Presentation from Food Spaces, Vibrant Places a policy advocacy campaign of the Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable. This presentation was part of the Community Models of Vibrant Farmers' Markets webinar hosted by Sustain Ontario's Food Access Peer Learning Circle on March 25th, 2015.
1. Food Spaces, Vibrant Places
a policy advocacy campaign of the
Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable
by Marc Xuereb, Public Health Planner
for Sustain Ontario
March 25, 2015
1
2. ⢠We don't eat enough nutritious foods, and we eat too
many non-nutritious foods
⢠Obesity "epidemic": more than 50% of Waterloo
Region's population is overweight or obese
⢠Incidence of diet-related chronic diseases (e.g.,
diabetes) is increasing
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
Why does Public Health care about
a Healthy Food System?
2
3. ⢠Ontario Public Health Standards require us to engage in
health promotion and policy development, including with
municipalities
⢠potential to make a great impact on the health of the
population: policy can create environments which enhance
or limit the choices individuals make, thereby making it
easier for individuals to make the healthiest choice possible
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
Why does Public Health do
advocacy?
3
4. ⢠Research issues and trends
⢠Build capacity of community groups working for
change
⢠Cultivate networks and partnerships with community
groups, businesses, other Regional departments
⢠Develop Regional government policy
⢠Develop, implement, and update a food system plan
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
Public Health as facilitator and
catalyst of a healthy food system
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5. ⢠Research issues and trends
⢠Build capacity of community groups working for
change
⢠Cultivate networks and partnerships with community
groups, businesses, other Regional departments
⢠Develop Regional government policy
⢠Develop, implement, and update a food system plan
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
Public Health as facilitator and
catalyst of a healthy food system
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6. ⢠Research issues and trends
⢠Build capacity of community groups working for
change
⢠Cultivate networks and partnerships with community
groups, businesses, other Regional departments
⢠Develop Regional government policy
⢠Develop, implement, and update a food system plan
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
Public Health as facilitator and
catalyst of a healthy food system
6
10. 2009
ď§ Region of Waterloo Official Plan (ROP)
2011-2013
ď§ Municipal Official Plans
2014 - 2016
ď§ Zoning By-laws
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
Timeline
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11. ⢠Supporting Advocacy on Municipal Official Plans
(January 2013)
⢠Planning for Food-Friendly Municipalities in Waterloo
Region (August 2013)
⢠Submitted grant proposal to Heart and Stroke
Foundation's Spark Community Advocacy fund
(November 2013)
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
Research, Planning
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12. ⢠Developed an advocacy strategy
⢠Recruited and trained volunteers
⢠Developed outreach materials
⢠Created social media campaign & online petition
⢠met with municipal Councillors and candidates
⢠Celebrated!
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
What did the Roundtable do?:
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13. What is the problem we are trying to solve?
⢠Too few people have walkable access to healthy
food options in Waterloo Region
⢠PH Side note: Food Deserts
vs. Food Swamps
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
Advocacy Strategy
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14. How will we address the problem of
access to healthy food options?
⢠support more temporary farmersâ markets and
community gardens in Kitchener, Cambridge
and Waterloo.
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
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15. Why is this important?
⢠Food Spaces Matter
⢠Food Spaces Make us Healthy
⢠Food Spaces Create Vibrant
Neighbourhoods
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
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16. What are the current barriers or
challenges?
⢠Temporary farmers' markets are currently only
permitted in commercial zones that allow retail uses,
many of which are restricted to indoor use.
⢠Community members often face the challenge of finding
land within walking or transit access of where they live,
work, and play when trying to start a community garden
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
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17. Campaign Goals?
⢠Zoning by-laws that permit temporary farmersâ markets in
residential, institutional, open space, as well as commercial
zones
⢠Supportive licensing by-laws and regulations for temporary
farmersâ markets
⢠Incentives such as reduced or waived fees for temporary
farmersâ markets
⢠Zoning by-laws that permit community gardens in residential,
institutional, and open space zones
⢠Strengthened community garden policies
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
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18. Volunteers
⢠Recruited from almost every ward in each of the 3 cities
⢠Matched with ward Councillor and candidates
⢠Attended outreach events, markets
⢠Training, resources, and support
⢠Review and evaluation of the project
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
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20. Online Petition
⢠"Submit" sent email to City Councillor, Mayor, and all
declared candidates for the Ward and Mayor asking for
their support in creating supportive zoning by-laws
⢠Promoted through e-blasts, social media
⢠Petition forms at outreach events
⢠Target: 500 signatures
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
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22. Meetings with Councillors
Candidates
⢠Share campaign message
⢠Share importance of access to healthy food concerns
⢠Share action plan: what they can do
⢠Gain support
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
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23. Results
⢠570 petition signatures
⢠Meetings with 26 candidates for Council
⢠Attended 18 outreach events and markets
⢠Gained support from over 50% of elected officials;
many spoke publicly of their support during campaign
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
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24. Results
⢠City of Waterloo included temporary farmers' markets in
updated licensing by-law
⢠Invited to give early input to comprehensive review of
zoning by-laws in the City of Kitchener
⢠Cambridge invite came in
February 2015
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
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25. Next Steps
⢠Working group
⢠Review updated comprehensive zoning by-laws
⢠Recommendations
⢠Presentations to Councils
Food Spaces,
Vibrant Places
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Nutrition education alone does not address issue of why people eat what they eat
Need to influence systemic factors that affect access to healthy food
Foodârelated policy can have a greater effect on the health of the population
Chronic Disease Prevention standard #6: "shall work with municipalities to support healthy public policies and the creation or enhancement of supportive environments in recreational settings and the built environment regarding⌠healthy eating"
[second point from ROWPH Policy Development Approach]
These are some of the roles that Public Health plays in trying to effect change in our food system.
[next slide has red circle around building capacity]
The Food Spaces, Vibrant Places campaign was one in which Public Health took a background role, supporting the work of a group that we have been working with for years to do the advocacy work.
[next slide has same points, with blue circles]
You'll also see some elements of the research role we played, and our ability, as a department of our Regional Municipality, to influence Regional policy
The group doing the work in this case was (and is) the Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable.
The Roundtable is a networking and policy-making group working on building a strong voice for a healthy food system in Waterloo Region. Public Health helped establish the group in 2007, and has been working to build the group's capacity to effect change in the food system ever since.
The Roundtable is made up of representatives from key sectors and interests of the local food system including local farmers; emergency food providers; food processing, distributing, and retail businesspeople; health professionals; and more.
The Food Spaces campaign became one of their projects last year,
âŚand they created a whole new website and campaign for it.
Here is some important context and background to the Food Spaces campaign. It's part of work that Public Health - and the Roundtable with our support - has been doing to affect municipal food policy for many years.
ROP
In 2009, the Roundtable played a key role in getting food policies included in the ROP (Public Health was also able to play a role in liaising with our colleagues in our Planning department)
included requirement that area municipalities develop policies in their OPs for TFMs (which it defined) and CGs
Defined TFMs as âoutdoor food stands using temporary structures to sell food products to the public. The foods sold would be primarily from local sources, and may include processed foods such as jams and preserves and other farm-made products. Stand operators could be farmers or staff or volunteers of a business or organization with a permit to operate the standâ
Municipal official plans
The Roundtable was successful in advocating for polices in each of Cambridge, Waterloo, and Kitchener's OPs that "may permit" community gardens and temporary farmers markets in all land use designations.
The next step is to ensure that community gardens and temporary farmers markets are permitted in all land use zones in each city's comprehensive zoning by-laws.
Public Health was able to provide resources to research the issues in some detail by accessing funds from the Ontario Ministry of Health & Long-Term Care through the Healthy Communities Fund Partnership Stream (http://www.mhp.gov.on.ca/en/healthy-communities/hcf/partnership.asp)
We hired a former Roundtable member and consultant Krista Long in 2013 to do a literature review of policies in municipal official plans which could promote healthy eating, active living, and mental health, including reviewing OPs of all seven WR municipalities to which ones they had
A subsequent grant from the same fund enabled us to hire Krista to focus in on OP policies AND by-laws affecting community gardens and temporary farmers' markets, and recommended changes which would create more supportive environment
With this last report in hand, the Roundtable decided to do some direct advocacy, and it applied to the [read slide] for funds to advocate for the by-law changes identified in the research. Public Health administered the grant funds, as the Roundtable is not an incorporated entity.
With Public Health's support.
A group of Roundtable volunteers ran a hiring process to recruit a co-ordinator for the campaign, and the co-ordinator led most of this work with Public Health's (my!) support.
With the support of HC Link, a free consulting group funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health that that works with community groups, to build healthy communities, we created an advocacy strategy.
They helped us articulate the problem that we were trying to solve:
The Region of Waterloo has less than a handful of seasonal, temporary farmersâ markets
The seven municipalities in the Region of Waterloo have approximately 1200 community garden plots (53 garden sites, or one per every 3763 households based on 2012 data); many new community garden strategies are recommending one garden site per neighbourhood or at least one per every 2000 households
[click] On a side note, while Public Health still believes in the importance of increasing access to healthy sources of food for many reasons (some of which I'll list in an upcoming slide), we have begun to realize that our population's poor overall diet quality has less to do with lack of access to healthy food as it does with an overabundance of access to unhealthy food.
The NEWPATH study showed that Waterloo Region has 5.6 times more convenience stores and fast food restaurants within walking radius (800m) of neighbourhoods than grocery stores, markets or other options for healthy, fresh food choices
Food Spaces Make us Healthy
90% of market goers said they ate more vegetables; 53% said they ate more fruit.
People are 3 times as likely to visit a market when they live in walking distance.
Community gardens help reduce stress and anxiety, and promote physical activity.
Community gardens provide low cost, healthy food options
Food Spaces Create Vibrant Neighbourhoods
Neighbourhood markets build community and encourage social interaction.
Community gardens promote a sense of belonging and help build food skills.
Community gardens create a space for the inclusion of people from a variety of cultural backgrounds, ages, income levels, and needs.
Community gardens preserve cultural identity.
Show on website:
Rationale and updates
Link to social media
Stories
Resources, background material
Petition
So I would be happy to answer any questions, now, or later as time permits. You can reach me after today at the coordinates indicated here.