security in sub-arctic communities, including:
* economic,
* contextual (gardening is not a traditional way of raising food and has ties to residential schools, traumatic experiences and memories),
* infrastructure (building a greenhouse without a way to heat it sustainably), and
* technical (the government drops off seeds every year, however community members don’t have the knowledge or skills to plant, tend and harvest them).

We just barely scratched the surface of what Paulina learned through her research. Thanks to Paulina for staying afterwards to speak with several people who wanted to discuss this further with her (especially after a day of completing and submitting her master’s thesis — congratulations are also in order)! Although she is headed to Spain to present her research before moving back to Yellowknife, she will be in keeping in touch through our newsletters. If you had more questions or wanted to discuss something further with Paulina, her email address is paulinaross10@gmail.com.

Upcoming Event

Who’s Who
City of Kamloops
Free Agent
Gardengate
Kamloops Food Policy Council
Kamloops Naturalist Club
Kamloops Regional Farmers’ Market
Lived Experience Committee
Mount Paul Community Food Centre
My Place
Secwepemc Child and Family Services Agency
Society of St. Vincent de Paul
The Voice of Homefree
TRU
UBCO

Next Network Meeting: May 1, 2019, 5:30 – 7:30
*Laura Kalina’s Retirement Celebration*
Co-Chairs: Simone Jennings and Glenn Hilke
Set Up:
Clean Up: Sandra

Rural Indigenous communities across northern Canada are experiencing high rates of food insecurity as a result of interconnected socio-cultural, economic and environmental challenges.  This research explores local food procurement activities in the community of Fort Providence, Northwest Territories (NT).  The objective of this research was to consult with key community members to understand the detrimental effects of climate change on land-based food procurement; but also to understand the complex socio-cultural, economic and environmental challenges related to food security.

Join us and Paulina Ross as she shares her experiences through this research. She was born and raised in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, a sub-arctic community with high costs of living and geographical remoteness. She has witnessed first-hand the implications of climate change and the need to carefully manage the delicate and volatile Northern landscapes, cultures and ecosystems. She is currently in the Masters of Environmental Science program at TRU under the supervision of Dr. Courtney Mason. Paulina’s research interests include environmental and sustainable policies, as a means to encourage, regulate and respond to environmental issues as they affect Northern Canadians.

Also at April’s Network meeting will be an overview of the information that was gathered over two network meetings in the fall. Find out how KFPC’s vision and value statements have been refined to help build a decision-making framework. Members will be asked to rate where the Kamloops food system or the KFPC Network seems to be for each of these value statements.

Wednesday, April 3
5:30 – 7:30 PM
Mount Paul Community Food Centre
*Please bring a dish to share*

Chair: Robyn McLean
Set Up: Libby, one more helper would be much appreciated!
Clean Up: Libby, one more helper would be fantastic!

Network Meeting Summary
March 6, 2019

Secwepemc Word of the Month: Teyt (Tie-et) = hungry

Circle Introductions:

A project that gives me confidence we are moving in the right direction on household food insecurity is…

When it comes to household food insecurity, we cannot neglect to…

KFPC Board Update
Board and staff are participating in Conversations around Indigenous food sovereignty, truth and reconciliation and unpacking structural racism in the food system with Dawn Morrison.

Developing more sustainable core funding is higher priority right now, so that staff are better able to address community needs as they arise.

The Board agrees in principle to write a letter of support for the recommendations offered by the citizen science pollinator project. This will be sent to the City of Kamloops later in March.

KFPC Staff Update
KFPC, with several partners, is hosting a dialogue on household food insecurity in Kamloops on March 29, 8 – 4:30 PM at TRU. Registration is by donation, with a suggested donation of $15 – $40. There are two main areas of focus for the Nourish forum: 1) Indigenous food systems and how colonization has impacted food insecurity, including the over-representation of Indigenous people experiencing food insecurity and 2) meeting the needs of food insecurity and addressing the root causes through poverty reduction. For more information and to register, visit the Nourish website: nourishkamloops.org

Spaces are filling up. Folks are strongly encouraged to sign up soon to save their spot.

KFPC will be posting two summer positions in mid-March. New rules mean that applicants do not need to be students, but must be between 15 and 30 years of age. One posting is for the GAP Program Leader position for 12 weeks, with the possibility of extending the position into the fall. The second posting is for the Social Enterprise Program Leader position for 10 weeks. Both positions are for 30 hours per week at $15 per hour.

Garden Collective is gearing up in McDonald Park, using part of the Public Produce space, with funding from United Way. Intended for beginner and new gardeners from the neighbourhood, this program will provide workshops to facilitate skill building within the collective. It is $20 to join the collective. There are five or six spots left.

KFPC will be hosting a Kitchen Table Conversation for the Downtown Plan on March 13 from 5:30 to 7:30 at Red Collar. Input will help shape policies on topics such as transportation, environment, parks, and housing. If you are interested in joining in, please email info@kamloopsfoodpolicycouncil.com.

Michelle attended a workshop by Dignidad Migrante Society (Dignidad) at the Certified Organic Associations of BC conference. Dignidad is a non-profit worker’s organization, focusing on agricultural workers because it is a labour sector with the biggest needs, greatest vulnerability, and strongest discrimination (there are 10,000 migrant farm workers in BC). That being said, Raul indicated that he is looking for work placements for 15 Guatemalan women who have open work permits, as a result of proving that they had been abused by the employer who hired them with a temporary foreign worker permit. If you know of anyone who is looking for staff on their farm, Raul’s email address is imfarmworker@gmail.com and you can find more information on Dignidad’s website: dignidadmigrantesociety.org.


Social Enterprise has developed a fourth popsicle flavour and had their first public sale at the SEED screening. Keep your eyes open for upcoming pop-up locations to try them out!

Community Updates
Retirement Party Planning for Laura Kalina – The May KFPC Network Meeting will be a celebration of Laura’s career and contributions to the community. We are looking for folks who might want to share stories of how they came to know Laura and her work, photos/videos, and help with spreading the word that there is a party for her on May 1st. The more the merrier! If you have photos/videos and/or would like to share stories, please contact Simone at Simone.Jennings@interiorhealth.ca

Community Spotlight ~ Sneak Peek into Nourish Household Food Insecurity Forum
~ There is an acknowledgement that food programs weave a tighter social fabric, but don’t tackle the ever-increasing number of people who don’t have enough to eat. This requires ‘and’ thinking, so that people are running programs AND looking at policy to impact food insecurity.
~ Moving from feeding (programs) to policy takes around 10 years for a community.
~ Change will happen at the local level, especially when creating parallel systems (e.g., community gardens, food centres) while also advocating at the provincial level.
~ The Farm to School/Fish to School/Local Foods to School/Traditional Foods to School movement was discussed as a way to transform the food system –> bringing local foods into schools, hospitals, daycares and building food literacy.
~ Household food insecurity can be very invisible, with only 25% of people who are food insecure accessing any kind of support.
~ More than 60% of people living with food insecurity are working and a large portion of them are single mothers.
Key Insights:
~ Our ecosystem is changing and we need to step up our sustainable thinking (a very cool idea for a pay-it-forward food truck was presented to the group!).
~ Climate change considerations need to be addressed in planning/strategizing.
~ Ways to transition away from the food bank model were discussed through creating parallel systems and disrupting the status quo.

Who’s Who
BC Green Party
Friends of Kamloops
Interior Community Services: Mount Paul CFC
Interior Health
JUMP
Kamloops Farmers’ Market
Kamloops Naturalist Club
KFPC
Lived Experience Community
Open Door Group: Gardengate
Permaculture Kamloops
Thompson Shuswap Master Gardeners
TRU

Announcement
Farm to Cafeteria National Conference (first one ever!)
May 15 – 17, Victoria

Next Network Meeting: Wednesday, April 3, 5:30 – 7:30 PM
** The March Network Meeting ended without finding who our chair and set-up/clean-up helpers will be. If you are interested, let us know at info@kamloopsfoodpolicycouncil.com **
Chair
:
Note taker: Michelle Tsutsumi
Set up:
Clean up:


March Network Meeting

In preparation for the upcoming Nourish event, our March meeting will be focusing on dialogue around the root causes of household food insecurity. We will be piloting a facilitation method that is held in the round, promoting authentic dialogue between speakers and the audience. We will be featuring Joanne Bays, a population health nutritionist, and founder of Farm to Cafeteria Canada, as well as local speakers who will discuss the relative affordability of food in BC, and the factors that result in so many people experiencing food insecurity.

For more information about Nourish, please visit www.nourishkamloops.org

Network Meeting Details:
Wednesday, March 6, 5:30 – 7:30 PM
Chair: Glenn Hilke
Set up: Shelaigh, Alexis
Clean up: Teresa, Rachel

Please bring a dish to share!

Network Meeting Summary ~ February 6 2019

Secwepemc Word of the Month: s7istk = winter; c7ístkten = winter home

Table Introductions: Who was your most memorable teacher?

KFPC Board Update
Glenn and Joe addressed the decrease in accessible meals by hosting a meeting with 25 people who are providing emergency meals in Kamloops. Many had been doing this for years without having met each other. A student, Emily, through the United Way, will be developing an assessment strategy to look at gaps in meals, particularly when five meals per week are stopped over the summer. The aim is to maintain the current level of meals and add one or two more per week.

The KFPC Board wrote a letter to the City of Kamloops regarding the Noble Creek Irrigation System, asking for more time for a solution to be found. The City has delayed the closure of the Noble Creek Irrigation System until September 2021. City staff have been tasked with looking at this more closely.

KFPC Staff Update
KFPC, with several partners, is hosting a dialogue on household food insecurity in Kamloops on March 29, 8 – 4:30 PM at TRU. Registration is by donation, with a suggested donation of $15 – $40. There are two main areas of focus for the Nourish forum: 1) Indigenous food systems and how colonization has impacted food insecurity, including the over-representation of Indigenous people experiencing food insecurity and 2) meeting the needs of food insecurity and addressing the root causes through poverty reduction. For more information and to register, visit the Nourish website: nourishkamloops.org

Join us for a preview of the facilitation methods that will be used at Nourish during the March network meeting!

Social Enterprise has developed three recipes for popsicles, one of which is vegan. There will be pop up opportunities to sample them in the coming months!

The Policy Implementation Project, funded by the Real Estate Foundation, started in the fall when Bonnie and Michelle reviewed several plans/policies and highlighted seven areas of shared aspiration. These were presented to an initial collective in mid-January, including representatives from the City of Kamloops, TNRD, Tk’emlups te Secwepemc, Skeetchestn, Venture Kamloops and Community Futures. Based on the shared aspirations, the collective selected four areas to focus on: expanding land to grow food, food hub/social procurement, training initiatives (e.g., incubator farm/farm school), and processing facilities.

SEED: The Untold Story will be screened as part of TRU Films for Change on February 27th at TRU Clocktower (see poster at the top of the post). Doors at 6:30, film starts at 7 PM. Admission by donation. Following the film, a panel discussion will take place with Mojave Kaplan, Daniela Basile, and Robyn McLean. ** Volunteers are needed for set up, selling popcorn, and clean up. Please contact sandra@kamloopsfoodpolicycouncil.com if you are interested in helping out that night **

Incorporating Seed Growing Into Your Farm or Garden, February 28 from 1 to 4 PM, is an opportunity for market gardeners and people who are interested in growing seed on a larger scale to attend an information session, followed by a demonstration of how to use the winnower and thresher. To register, visit Eventbrite.

Garden Collective will be starting in McDonald Park, using part of the Public Produce space, with funding from United Way. Intended for beginner and new gardeners from the neighbourhood, this program will provide workshops to facilitate skill building within the collective. It is $20 to join the collective.

A Local Workshop Leaders page has been added to the KFPC website to help people find facilitators for a variety of topics. Share the word and if you would like to add your own details, send them to sandra@kamloopsfoodpolicycouncil.com!

Farm to School Update
The Kamloops region has 13 schools participating in the Farm to School program, engaging in activities such as: growing microgreens, building compost, growing gardens, dehydrating fruit, and engaging in field trips. Two new schools are joining this year: McGowan Park Elementary has involved the whole school in caring for four chickens, with a new class feeding them, collecting eggs, and finding innovative ways to use the eggs each week. Dallas Elementary has started a garden with a focus on growing grain. They will also be planting the three fall sisters: popcorn, winter squash, and dry beans, which will be better suited to the school calendar.

A Spring Celebration will be taking place in May at the Mount Paul Community Food Centre. Grade 6 students will be engaging with stations in the hall, kitchen and garden — a fun day with loads of hands-on activities.

Community Updates
Retirement Party Planning for Laura Kalina – The May KFPC Network Meeting will be a celebration of Laura’s career and contributions to the community. We are looking for folks who might want to share stories of how they came to know Laura and her work, photos/videos, and help with spreading the word that there is a party for her on May 1st. The more the merrier! If you have photos/videos and/or would like to share stories, please contact Simone at Simone.Jennings@interiorhealth.ca

Elaine Sedgman, from the Thompson Shuswap Master Gardeners, provided an overview of the Citizen Science Pollinator Final Report, including six recommendations:
~ protect nesting sites
~ install nesting boxes in parks
~ plant 3-season pollinator friendly forage
~ plant native shrubs and flowering plants
~ pollinator corridors with forage plants are needed to reduce forage islands
~ enhance and enlarge existing bee habitats
~ embed protection of bees in landscape management policy
Letters can be sent to the City of Kamloops, encouraging them to implement these recommendations and adhere to their landscape management policy.

The Big E has just released their second issue. Vendors get 100% of the profits and the paper provides an alternative to panhandling. Anyone can submit something to The Big E by the 20th of each month, whether it be writing, photography, poetry, artwork, or short stories. March will be an A to Z focus on women in the non-profit world titled, ’50 Shades of Greatness,’ and April will focus on the environment.

A new youth environment leadership program, Next Generation Naturalists, is starting in March for 17 to 22 year olds. The Kamloops Naturalist Club has partnered with TRU to offer 35 youth a learning opportunity that spans three years. Learning sessions will take place in the afternoons of the first and third Saturday, approximately 6 – 10 hours per month. Also included is a 40 hour paid practicum. If you, or someone you know, might be interested in this, please encourage them to apply as soon as possible: http://kamloopsnaturalistclub.com/nextgen/

Kamloops Permaculture Group meets every second Thursday at Living Arts Studio and is open to all. They will be setting up a display at Green Living Expo and regularly host workshops. Having helped to design a healing garden with Qwemtsin Health Society and a school garden in Skeetchestn, there will be a need for volunteers this spring to help create the garden spaces.

ICS is holding Food Friday, a drop in cooking program that runs each week at the Mount Paul Community Food Centre from 10 AM to 1 PM. Entirely free, everyone is welcome to arrive, enjoy a coffee and visit, cook and eat together.

The 7th Annual Family Day Festival will be held at Tournament Capital Centre on February 18th from 10 AM to 2 PM. KFPC and Farm to School will be there, so stop in and say hi as you check out the various activities there.

 

Who’s Who
BC Food Security Gateway
Interior Community Services
Interior Health
JUMP
Kamloops Naturalist Club
KFPC
Lived Experience Community
Open Door Group: Gardengate
Permaculture Kamloops
Thompson Shuswap Master Gardeners
TRU

Next Network Meeting: Wednesday, March 6, 5:30 – 7:30 PM
With special guests, March’s network meeting will be a sneak-peek into the facilitation process that will be used during the Nourish forum.
Chair: Glenn Hilke
Note taker: Michelle Tsutsumi
Set up: Alexis, Shelaigh
Clean up: Teresa, Rachel