North Shore Municipal Elections Just Around the Corner – Saturday November 19th
Voter turn-out for municipal elections in North and West Vancouver historically are low (only 17.45% in City of North Vancouver in 2008), but if you’re part of the growing movement of people interested in urban agriculture and local food security then you may want to pay a little bit more attention during this election. Many of the projects and work that the Edible Garden Project does is closely linked to municipal policies and directions, so we know that it is important for our elected officials to understand food security issues and support initiatives to address these issues. As a non-partisan organization the Edible Garden Project won’t be telling you who to vote for, but we will strive to give you information on what candidates think about food issues.
From now until Election Day on November 19th, we will try to provide you with resources to help you make and informed decision. We can’t give you all the information about every candidate, but we can highlight candidates responses to our Municipal Urban Agriculture & Food Security survey, invite you to All Candidates Debates on food issues, and provide some tools for your own investigations!
Join the Debate!
We are partnering with EcoUrbia and the North Shore Table Matters Reference Group to host two All Candidates Meetings to discuss future directions of urban agriculture and food security:
City of North Vancouver
When: Saturday, November 5th, 4:00-5:30pm
Where: North Shore Neighbourhood House, Gymnasium – 225 East 2nd Street, North Vancouver
District of North Vancouver
When: Saturday, November 12th, 2:00pm-3:30pm
Where: Lynn Valley Main Library, Community Meeting Room – 1277 Lynn Valley Road, North Vancouver
Connect With Your Candidates on Issues
Sustain Ontario developed an Election Toolkit that has some great ideas for how you can connect with your candidates, and what sort of questions you can ask about local food issues. Download it now!
The BC Food Systems Network put together this great resource for people interested in food security in municipalities – Food Security: A Primer for Municipal and Regional Candidates.
Looking for more local information? Food Security for All: North Shore Food System Assessment and Community Food Action Plan developed by SPARC BC is a great resource!
For the bigger picture of food policy in Canada (including urban concerns), Resetting the Table: A People’s Food Policy for Canada provides a lot of great information.
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