For immediate release November 7, 2024
The Food Policy Council (FPC) for KFL&A is embarking on a long-awaited project to develop a comprehensive food strategy for the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington area. In collaboration
with Kingston Community Health Centres, the group has secured a grant to hire a community researcher and a research assistant to start work on the project.
“Our goal is to build a food strategy that will help guide policies and projects within the local food system for years to come,” says FPC co-chair Ellen Mortfield. “Over the next year, we will be talking to as many stakeholders as possible to build a clearer picture of what’s working and what’s not in our local food system.”
The funding comes from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the proposal was lead by Kristen Lowitt, Assistant Professor in Environmental Studies at Queen’s University, with support from Charles Levkoe, Canada Research Chair in Equitable and Sustainable Food Systems at Lakehead University. Additional funding has been secured from Frontenac County.
We have hired a community food organizer and researcher, Ayla Fenton, to coordinate this project.
The work will build on a project completed this spring in collaboration with the City of Kingston and the Queen’s PhD Community Initiative where the FPC helped students develop a set of proposed pillars for a food strategy. These pillars include food education & literacy, food system governance, food infrastructure, food production, food access, culture and community.
The FPC was formed in 2013 to serve as a forum for discussing food issues, to assess the community food system in the region, and to inform and influence food-related policies and programs. Members
include representatives of municipalities, community groups and academia with an interest in the local food system.
Through this project, KFL&A will join a growing number of regions and municipalities across Canada that have already developed their own food strategies, and are now in the process of implementing a wide variety of actions such as local food promotions, procurement policy changes and distribution hubs to make local foods more accessible to all. The FPC for KFL&A, in collaboration with local partners, will be undertaking a series of outreach events over the next year to gain wide community input on regional food system priorities. Please watch our website and social media for next steps and how to get involved!
