Download the Nipissing and Area Food Charter Toolkit PDF

Health & Wellness

  • Facilitate healthy food options in schools, hospitals, child care and recreation centres etc.
  • Establish guidelines for high quality, healthy food donations at food banks.
  • Create a supportive environment for breastfeeding mothers.
  • Encourage and facilitate community gardens both in public institutions and community spaces throughout the city.

Sustainable Economic Development

  • Conduct a Community Food Assessment.
  • Work with retailers and farmers’ markets to increase access to local foods by providing covered spaces or year round locations for vendors.
  • Consult the agricultural community in planning processes.
  • Re-examine bylaws and regulations that prohibit farmers and growers from selling local food.
  • Advocate for policies that support on-farm processing.
  • Develop and support local food procurement policies.

Social Equity

  • Recognize food as a basic human right.
  • Support fair wages for all.
  • Support government procurement of fair trade products where possible.
  • Support and participate in collaborations to create sustainable food systems.
  • Coordinate emergency food programs to increase access to healthy food.
  • Develop partnerships with not-for-profits, hunger relief organizations and retail food vendors to increase healthy options in emergency food settings.
  • Support measures that facilitate active transportation (bike lanes, trails, bike racks, etc) as a means of accessing healthy food.

The Environment

  • Support the preservation of local farmland.
  • Promote and support community garden projects and local neighbourhood markets.
  • Facilitate the diversion of food waste from the municipal garbage stream (e.g., promote home and business composting or the implementation of a municipal organic waste program).

Food Literacy

  • Include food systems education in school curricula.
  • Engage and empower students to improve the food culture of schools.
  • Facilitate learning opportunities for chefs and food service providers in the public sector on procurement practices that benefit the economic, environmental and social good.
  • Implement initiatives that provide training for rural grocers and restaurants to help them expand healthy options and minimize unhealthy choices.

Culture

  • Promote regional foods, farmers, and local businesses.
  • Create policies and incentives that support and promote agri-tourism.*

*Agri-tourism involves any agriculturally based activity that brings visitors to a farm.

 

We would like to acknowledge the Guelph Wellington Food Roundtable’s wonderful work creating the Food Charter Toolkit that this document is based on.