The Kamloops Food Policy Council (KFPC) is thrilled to announce the relaunch of Food and the City, a citizen-led policy research initiative aimed at addressing key community concerns regarding food security in Kamloops. This project was originally introduced in 2022 before the municipal election, and resulted in the creation of seven co-created, impactful policy recommendations, which focus on helping shape food and sustainability dialogues within Kamloops. Now, as we approach 2024, and a provincial election, we’re diving back into these important conversations with a renewed focus.
In this year’s Food and the City project, our network has investigated critical issues that intersect with food security, including land use management, experiences of vulnerable populations, community engagement, and affordable housing. Exploring these topics further is a critical step toward ensuring that our communities can sustain themselves.
This list of recommendations is a living document that will evolve and grow as members of KFPC’s grassroots network engage with research and community voices on this topic. If you want to get involved in developing and implementing policy with us, or if you’re a local government candidate and want to support any of these policies in your platform or to discuss further, please reach out to us: info@kamloopsfoodpolicycouncil.com.
Throughout the summer, KFPC staff and volunteers engaged in deep discussions on how planning and policies impact food security in Kamloops. We have been engaging our community through discussions, forums and surveys to ensure that Kamloops residents have a voice in shaping the future of food policy in their city and province.
The challenges facing Kamloops are not isolated. From vulnerable populations lacking access to nutritious food to the pressing need for affordable housing, these issues intersect in complex ways. Food and the City 2024 aims to bring these connections to light and advocate for policies that ensure a just and resilient future for all.
Food and the City Policy Topics & Recommendations:
As the provincial election nears, we will be presenting research-backed, community-driven recommendations that reflect the needs and hopes of our citizens.
Read the articles and recommendations below.
Vulnerable Populations & Food Security
Policy Recommendations
The following list reflects a summary of policy recommendations to be considered for increasing the safety and security of vulnerable populations in Kamloops:
Increase Funding for Food Support Services:
- Ensure consistent government funding for food service programs to reduce reliance on donations, volunteers, and short-term grants. Shift from a charity model to sustainable public funding.
Enhance Collaboration Between Service Providers:
- Encourage and support partnerships between food support services to share resources, fill service gaps, and improve distribution and aggregation of food supplies.
Include Frontline Workers and Vulnerable Populations in Policy Discussions:
- Create spaces where grassroots workers and people with lived experience can influence policy making processes. This will help design more effective solutions based on real community needs.
Address Systemic Oppression in Food Policy:
- Develop policies that tackle intersectional issues such as poverty, housing, transportation, and disability support, recognizing that these factors exacerbate food insecurity.
Provide Public Amenities Like Washrooms and Drinking Fountains:
- Reopen, build new, and maintain public washrooms and drinking fountains to ensure access to water and hygiene for all, particularly vulnerable populations and individuals experiencing homelessness.
Tackle Stigma Around Food Support Services:
- Implement public education campaigns to reduce the stigma associated with accessing food banks and other social support services, and to advocate for the dignity of those seeking support.
Expand Access to Social Assistance and Housing Support:
- Strengthen social assistance programs and housing policies to prevent vulnerable individuals from falling through systemic gaps, particularly those transitioning out of healthcare, prison, or welfare systems.
Housing Affordability
Click to read the full article on Housing Affordability
Click to read about the Importance of Complete Neighbourhoods
Policy Recommendations
The following list reflects a summary of policy recommendations to be considered for increasing the affordability and diversity of housing in Kamloops:
Invest in Non-Market Housing:
- All levels of government should be investing in building more non-market housing as a permanent solution to the housing crisis.
Build Capacity in the Community Housing Sector:
- The Community Housing Sector, including local governments, Indigenous communities, land trusts, cooperatives and non-profit organizations are important partners for the operation of non-market housing. These organizations need support to build capacity to deliver more affordable housing, including support for growing development management expertise, access to technical resources such as accounting and legal services, and early stage development funding.
Foster community food assets and green spaces:
- Introduce requirements and incentives to increase the frequency/size of community food assets, green spaces and other common spaces.
Incentivize walkable neighbourhoods, small businesses and plazas:
- Create the environment for walkable neighbourhood grocery stores to thrive, with the goal of having fresh, healthy food, attainable by foot, reachable by all income groups.
- Incentivize more plazas, parklets and public commons spaces.
Change zoning and development regulations to support diverse housing options:
- Continue to promote zoning changes to allow for increased density in core, walkable neighbourhoods, such as a reduction in lot size required for a home, required space between homes, etc.
- Create incentives for developers that include more shared spaces or amenities in multi-family buildings—especially practical, commonly used spaces, like wide corridors with seating areas, laundry rooms next to play spaces or lobbies, or a common kitchen or root cellar. Expand the current definition of social spaces and provide guidelines for developers about new definitions.
- Create policies that increase security of tenure and affordability such as streamlined approval processes, tax exemptions and fee waivers for projects that produce affordable homes.
Reduce Parking Requirements:
- Further reduce mandatory requirements for parking spaces for new housing developments, particularly non-market developments.
Increase alternative transportation options:
- Invest in more public transportation, active transportation routes, and car share programs.
Land Use and Local Food Production
Policy Recommendations
The following list reflects a summary of policy recommendations to be considered for increasing sustainable land use and food production in Kamloops:
Extend the concept of “complete neighbourhoods” to include:
- Generous, integrated green space for recreation, natural processes, and gardens,
- The incorporation of ecosystem services into every aspect of a neighbourhood.
- Ecosystem systems include natural and cultural dimensions of 1) providing resources (e.g., fresher air, shade, sound barriers, productive trees and gardens), 2) regulating natural functions (e.g., heat, water cycling, and nutrient cycling, 3) cultural resources (e.g., recreation, meaningful places, such as sacred spaces, and 4) supporting functions (e.g., soil formation, pollination, and migration between ecosystems).
- Access to recreational and productive green space, and to healthy food in retail stores and restaurants as a necessary component
Update all existing land use policies to explicitly address their impact on ecosystem services:
- Non-built-up land should not automatically be seen as non-urban land.
- Urban agriculture within and near the built core should be seen as urban activity.
Specifically highlight the resource provisioning and cultural role of ecosystem services to include food and other agricultural production for personal and small-scale commercial use:
- Biodiverse gardening and urban agriculture should be seen as ecosystem services.
- Preserve green space access, sunlight access, and dark night sky access.
Protect current agricultural/ecological land:
- Tax benefits/subsidies for farmers and traditional stewardship
Promote new agricultural development and infrastructure:
- Offer tax incentives similar to those for commercial/residential developments
- Offer tax incentives for single and multi-family dwellings that grow food instead of lawns
Community Engagement
