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COSN Federal NDP Updates | February 2023
Food Security - Bringing It To The Table
As we venture into the new year after a holiday season marked by spiking food costs and shortages of staple grocery items, the precariousness of nutrition remains top of many peoples’ minds. Extreme weather events impacting agricultural production and transportation corridors, viral outbreaks among livestock, raging gas prices - these and other inflationary pressures combined into a storm of food insecurity. Not unexpectedly, the rise in actual costs has been enthusiastically overcompensated for by the corporations we rely on for our groceries, where the jump in shelf prices seen across the board reflects the eagerness of Canada’s grocery oligopoly to price gouge under the cover of inflation (link: https://www.ndp.ca/news/ndp-names-critic-food-price-inflation). While the richest at the top of our food system are getting richer, we are hungry for change.
Canadian households have been driven to food banks in unprecedented numbers over this winter season, and many individuals have reported skipping meals as a direct result of food affordability. Statistics concerning hunger in this country never cease to shock, given that nearly 60% of the food produced in Canada ends up spoiled or trashed. Programs to mitigate food waste are left largely to charities and other nonprofits at the community level, and these operations are heavily reliant on volunteer labour for everything from receiving and processing donated food to distributing it to those in need.
At the end of November, the COSN NDP Executive hosted an online Food Security Panel during our monthly meeting. Our Community Liaison Chair, Dale O’Flynn, moderated the event with two speakers: Joanne Mariutti, from the Kelowna Community Fridge and Pop Up Pantry in Rutland, and Terry Bridges, a volunteer with the Community Farms Program in Kelowna. Each guest delivered a well-prepared presentation followed by questions and discussion with the group.
Joanne Mariutti talked about the logistics and enthusiasm generated around the Kelowna Community Fridge (KCF), a self-serve mini food bank that’s open to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. She also described the related Pop Up Pantry (PUP) program in Rutland that occurs every third Sunday of month in Roxby Park from 12-3pm. Both low-barrier food programs receive many food donations from restaurants and retailers who would otherwise throw unused food in the garbage. Among other tasks, community volunteers assist in collecting food from the various venues signed up to participate and then refreshing the contents of the KCF on a regular basis. The PUP in Rutland also distributes prepared food (produced by volunteers making use of perishable donations) during the hours posted. Both venues, operating on the basis of "take what you need, leave what you can," have become valuable resources for people to connect with each other, as well as demonstrating what community-led local food security practices look like in the Okanagan Valley.
At the end of December when the Unitarian Church began renovations on their building, the Kelowna Community Fridge temporarily closed while organizers determined its suitable new home. As of February 1st 2023, the KCF is up and running again at its new location outside Burke Hair Salon at 515 Lawrence Ave. The next Pop Up Pantry event will be taking place in Rutland’s Roxby Square by Highway 33 and Roxby Road on Feb. 19th from 12-3 pm.
People are encouraged to support the Kelowna Community Fridge and the Pop Up Pantry by making a donation or becoming a volunteer.
Volunteers from Kelowna Community Farms hard at work (Terry Bridges, 2022)
Terry Bridges then spoke about the Central Okanagan Community Farm Society (COCF), where growing partners plant, weed and harvest fresh produce at Helen's Acres Community Farm located off of Benvoulin Road in Kelowna. Produce is donated to numerous community groups such as the Kelowna and Lake Country Food Banks, Ki-Low-Na Friendship Centre, Gospel Mission, YMCA, Salvation Army, Kelowna Community Fridge, and others. Terry explained that the COCF has been in operation since 2015 in connection with the Okanagan Fruit Tree Project. In the spring of 2023, the Okanagan Fruit Tree Project will be relocating to East Kelowna and the COCF plans to continue at Helen’s Acres. The strength of the Community Farms Program directly addresses food security by connecting people in the Okanagan Valley through planting, growing, harvesting and donating.
For more information and to volunteer, please visit the Helen's Acres Community Farm site and the Okanagan Fruit Tree Project site. To connect with COCF directly, please reach out to Shauna Gardiner via email: shaunagardiner11@gmail.com
Volunteers processing and distributing food with Kelowna Community Farms (Terry Bridges, 2022)
Community initiatives all throughout the BC interior are doing their part to address local food security. In Merritt, for instance, over 400 people are registered to receive weekly nutritional support from the Nicola Valley Food Bank, and the city is home to a well-established soup kitchen that serves lunch to upwards of 100 people each Tuesday from 11:30 AM - 1 PM.
These community-led programs represent the kind of innovation needed to combat both food waste and food insecurity. Access to basic nutrition is a right that should never be in question, and grassroots organizations are doing their best to end hunger in their communities. Government policies could and should be doing more to tackle this issue from the top. Historically, food banks in Canada were established as a temporary measure to address food security during a period of economic depression, yet the matter of food security has never been solved. Poverty and hunger are permanent and arguably deliberate features of our society, but they need not be, should a government set a priority of establishing a universal basic income or a federally-funded grocery stipend.
We have the resources to solve this crisis. We are looking forward to the NDP leading the way on food security and making sure the food we have is shared and eaten, both for the good of our people and our planet.
As always, we extend an invitation to the entire membership to contribute to upcoming editions of COSN Updates. If you have an opinion, a story, an event or a photo that you want to share with the COSN NDP, please contact:
• Jeannette Angel (jeannetteangel.ndp@gmail.com), or
• Trevor McAleese (trevor.mcaleese@gmail.com)
Lim’limpt,
Jeannette & Trevor (President & Vice President, COSN Federal NDP Riding Association)
Community Updates
Overdose and drug toxicity Crisis - British Columbia, as of January 31st, 2023 and with the approval of the federal government, has decriminalized small quantities of drugs for personal possession.
(Read more at the Province of British Columbia site)
This move to decriminalize personal possession by the province received the qualified support of Grand Chief Stewart Phillip and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs. In a published statement on the UBCIC website, Grand Chief explained that legalizing possession needs to be seen as part of holistic system of support in Indigenous communities. (Read the full statement at the UBCIC site)
People Living with Disabilities - Please consider signing the petition in support of the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), Bill C-22. The petition is asking for public support to fund the Canadian Disability Benefit in the 2023 Budget and end disability poverty. (Sign the petition here)
What's Next?
We have a date for the COSN Federal NDP Annual General Meeting! It will be held IN-PERSON and ONLINE on Sunday April 2nd at 1pm. The location will be announced when we invite the membership, but we can let you know that our guest speakers will be Grand Chief Stewart Philip from the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, and Richard Cannings, NDP MP for South Okanagan – West Kootenay and Critic for International Trade, Emergency Preparedness (Climate Change Resilience) and Small Business and Tourism; as well the Deputy Critic for Innovation, Science and Industry and Natural Resources.
NDP Federal Convention will be held October 13 - 15th, 2023, in Hamilton Ontario. There is an opportunity for potentially up to 8 COSN NDP members to go to the convention. After the AGM we will have a general meeting to select members who want to attend as delegates. There will also be an opportunity for early bird registration.
Call or text Jeannette at 250-681-3692; or email:
• Jeannette Angel (jeannetteangel.ndp@gmail.com), or
• Trevor McAleese (trevor.mcaleese@gmail.com)
