Paulinate :::: Paulin8

Vicious Animal vs Non-Vicious, Friendly, Food Producing Animal

2012-02-25T18:16:00.004-08:00

One of these is allowed, the other is not.

*Full Disclosure: I love animals, including dogs. This post is not intended to slight dogs, but rather to juxtapose a condition that is allowed to exist in Calgary and many Canadian municipalities, while another is illegal.

Ready 2 Run in Ward 7

2012-02-25T13:34:00.000-08:00

Something different for Calgary Ward 7...

Reality based decision making with a

deep respect for the taxpayer & community.

Join us... Hughes in Ward 7

Fantasy Island: Alberta taxpayers finance $250Million+ Playground in Calgary

2012-02-25T11:25:00.001-08:00

Cartoon People. Cartoon Bridge.

Reality?

MSI Funding is Real Tax Dollars from Real Albertans.

Nenshi, Calgary City Council, CMLC & East Village...

...Playing Fantasy Island & Monopoly with $250 Million of your tax dollars...

... and another $25 Million pedestrian bridge.

Druh Farrell introduces "The Red Cart"

2012-02-24T15:18:00.003-08:00

In honour of the Fleece Bridge.

You put your tax dollars in it.

Easy.

design: sandy eggo calatravesty

The "Magic Pullet" for Household Food Security: CLUCK Red Deer Pilot Project Approved!

2012-02-22T12:45:00.000-08:00

Kudos to CLUCK Red Deer & to Red Deer City Council for their respect for fact, science and due process.

Cluck Red Deer

100's of North American communities are tackling the issue of enhanced local food systems and Household Food Security, with a variety of tactics and strategies, all of which have focused primarily on awareness & education, a CLUCK principle. Some have been successful in their respective communities, while the same logical and intelligent tactic has met with fierce opposition in others. There has been no "magic pullet" when it comes to urban hens, urban ag, local food systems, the right to food or household food security. Red Deer has made a significant breakthrough with the approval of the 12 month pilot project. This is good governance, where fact, science and due process have stature over fear and fabrication. Hopefully the same standard will prevail in court during the Canadian Right to Food Trial.

Join the growing CLUCK network and start a chapter in your community.

From Adrienne Tetz, founder of CLUCK Red Deer:

City council decided this afternoon to go forward with a 12 month urban chicken pilot project consisting of current chicken owners and their flocks. In 12 months time council has directed administration to present a report summarizing the project as well as a proposed chicken bylaw. This will not be part of the land use bylaw; we understand that it will be presented as a bylaw on its own under Animal Control (just like the dog and cat bylaws).

If you have questions about this project, whether you can take part, or anything else, please contact us through this page or at CLUCK.RedDeer [at] gmail [dot] com

CLUCK Red Deer on FB http://www.facebook.com/groups/CLUCKRedDeer/

CLUCK Canada on FB http://www.facebook.com/groups/CLUCKCANADA/

The 5 Freedoms: Basic rights for animals

2012-02-18T15:09:00.000-08:00

Basic rights for animals.

The five freedoms as currently expressed are:

Freedom from hunger or thirst by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour
Freedom from discomfort by providing an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area
Freedom from pain, injury or disease by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment
Freedom to express normal behaviour by providing sufficient space, proper faciltiies and company of the animal's own kind
Freedom from fear and distress by ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering

The five freedoms, sometimes known as Brambell's five freedoms, are a compact of rights for animals under human control, including those intended for food or which act as working animals. The five freedoms were originally developed from a UK Government report on livestock husbandry in 1965. The five freedoms are used as the basis for the actions of professional groups, including vets and have been adopted by representative groups internationally including the World Organisation for Animal Health and Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

In Alberta: (Calls to this organization have not been returned, as of yet. Will update if they do.)

From Alberta Farm Animal Care:

AFAC Board Members

Alberta Auction Markets Association
Alberta Beef Producers
Alberta Cattle Feeders' Association
Alberta Chicken Producers
Alberta Egg Producers
Alberta Elk Commission
Alberta Equestrian Federation
Alberta Hatching Egg Producers
Alberta Lamb Producers
Alberta Milk
Alberta Pork
Alberta Turkey Producers
Alberta Veterinary Medical Association
University of Alberta
University of Calgary Veterinary Medicine
Western Stock Growers Association
Wild Rose Agricultural Producers
Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development

AFAC Active Members

Alberta Association of Agricultural Societies
Alberta Cattle Feeders' Association (Directors at Large on AFAC Board)
Alberta Poultry Hatchery Association
Bison Producers of Alberta
Canada/Alberta Livestock Research Trust Inc.
Calgary Stampede
Canadian Professional Rodeo Association
Edmonton Northlands
Feeder Association of Alberta Ltd.
Horse Racing Alberta
Lakeland College, Agricultural Science
North American Equine Ranching Information Council
Olds College, School of Animal Science
University of Calgary Veterinary Medicine (Directors at Large on AFAC Board)

AFAC Associate Members

Alberta veterinarians, colleges, food companies, meat processors, agribusinesses and individuals also support AFAC.

Alberta Livestock Protection System (ALPS)

The Alberta Livestock Protection Network (ALPN) was created in direct response to growing public and producer concern for an effective, accountable and coordinated province-wide program targeting animal care. ALPN is a partnership of AFAC, Alberta SPCA and Alberta Agriculture & Rural Development.

The Laws & Regulations - Animal Protection Legislation

Provincial

Federal

Criminal Code of Canada, Cruelty to Animals Bill - UNDER REVIEW
Health of Animals Act
Meat Inspections Act

Report on Animal Welfare Law in Canada

The Report on Animal Welfare Law in Canada (Jun 04) focuses on legislation that effects livestock welfare. The report illustrates how livestock welfare enforcement is conducted throughout Canada. Content includes:

Federal Legislation
Use of Criminal Code
Provinces without Provincial Welfare Acts
How Animal Protection is Enforced

Funding of Enforcement
Enforcement Stats
Provincial Animal Protection Legislation

The series was featured in Livestock Welfare INSIGHTS.

Other Resources

It is meet and right so to do. Considerations in the humane treatment of low value livestock Terry Whiting Jan 05

Bridge 2 Nowhere

2012-02-01T10:39:00.000-08:00

Dear Mayor Nenshi & Calgary City Council,

RE Stop the Bridge 2 Nowhere

Disclosure: Mayor Nenshi sits on the CMLC Board of Directors

How Calgary can save $25 Million:

CMLC & East Village want to spend yet another $25Million on yet another pedestrian bridge. In this case, however, a functional, structurally sound bridge already exists. The Bridge 2 Nowhere is irresponsible development and has all the hallmarks of those that like to spend taxpayer dollars on frivolous, non essential infrastructure. As we have learned from the Calatravesty, the project will also, most likely, be delayed and significantly over budget. It will have a significant negative environmental impact on St Patrick's Island and the riparian/river assets, something stake holders were adamant about avoiding.

And, as if to add salt to the wound, the CMLC will:

1) Destroy the old, completely functional, heritage bridge and

2) NOT, I repeat, NOT be adding 1 (one) new single unit of new affordable housing to the East Village inventory.

The Bridge 2 Nowhere is the type of decision where we expect our local (& provincial) politicians to intervene to help end the East Village Spending Spree. Rational and taxpayer sensitive/respectful decison-making should prevail.

Yours in Stopping Yet Another $25 Million Foot Bridge,

Paul Hughes

ps What engaged citizens can do:

1) Contact the Mayor, your Alderman or MLA or preferably, all three.
Mayor's office: 403.268.5622
Aldermanic Offices: 403.268.2430
MLA Directory: 310.0000

2) Join the Facebook Group & Follow @Bridge2Abyss Twitter Account

Facebook: Say NO to another $25 Million Bridge in Calgary

Canadian Right to Food Trial: 05-09March2012 in Calgary, Alberta

2012-01-27T13:22:00.000-08:00

The decision of the trial judge will impact 35 million Canadians.

The CR2FT originated with a bylaw infraction for the possession of urban chickens in Calgary, Alberta. It has since evolved and morphed into a complex legal argument involving such issues as :

A) The jurisdiction of a municipality to determine what we consume.

B) The default consumption model for citizens when personal production, cultivation, growing, raising & household food security is denied.

C) Sustainability of urban ag methods.

D) The Right to Food as guaranteed and protected by the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, Article 25 and subsequent legislation, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966

E) The unconstitutionality of the City of Calgary bylaw based on The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 1982, S1, S2, S7 & S15 arguments. Substantial breach and violation of rights.

F) The hypocrisy of the City of Calgary's public policies, three of which have been ratified and approved by council.

G) Poor governance practices on the part of the City of Calgary which contravene the Alberta Municipal Government Act, MGA:M-26-3:

Municipal :
3) The purposes of a municipality are:
(a) to provide good government

H) International obligations and responsibilities, pursuant to the UNHRD & ICESSCC.

I) Appropriate remedy. This is presumably based on reasonableness.

As you can read, chicken has not been mentioned once in these 9 points. It is no longer an argument about chickens, per se. The CR2FT is a Right to Food issue now, with consequences that impact all Canadians.

22 countries now have a Right to Food enshrined in their constitution as a result of each nation embracing their international obligations, as set forth in the UNHRD.

It is Canada's turn to meet its international responsibilities and obligations, and to protect the charter rights of its citizens.

Happy 70th Birthday, Muhammad Ali... Your legacy is still butterfly & Bee

2012-01-17T19:42:00.000-08:00

Muhammad Ali's legacy still butterfly and bee

The Economic Case for Urban Agriculture & Household Food Security

2012-01-17T09:05:00.000-08:00

The Economic Case for Urban Agriculture & Household Food Security

Urban Agriculture is simply growing plants and raising livestock within and around cities. Sometimes referred to as UPA (urban and peri-urban agriculture)

What distinguishes it from rural agriculture is that it is integrated into the urban economy and is part of the uban food system. Urban residents are the farm laborers.

And it uses typical urban resources like organic waste as compost and urban wastewater for irrigation and thus impacts directly on urban ecology.

Urban agriculture is not a relict of the past that will fade away; urban agriculture increases when the city grows. Nor is it brought to the city by rural immigrants that will loose their rural habits over time but is an integral part of the urban system.

Large part of the people involved in urban agriculture is the urban poor. Contrary to general belief, they are often not recent immigrants from rural areas. This is because the urban farmer needs time to get access to urban land, water and other productive resources.

In many cities, one will often find lower and mid-level government officials, school teachers and the like involved in agriculture, as well as richer people who are seeking a good investment for their capital.

Women constitute an important part of urban farmers, since agriculture and related processing and selling activities, among others, can often be more easily combined with their other tasks in the household.

Urban farming may take place on the homestead (on-plot) or on land away from the residence (off-plot), on private land (owned, leased) or on public land (parks, conservation areas, along roads, streams and railways), or semi-public land (schoolyards, grounds of schools and hospitals).

Urban agriculture includes food products, from different types of crops (grains, root crops, vegetables, mushrooms, fruits) and animals (poultry, rabbits, goats, sheep, cattle, pigs, guinea pigs, fish, and so on) as well as non-food products (like aromatic and medicinal herbs, ornamental plants, tree products, etc.). or combinations of these.

In most cities in developing countries, an important part of urban agricultural production is for self-consumption, with surpluses being traded.

However, the importance of the market-oriented urban agriculture, both in volume and economic value, should not be underestimated. Products are sold at the farm gate, by cart in the same or other neighborhoods, in local shops, on local markets or to intermediaries and supermarkets.

Mainly fresh products are sold, but part of it is processed for own use, cooked and sold on the streets, or processed and packaged for sale.

Why is urban agriculture important? The rapid urbanization that is taking place goes together with a rapid increase in urban poverty and urban food insecurity.

By 2020, developing countries will be home to some 75 percent of all urban dwellers. By then, about half of the poor in Asia will be concentrated in towns and cities.

Most cities in developing countries have great difficulties in coping with this development and are unable to create sufficient formal employment opportunities for the poor. They also have increasing problems with the disposal of urban wastes and waste water and maintaining air and river water quality.

Urban agriculture provides a complementary strategy to reduce urban poverty and food insecurity and enhance urban environmental management.

It plays an important role in enhancing urban food security since the costs of supplying and distributing food to urban areas based on rural production and imports continue to increase, and do not satisfy the demand, especially of the poor.

Next to food security, urban agriculture contributes to local economic development, poverty alleviation and social inclusion of the urban poor and women in particular, as well as to the greening of the city and the productive reuse of urban wastes.

The contribution of urban agriculture to food security and healthy nutrition is probably its most important asset.

Food production in the city is in many cases a response of the urban poor to inadequate, unreliable and irregular access to food, and the lack of purchasing power.

Most cities in developing countries are not able to generate sufficient income opportunities for rapidly growing populations.

Because cash is needed in urban settings, lack of income translates more directly into lack of food than in a rural setting. The costs of supplying and distributing food from rural areas to the urban areas or to import food for the cities are rising continuously, and it is expected that urban food insecurity will increase.

Urban agriculture may improve both food intake (improved access to a cheap source of proteins) and the quality of the food may improve (poor urban families involved in farming eat more fresh vegetables than other families in the same income category).

In Cagayan de Oro City, urban farmers generally eat more vegetables than non-urban farmers of the same wealth class, and also more than consumers from a higher wealth class.

The United Nations Development Program estimates that 200 million urban residents provide food for the market and 800 million urban dwellers are actively engaged in urban agriculture in one way or another.

These urban farmers produce substantial amounts of food for urban consumers. A global estimate is that up to 20 percent of the world’s food is produced in urban areas.

In Hanoi, Vietnam, 80 percent of fresh vegetables, 50 percent of pork, poultry and fresh water fish, as well as 40 percent of eggs, originate from urban and peri-urban areas.

In Shanghai, China, 60 percent of the city’s vegetables, 100 percent of the milk, 90 percent of the eggs and 50 percent of the pork and poultry meat is produced locally.

In Java, Indonesia, home gardens provide for 18 percent of the calorie consumption and 14 percent of proteins of the urban population.

Urban agriculture to a large extent complements rural agriculture and increases the efficiency of the national food system in that it provides products that rural agriculture cannot supply easily. These include perishable products, products that require rapid delivery upon harvest; these can substitute for food imports and can release rural lands for export production of commodities.

It saves household expenditures on food; poor people in poor countries generally spend a substantial part of their income (50 percent to 70 percent) on food. Growing the relatively expensive vegetables saves money as well as on bartering of produce. Selling produce (fresh or processed) brings in cash.

Besides the economic benefits for the urban agricultural producers, urban agriculture stimulates the development of related micro-enterprises: the production of necessary agricultural inputs and the processing, packaging and marketing of outputs.

The activities or services rendered by these enterprises may owe their existence in part or wholly to urban agriculture.

Input production and delivery may include activities like the collection and composting of urban wastes, production of organic pesticides, fabrication of tools, delivery of water, buying and bringing of chemical fertilizers and the like.

Transformation of foodstuffs may include the making of yoghurt from milk, or the frying of bananas or yams, chicken or eggs. This might be done at the household level, to sell at the farm gate or in a local shop or market, and larger units to sell in supermarkets or even for export.

Urban agriculture is part of the urban ecological system and can play an important role in the urban environmental management system.

Firstly, a growing city will produce more and more wastewater and organic wastes. For most cities the disposal of wastes has become a serious problem. Urban agriculture can help solve such problems by turning urban wastes into a productive resource.

In many cities, local or municipal initiatives exist to collect household waste and organic refuse from vegetable markets and agro-industries in order to produce compost or animal feed, but one can also find urban farmers who use fresh organic waste (which may cause environmental and health problems).

Compost allows an urban farmer to use less chemical fertilizers and prevent problems related to contaminated groundwater. In addition, compost-making initiatives create employment and provide income for the urban poor.

Farmers may use wastewater for irrigating their farms when they lack access to other sources of water or because of its high price. The use of fresh (untreated) wastewater has the additional advantage for poor urban farmers that it contains a lot of nutrients (although often not in the proportions required by the soils and crops).

However, without proper guidance, the use of wastewater may lead to health and environmental problems. Farmers need to be trained in self- protection during handling of the wastewater, proper crop selection and adequate irrigation methods, among other things.

Urban agriculture may also positively impact upon the greening and cleaning of the city by turning derelict open spaces into green zones and maintaining buffer and reserve zones free of housing.

Degraded open spaces and vacant land are often used as informal waste dumpsites and are a source of crime and health problems.

When such zones are turned into productive green spaces, not only an unhealthy situation is cleared, but also the neighbours will enjoy the green space. They enhance community self-esteem in the neighborhood and stimulate other actions for improving the community’s livelihood.

SOURCE: Resource Centers on Urban Agriculture and Food Security

The Unfashionably Late Arrival of the Machiavellian Elitist Food Clique

2012-01-13T09:58:00.000-08:00

Reference for Food Targets in imagineCalgary:

iC: imagineCalgary: Every single mention of the word "FOOD"
http://paulin8.blogspot.com/20...

The origins of the Calgary Food Committee, a thinly veiled, machiavellian elitist food clique, come from the Calgary Food Policy Council, a group focused on a collective dialogue with all Calgarians that did not cost taxpayers a cent: Backgrounder on Food Policy in Calgary http://calgaryfoodpolicy.blogs...

Numerous requests over the past year to the Mayor's office for access to budget numbers for imagineCalgary, presently "incubated" (see smothered) by the Office of Sustainability, have been ignored.

The process to select the consultant for the food assessment was kept quiet from almost everyone in the Calgary food community. Even aldermen were unaware that the RFP had gone out.

Melbourne Principles and Triple Bottomline, two approaches to decision making that the City of Calgary has adopted, have largely been ignored.

Additionally, the debate on the benefits of a Local Food System has been taking place for over 40 years.

There are also numerous city/urban farm initiatives around the world, including GrowingPower.com in Milwaukee. At the Calgary Food Policy Council Mayor's Forum on Food & Sustainability, hosted the day before the Municipal election in 2010, Nenshi said he supported a progressive food policy for Calgary. Yet Mayor Nenshi has the Calgary Community Farm initiative sitting on his desk. It's been there for almost a year. I guess Food Trucks mean Food Security to our Mayor, which is so Bronco.

Calgary, with a massive unused land inventory, arguably the world's largest unused municipal land base, has an amazing opportunity to grow food, appropriate to our climate. Advances in growing techniques can extend our season. Feeding Calgarians through local cultivation is the single largest economic development opportunity in Calgary at the moment and would create 1000's of jobs. It ties in well with commitments to end homelessness, poverty and underemployment, providing opportunities to cultivate, hartvest, manage & distribute local foods. It complements existing Food Banking, by assisting vulnerable individuals and families. It provides access to nutritious foods.

The health benefits are considerable, any dietician/heath expert knows that. The social benefits are enormous, any community builder knows that. The economic multipliers are substantial, any economist knows that... or at least should...

Calgary Art News: Marnie Burkhart Exhibition 09Feb2012

2012-01-13T08:15:00.000-08:00

St Pat's Housing for the Homeless is successful!

2011-12-22T09:06:00.000-08:00

Identified as one of the only successful Occupy camps of the 1500 across the planet, the St Pat's organization continues to place individuals into programs for housing, education & employment. Additionally, counselling for a variety of issues is also being accessed from local agencies. A byproduct of the experience is an identification of best practices within the homeless network, as well as gleaning deeply relevant information on systemic ommissions and inefficiencies. There are significant chasms in service delivery, areas which St Pat's will target on the Compassion Continuum.

The St Pat's Co-op is formalizing and discussions continue with numerous local organizations, focused primarily on the One STOP Shop (employee owned BottleDepot, FarmersMarket, EmploymentAgency, HealthServices, Bike Repairs, Communications, Services, Supports, Training, et al) & the MHOPP (Micro Home Ownership Pilot Program) which includes the CCFI (Calgary Community Farm Initiative) on the TUC (Transportation and Utility Corridor).

St Pat's Co-op on Facebook

St Pat's Co-op Blog

Article 25 Food & Shelter UNHRD

HOME: Home Ownership Matters 2 Every1 & MHOPP

HOMES 4 the Holidays

CPR: Calgary Poverty Reduction

ReSTART

ARE3A: Ag + Recreation + Environment + Education + Entertainment + Art

Occupy Calgary Olympic Plaza Faction & Bill Bruce, City of Calgary Bylaw Director

2011-11-14T16:12:00.000-08:00

Occupy Calgary Olympic Plaza Faction & Bill Bruce, City of Calgary Bylaw Director

THE CITY OF CALGARY
ANIMAL & BYLAW SERVICES

The City of Calgary is committed to maintaining the integrity of its Parks
and Pathways so they can truly be shared and enjoyed by all Calgarians.

For this reason, the Parks and Pathways Bylaw 20M2003 contains rules which
must be followed in and on Parks and Pathways. Failure to follow these rules
may constitute an offence which, upon conviction, is punishable with a fine
and/or imprisonment. Fines under the Bylaw range from $25.00 to $1,000.00
for a first offence.

Calgary’s Olympic Plaza is a Park and its use is subject to the Park and
Pathways Bylaw.

The City of Calgary recognizes the rights of Calgarians to engage in public
expression and peaceful assembly.

The City will enforce the Parks and Pathways Bylaw in respect of Oympic
Plaza to restore the use of Olympic Plaza for the benefit, use and enjoyment
of all Calgarians and to avoid further damage being caused to Olympic Plaza.

As of 0900 hrs on 2011 November 15th, The City of Calgary will enforce the
Parks and Pathways Bylaw with respect to Olympic Plaza.

Any unattended materials or unoccupied tents will be removed from Olympic
Plaza.

For questions about responsibilities and obligations while in Olympic Plaza
please visit www.calgary.ca and Search Parks Bylaws.

POSTED at Olympic Plaza on 2011 November 14th at 0900 hrs.

Bill Bruce
Director
Animal & Bylaw Services

It's 2011... Time to STOP KILLING of Big Game in Canada

2011-11-13T12:01:00.000-08:00

Stop Killing Big Game in Canada.

Facebook: Stop, Halt, Ban Big Game Sport Killing in Canada

Big Game Hunting has targeted the most genetically gifted animals throughout history, so that a head can be hung on a wall. They refer to themselves as hunters although they use high powered, scope enabled weapons from a distance. This is a complete bastardization of the term hunter. The terms that best describes this microscopic demographic of our society is killer, sniper, assassin, murderer, executioner and coward. Although few in numbers, they have a disporportionate impact on our ecology by killing our superior genetic diversity. It's 2011, we know better. Ask your MP/MLA to Stop or Halt Big Game Sport Executions in Canada.

Start with our Prime Minister: pm@pm.gc.ca Twitter: @PMHarper

There are individuals who will "hunt" animals like Moose and Deer for meat, based on a tag system. They are excluded from the above characterization.

For an example of the type of operations that serve a very exclusive clientele focused on removing genetic diversity from future generations, see: (Please add more examples in comments section)

NEW Seven Wonders of the Natural World

2011-11-13T10:52:00.000-08:00

A list of the NEW seven wonders of the natural world is about to be announced following a global survey. Which sites will make the final roster? Here are some of the mostbeautiful and unique sites from around the world...

CBC, HNIC & Profanity/Racism

2011-11-12T10:57:00.000-08:00

CBC, HNIC & Profanity/Racism

Canadian Broadcasting Company, Hockey Night In Canada tweets from 11.11.11 @ aprox 1700hrs

11.11.11 11:11:11 Remembrance Day, Poppy Day, Armistice Day 2011

2011-11-11T09:25:00.000-08:00

Nenshi Jam

2011-10-06T16:17:00.000-07:00

A Broncoesque response from Mayor Nenshi:

Mayor Nenshi irked to find himself listed as Occupy Calgary creator (actually admin)

Sisters & Brothers: This is an independent proposal 2 all #OccupyCalgary participants. Attn: No commitments have been made.

2011-10-05T15:16:00.000-07:00

05Oct11

Sisters & Brothers:

This is an independent proposal 2 all #OccupyCalgary participants.

Attn: No commitments have been made.

This is a proposal that has been researched and discussed, NO commitments have been made.

Via a conversation with a representative of Calgary City Police and a representative of the City of Calgary, we have a SUGGESTION on how the Occupy Calgary event can unfold in a respectful, responsible & safe manner.

#OccupyCalgary would have a base at Centenary Park on @St. Patrick's Island. Movement into the downtown core would be along the RiverWalk system, with final entrance to the core from Eau Claire Market along Barklay Mall (3rd ST). This would provide for minimal disruption and allow us to access Stephen Ave, including Banker's Hall & Olympic Plaza, if in fact we choose to do so.

Tenatively, the base camp would be established for aprox 2 weeks at Centenary Park, with portable toilets, water and clearly designated camping spots. There would be an area for daily assemblies and group gatherings. After 2 weeks, we would review with The City of Calgary & Calgary Police Service.

The CPS has indicated that they would like to work together. We have been invited to a meeting tomorrow @ 9am at CPS HQ to discuss the details of #OccupyCalgary and how we can HOST our event so that Public Safety is achieved.

Again, NO commitments have been made.

My humble suggestion to the General Assembly is we meet with the CPS/City of Calgary and finalize the above option.

Again, NO commitments have been made.

Respectfully,

Paul Hughes

Occupy Wall Street Posters #OccupyWallStreet #99

2011-09-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

Occupy Wall Street Posters #OccupyWallStreet #99

Occupy Wall Street Posters #OccupyWallStreet #99

Dr Vandana Shiva arrives in Calgary! 23Sep11

2011-09-23T11:27:00.000-07:00

I had the honour of being Dr Vandana Shiva's chauffeur today. Her energy is contagious! What an inspiration for those of us working in food and social justice.

Food Policy & the Political Foundation of a Local Food System: Saskatoon

2011-09-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

Food Policy & the Political Foundation of a Local Food System

I will be presenting at Cafe Sola in Saskatoon this Saturday, 24Sep11 @6.30pm

The event is free.

Food For Thought: A celebration of Local Food Producers, Chefs & People Calgary 15October, 2011

2011-09-18T12:04:00.000-07:00

Food 4 Thought 15Oct11 @2255 Crowchild Trail
A celebration of Local Food Producers, Chefs & People

REAP’s 2nd annual FOOD FOR THOUGHT is a celebration of local sustainable food and farmers!

Food For Thought
October 15, 2011 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
2255 Crowchild Trail NW
McMahon Stadium, east entrance
(Absolute Baseball Academy kwansit hut next to Viper Stadium)

REAP Business Association is proud to host, with the support of Community Natural Foods, First Calgary Financial, and Calgary Herald, a wonderful event in celebration of local sustainable food and farmers!

The 2nd annual FOOD FOR THOUGHT will showcase local sustainable farmers and producers, paired with restaurants and catering companies who already adore and promote their products, and offer tastings to our attendees while giving everyone a chance to talk to our farmers and chefs directly.

After the greeting and eating we will be premiering a documentary called In the Same Boat, which features the stories of an Alberta farming family and a Newfoundland fishing family, both of whom have been impacted by industrialized agriculture. The filmmaker, Rachel Bower, will lead a discussion about the importance of local, sustainable food systems after the film.

Doors open at 6:00 pm
Curtain at 8:30 pm

Tickets are $25 and available at Community Natural Foods locations or online at www.reapcalgary.com/events/food-thought.

This event sold out last year, so advance ticket purchase is highly recommended. Any remaining tickets will be available for purchase at the door.

We would like to thank the following organizations for their generous support:
·         Community Natural Foods
·         First Calgary Financial
·         Calgary Herald
·         SwizzleSticks SalonSpa
·         River Cafe
·         Boxwood
·         Absolute Baseball Academy
·         Hotel Alma

Graffiti: Yes, Comrade, we love our pure, unadulterated, grey infrastructure. Yay 4 Grey!

2011-08-18T07:01:00.000-07:00

Tagging is about as creative as Calgary City Council, but a little humour makes graffiti a whole new experience.

Here is a Banksy knock off in SunnySide on the North LRT Bridge support.

Here's City staff removing the "Graffiti". Thank god SunnySide is a Banksy Knock Off Free Zone. Yes, Comrade, we love our pure, unadulterated, grey infrastructure. Yay 4 Grey!

50 Best Neighbourhoods in Calgary... Only 1 east of Deerfoot Trail

2011-08-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

Only 1 East of the Deerfoot...

Courtesy of Avenue Magazine digital edition

Raw Milk = Real Milk

2011-08-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

Got Raw Milk? We love ours!

Fiskars & Canadian Tire are slave drivers, but we got it done! Flowers 4 @algernon

2011-07-27T17:33:00.001-07:00

YYCCC Research & Decision-Making Flow Chart Improvement Recommendation 1.0

2011-07-26T09:43:00.000-07:00

Click on image to enlarge...

Start Food Policy Councils

2011-07-22T09:11:00.000-07:00

Start Food Policy Councils

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step ~Lao-tzu

If your community, municipality, region, county, province, state, country or planet doesn't have a Food Policy Council... start one.

How to start a Food Policy Council:

Communicate via Social Media
Start a Facebook page, twitter account, blog, google group/list & email.

Host a meeting
Book a room, set a meeting date, create an agenda and promote/invite local food groups and individuals to the founding/organizational meeting of your community's food policy council.

Have the meeting
Start talking about Food Policy in your community. The rest will follow... The most important action is to initiate the discussion.

Alberta Food Policy Council

North American Food Policy Council

YYCCC has massive rooftop farming capacity, yet EMPTY

2011-07-14T18:31:00.000-07:00

Farrell's Legacy?

2011-07-07T11:25:00.001-07:00

Nenshi & Big Idea on Poverty

2011-06-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

@Nenshi & Big Idea on Poverty: #YYC GDP from #UrbanAg is 0%. 100,000 empty acres of land. We consume 4Billion+ Food items/year. #yyccc

#1 Barrier 2 imagineCalgary Targets? These guys get my vote...

2011-06-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

City of Calgary Law Department

Anyone keeping an eye on imagineCalgary Targets know they are being missed like the Flames miss the playoffs.

Solution? To begin, City Council has to take these targets seriously and become actively involved in implementing imagineCalgary. At first glance it seems logical, but the idea of placing imagineCalgary in the hands of the Orwellian Office of Sustainability is deeply flawed. A combination of bureaucracy, lack of vision (ironically), inability to truly fathom the task at hand & lack of conviction have rendered this added layer of administration ineffectual.

Add to the mix a draconian and inflexible law department, and we get a recipe for moving at a snail's pace.

Ultimately, the responsibility rests with our elected officials.

Another suggestion is to revisit the targets and update/revise them to 2011 standards via crowdsourcing and citizen engagement, which is the process that led to their creation in the first place.

Whatever direction is taken, we are losing serious ground on a vision that was, at one time, the envy of municipalities across the globe.

But, as we all know, we can make up that lost ground by acknowledging there are challenges and then addressing the issue with resolve.

Avoiding the #epicfail tag is going to require substantial diligence by all involved.

KidsFarm Institute Inc is a registered society in Alberta

2011-06-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

Local Food Trinity/Trifecta: Agrarian Urbanism, Food Policy Council & LIFA: Land Inventory Food Assessment

2011-06-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

Local Food Trinity/Trifecta:

1. Agrarian Urbanism
2. Food Policy Council
3. LIFA: Land Inventory Food Assessment

Every North American community should have these three concepts/principles represented in their pursuit of community sustainability.

Mayor Nenshi "I support the Urban Chicken Pilot Project"

2011-06-19T14:35:00.000-07:00

Mayor Nenshi, at the time a candidate for Mayor, attended the CFPC Food & Sustainability Mayor's Forum on World Food Day, Saturday, 16OCT10.

With less than 24 hours before the 2010 Calgary Civic Election, Mayor Nenshi stated that he supported an Urban Chicken Pilot Project. Now, this does not, by any stretch, suggest that he supports Urban Chickens, but he does support knowledge based data gathering on the issue.

Jump forward to June 2011 and the City of Calgary (#yyccc on twitter) Legal Department is still pursuing the prosecution of an Urban Chicken owner, Paul Hughes (me). The legal department is now directly contravening multiple imagineCalgary targets, including 6 specific food targets. The hole the City of Calgary Legal Department (and as an extension, Calgary City Council) is digging gets deeper and deeper.

Add to the mix the concept of urban, periurban and rural agrarian/agricultural urbanism transects (thx Ald. Gian Carra), Article 25 of the UNHRD, Sections 1 & 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom and The City of Calgary Council's own CSPS034 Fair Calgary Policy, and the YYCCC Legal Department is essentially stepping into an ambush, except there are signs everywhere indicating that it is an ambush... which means they are precariously disconnected from their own policy, legislation, governance targets and society.

Solution?

1. Drop the charges against Hughes (me),
2. Resurrect the Urban Chicken Pilot Project that was so skillfully constructed by Bylaw Director Bill Bruce and his staff,
3. Pursue the facts of Urban Chickens and Urban Agriculture,
4. Immediately implement imagineCalgary Food Targets
5. Adopt Urban Ag Zoning Codes
6. Support the Calgary Community Farm Initiiative
7. Amend the draconian Community Gardening policy
8. Support the efforts of citizens working on the Land Inventory Food Assessment, LIFA
9. Catalogue all municipal land and create the conditions for citizens to easily access these areas for local food production
10. Allow the 80% of Brownfields that were formerly gas stations to be used for temporary Food Retailing, ie Farmers' Markets
11. Plant that garden at Old City Hall

We shall see how progressive our elected officials are.

Sprawl Repair Manual

2011-06-18T16:24:00.000-07:00

Sprawl Repair Manual on Facebook

Sprawl remains the prevailing growth pattern across Canada & the United States, even though experts in planning, economics and environmental issues have long denounced it as wasteful, inefficient, and unsustainable. Sprawl is a principal cause of lost open space and natural habitat as well as increases in air and water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, infrastructure costs, and even obesity. It also plays a primary role in the housing meltdown plaguing the nation. But is it possible to repair sprawling suburbs and create more livable, robust, and eco-sensitive communities where they do not now exist? This new book answers with a resounding "yes" and provides a toolbox of creative approaches for doing just that.

The Sprawl Repair Manual offers comprehensive guidance for transforming fragmented, isolated and car-dependent development into "complete communities." Polemical as well as practical, the manual is designed to equip readers - from professional planners, designers, and developers to regulators and concerned citizens - with strategies drawn from two decades of successful repair projects.

In contrast to sprawl - characterized by an abundance of congested highways, strip development, and gated cul-de-sac subdivisions - complete communities are diverse in terms of uses, transportation options, and population. They are walkable, with most daily needs close by.

There is a wealth of research and literature explaining the origins and problems of suburban sprawl, as well as the urgent need to repair it. However, the Sprawl Repair Manual is the first book to provide a step-by-step design, regulatory, and implementation process. From the scale of the region to the building - turning subdivisions into walkable neighborhoods, shopping centers and malls into town centers, and more - today's sprawl can be saved. Readers who have despaired of ever being able to "take back the suburbs" will find heartening news between the covers of this first-of-its-kind book.

In Defense of the Dandelion

2011-06-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

What do you think of the dandelion? Not much, right?

We’ve got this idea that this hardy little plant is a blight, and collectively we spend millions of dollars and uncounted hours waging chemical warfare against its persistent insinuations into our lawns and landscapes. It frustrates us so cheerfully and with such a sunny demeanor that our ultimate defeat is not just tactical, it’s moral. We are beaten year after year by the botanical equivalent of a smiley face. For certain scowley-faced green-lawn-obsessive guys I know, it’s infuriating.

Sometimes our own ideas ruin the world for us. While we are feverishly poisoning dandelions and pulling them out by the roots, we are often simultaneously enriching the soil of garden beds so that we may plant asters, or daisies, or marigolds, or sunflowers, or zinnias, all of which are first cousins of the dandelion in the family Asteraceae. The family name is derived from the Latin astrum, meaning star. The blossoms of the plants in this clan often have radiating petals, which give them their resemblance to our (and their) favorite star, the sun. Our notions about what’s a weed and what isn’t are what upset us about dandelions — not the flower itself.

If we can ever reconcile the green lawn guys with the dandelion, the world would be a brighter place. But getting them to lie down with their rival weed is a little like getting the lamb to lie down with the lion. (The name “dandelion,” by the way, is derived from the Old French dent de lion, or lion tooth, inspired by the jagged shape of the leaf.) What we need is a child to lead them.

Kids instinctively know that the best bouquets are made of dandelions, and the purest love (for Mom, of course) is proffered in a grubby fist clenching broken-necked yellow blossoms. Their world has not been ruined by these ideas we have about clean hands and dandelions. When these humble flowers are presented to us in this way, our dandelion delusions melt away, and we put the bouquets in vases.

Kids also are great dandelion propagators. They delight in keeping time with dandelion clocks. A dandelion clock, if your memory fails you, is the globe of fluff that replaces the sunny dandelion blossom when the plant is ready to project itself into the future. It consists of scores of paratrooper seeds borne aloft by filaments to weedless lawns downwind. You can tell time with a dandelion clock by huffing and puffing at the globe. The time corresponds to the number of blows it takes to get every seed airborne. One blow, one o’clock. Two blows, two o’clock, etc.

It doesn’t matter if two children reading their clocks side-by-side come up with different hours. It’s fairy time, don’t you know? It can be four o’clock here and six o’clock two feet away.

Our frugal ancestors, who weren’t predisposed to child’s play, also had a particular fondness for dandelions. Almost every bit of the plant has a use. Let’s start with the root and work our way up.

The long taproot can be dried and ground up for use as a serviceable substitute for good coffee and a better alternative to bad coffee — and it won’t keep you awake.

The new leaves of the plant can be eaten raw or cooked as greens. They are rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, and iron. The dried leaves can be used in teas and herbal beverages to aid in digestion.

The milky latex in the hollow stems has been used to treat warts and repel mosquitoes.

And if the sunny little blossoms don’t cheer you enough, you can make them into dandelion wine, which is reputedly a great tonic for the blood.

We can’t do any of this with grass, which raises the question: Why do we favor grass so much over the sprightly dandelion?

It’s a grudge match we will never win. It may be time to give it up.

Courtesy of Curtiss Clark & The Field Notebook, Notes from the Natural World

Curtiss Clark lives in western Connecticut with his wife, Kate, at the intersection of two country roads where many living things cross paths. He leaves home too frequently to work as the editor of a small community newspaper.

Read his blog here

Radio Dilemma: Amp Radio Demographics 12-17 year olds

2011-06-13T14:10:00.000-07:00

Wow... Amp Radio 90.3 (Buzz Bishop & company) have a tiger by the tail. Their contest, Breast Summer Ever, has touched a few nerves locally & nationally.

This is simultaneously a dream and a nightmare for Amp 90.3... Tremendous response to the idea, but now a huge ethical dilemma...

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Will Amp elevate the discussion or dummy it down?

Here is one bit of info that should be considered... Amp is #1 amongst 12-17 year olds in Calgary. I know my 9 year old listens to Amp because he met Buzz...

Here is another campaign that was shut down by Mattel's Barbie division...

FFWD Weekly Best of Calgary: Most Dedicated Activist: Paulin8

2011-06-09T14:09:00.000-07:00

Yay!

As activists we rarely receive recognition for our work... So it was a very pleasant surprise to see I had been voted Most Dedicated Activist in Calgary.

The FFWD "Award", of course, reflects the work of 100's of people in Art, Ag & Local Politics. Congrats to Sharon & Grant & Thank you, Calgary!

Andres Duany, founder of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, to speak in Calgary

2011-06-07T17:07:00.000-07:00

The course of 21st century urbanism will be defined in large part by food.

Andres Duany, founder of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, will speak in Calgary at the Glenbow Museum Theatre on 17June11 @7.30pm. This event is FREE!

Courtesy of Ward 9 Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra and his team.

YYC Bumper Bin Solution: Inserts

2011-06-05T14:19:00.000-07:00

Add insert, with lids & sliding latch for specific pick up days. Get bold and add a third compartment for organics...

Agri-Urban Spectrum

2011-06-02T12:29:00.000-07:00

Playing off of the Urban/Rural Transect, Stephens Planning & Design developed this neat infographic:

See also: http://www.stephensplanning.com/agri_urban_spectrum.pdf

LIFA: Land Inventory Food Assessment

A citizen driven initiative that seeks to map out the landscape of our current local food system infrastructure and inventory all land in the city of Calgary suitable for Urban Ag and local food production, distribution and POP (retail).

Emily Carr aka Small "Big Raven"

2011-06-02T01:01:00.001-07:00

Born in Victoria on a stormy night in December 1871, Emily Carr was the last of five children. Her nickname was ‘Small’.
In 1944, The Book of Small was published. Emily died in 1945.

GET IT NEW YORK! 3,500 gallons of Raw Milk a day!

2011-05-27T16:09:00.000-07:00

The LARGEST ORGANIC DAIRY in the Northeast US is now licensed by the NY State Dept. of Agriculture and Markets to provide consumers directly with uncooked,unfooled-around-with, natural, organic RAW MILK. Jerry Dell Farms in Dryden, NY (Ithaca area) now has a NYS Raw Milk Permit according to NYS Ag & Markets Division of Milk Control and Dairy Services. Though large by local, organic standards, it is still a small farm compared to the large conventional industrial milk "factories". They produce about 30,000lbs or about 3,500 gallons of organic, pastured, quality milk per day, so COME AND GET IT NEW YORK!

Jerry Dell Farm is a family farm owned by operated Vaughn Sherman & family. We congratulate him on his commitment to quality organic dairy and on his courage to stand up to Organic Valley. Mr. Sherman is not only an Organic Valley member farm, but is also chairman of the OV Dairy Executive Committee (DEC) so this should be a very interesting situation as it unfolds. I'm sure most of you are well aware of the prohibition that Organic Valley has placed on its member farms regarding the sale of Raw Milk. As I said before, Jerry Dell is the largest organic dairy in the Northeast, more than doubling the production of the next largest farm, so I find it hard to believe that they will "kick them to the curb". They may regret it if they do as this farm is big enough to have its own bottling plant. NY Raw milk permits only allow on farm sales, but a small plant could provide the low-temp pasteurized, non-homogenized milk that has seen real growth in popularity. This option also offers the producer an alternative to the big monopolistic dairy coops and processors. Or better yet, we could all pick up the phone and tell your NY Senators and Assemblymen & Assemblywomen to LEGALIZE OFF FARM SALES OF RAW MILK! All our best to Vaughn Sherman & Family!

~Courtesy of Gianni Ortiz

How 2 transition #BlackCarts 2 #GreenBoxes

2011-05-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

Canadian Right 2 Food Trial set for 05-09March2012 in Calgary, Alberta

2011-05-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

Canadian Right 2 Food Trial set for 05-09March2012 in Calgary, Alberta #yyc #yyccc #urbanag #ableg #cdnpoli #art25 #UN #food #agchat

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

"Within the contours of the three rights that it protects, Section 7 (of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms) has potential for advancing social justice. By this I mean, s. 7 has potential for providing an appropriate amount of protection to individuals from injurious state action, corresponding to their reality within a state - controlled regime or system." ~James Hendry

Section Seven of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a constitutional provision that protects an individual's autonomy and personal legal rights from actions of the government in Canada. There are three types of protection within the section, namely the right to life, liberty, and security of the person. Denials of these rights are constitutional only if the denials do not breach what is referred to as fundamental justice.

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_Seven_of_the_Canadian_Charter_of_Rights_and_Freedoms

Article 25

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948 at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris. The Declaration has been translated into at least 375 languages and dialects, making it the most wid...ely translated document in the world. The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are entitled. It consists of 30 articles which have been elaborated in subsequent international treaties, regional human rights instruments, national constitutions and laws.

Article 25 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Article 25 on facebook

How to Start a Balcony Farm

2011-05-19T22:17:00.000-07:00

How to Start a Balcony Farm
The secret to a successful container garden is to think like a plant.

More people might become urban farmers if they had urban farms. What's an apartment-dweller with nothing but a narrow balcony in the sky to do?

Plant it. If the sun is shining on your space, you're in a farmable area. Even if it isn't, if you can see blue sky, you still have options.

Vegetables, edible flowers, cooking herbs, berry shrubs and fruit trees are all beautiful and nutritious, but they're also kind of dumb. They don't know if they're in a pot. They may have evolved over thousands of years to grow in the ground, but that doesn't make it the only place they will grow. Give your plants the basics they need and they will sprout and develop and flower and fruit even hundreds of feet in the air on a balcony or on a crowded ground floor patio outside your doorstep.

The secret to a successful container farm is to think like a plant. Just figure out what a plant needs, then provide it.

Full story: How to Start a Balcony Farm

A Revolution in Pain

2011-05-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

The Calgary Pain Authority

The Calgary Pain Authority

ssshhhhhhhhh, #yyc ... the peace bridge is sleeping

2011-05-18T00:43:00.000-07:00

ssshhhhhhhhh, #yyc ... the peace bridge is sleeping

imagineCalgary, Lost in the BureaucraZy

2011-05-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

imagineCalgary, an exquisite democratic tool built by citizens. The bible for Gov 2.0 aficionados. The Holy Grail of citizen engagement. A blueprint for deep systemic change.

imagineCalgary... RIP. No longer a blueprint for deep systemic change, but rather buried deep in the system, covered in layer upon layer of bureaucraZy, a sparkling document of hope languishing in plain-vanilla.

Regrettably, we are missing imagineCalgary targets as consistently as the Flames are missing the playoffs.

Here are just two examples:

1. BY 2008: OMBUDSMAN, City Charter of Rights & Freedoms, ET AL

2. By 2010, 100 per cent of Calgarians have access to nutritious FOODS

The Mother of all citizen engagement processes is in dire straits, mired in bureaucracy.

SOS, #YYCCC, SOS...

LIFA #2- 12May11 @1830 @6.30pm Thursday "What to do with all that land?!"

2011-05-10T11:45:00.000-07:00

This is an Interactive Info Session on LIFA: Land Inventory & Food Assessment

LIFA #2- 12May11 @1830 @6.30pm Thursday

"What to do with all that land?!"

The Old Y 101-223 12 Ave SW Calgary, AB T2R 0G9

If there is one upside to Calgary's urban sprawl it is the abundance of city (citizen) owned land that can be used for stuff... like growing food.

At our first LIFA meeting we discussed the various elements of a Land Inventory and Food Assessment.

Calgary Food Organizations (Retail, Production, Distribution, Preparation, Assistance, etc)

In this meeting we will discuss the role of citizens, urban farmers, city admin and the provincial government.

We will also be addressing the potential uses for a LIFA. One of Calgary's first official Urban Spin Farmers, Sandy Aberdeen, will be attending to share his experiences as he enters into his second growing season.

Locavore Urban Farms http://locavorefarms.blogspot.com

Calgary Food Organizations (Retail, Production, Distribution, Preparation, Assistance, et al) are embarking on what is arguably the most important Local Food System related engagement process in the history of Calgary, a LIFA: Land Inventory & Food Assessment. Citizens are welcome to participate in this process.

Please RSVP to the Facebook Event http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=144245255643008

Additional Link: http://paulin8.blogspot.com/2011/03/lifa-land-inventoryfood-assessment.html

You can also contact Paul Hughes for more deets: paul@paulinate.com

Paul Hughes

@Hughes4YYC

paul@paulinate.com

http://paulin8.blogspot.com

Another 1 bites the Dust

2011-05-06T14:00:00.001-07:00

EAC: City of Calgary Environmental Advisory Committee facebook fan page deleted by facebook after City of Calgary lodges formal complaint.

click on image to enlarge

Missing (Dodging) imagineCalgary Targets

2011-05-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

Governance

Food

Missing (Dodging) imagineCalgary Targets

They are dropping like flies these days. Time for a concerted effort to revisit, update, evaluate and (gasp) meet the targets our city has committed to.

Governance Target 9 By 2008, and every year thereafter, groups/organizations/government report on how they have considered and adopted the imagineCALGARY targets and strategies that are relevant to them and in which they have been identified as having a role.

Food Target 4 By 2010, 100% of Calgarians have access to nutritious foods.

Office of Sustainability has Facebook Fan Page Shut Down

2011-05-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

City of Calgary Office of Sustainability, charged with implementing imagineCalgary targets, some of which include governance, transparency, access by citizens, engagement & inclusiveness, had a citizen driven facebook fan page shut down. Gov20 & OpenGov take a hit from an unlikely source.

International Respect for Chickens Day May 4, 2011: CLUCK

2011-05-04T07:30:00.000-07:00

CLUCK: Canadian Liberated Urban Chicken Klub Celebrates
International Respect for Chickens Day

International Respect for Chickens Day is an annual project of United Poultry Concerns dedicated to celebrating the beauty of chickens and protesting the misery of their lives in farming operations. Launched in 2005, International Respect for Chickens Day urges people to do a compassionate ACTION for chickens on or around May 4 – leafleting on a busy street corner, tabling at a local school, church, or shopping center, holding a vegan bake sale, educating colleagues at work. May is International Respect for Chickens Month.
To draw attention to the plight and delight of chickens, United Poultry Concerns will display King-Size Bus posters, starting May 9, throughout the Washington, DC, Metro Area proclaiming "What Wings Are For" and "Life Can Be Beautiful-Go Vegan!" UPC will also host a peaceful protest on behalf of chickens at the White House on Saturday afternoon, May 7, from Noon to 3 p.m. We encourage people to join us.
"People flock to Washington, DC, in May to see the beauty of spring in the Nation's capital," says UPC President Karen Davis. "Our King-Size Bus posters and White House event are great ways to bring attention to the life of chickens and the joy of a compassionate diet. Mother hens and their chicks are traditional symbols of spring and rebirth, but the loving care of a mother hen for her chicks has been destroyed by the brutality of factory farming."
For a chicken trapped in the world of factory farming, to break out of the shell is to enter a deeper darkness full of bewildering pain and suffering from birth to death. During their terrible 6 weeks of life, baby chicks live in dark, filthy sheds on manure-soaked floors breathing poisonous fumes that burn their eyes so badly they rub their hurting eyes with their wings and let out cries of pain. At the slaughterhouse, the chickens "hang there and look at you and try to hide their head by sticking it under the wing of the chicken next to them. They're scared to death," said former slaughterhouse worker Virgil Butler, who became a vegetarian when he could no longer stomach this needless horror.
Shakespeare called the rooster "the bird of dawn and trumpet to the morn." In Letters from an American Farmer, published in 1782, St. John de Crevecoeur bespoke his admiration for the "gentle hen leading her chickens with a care and vigilance which speaks shame to many women." The purpose of International Respect for Chickens Day is to affirm the value of these experiences, native to chickens and emblematic of all life, and to encourage people to cherish chickens and Go Vegan.
United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl.www.upc-online.org

CLUCK: Canadian Liberated Urban Chicken Klub http://bit.ly/CLUCK1

What 1 city is doing about Noisy Motorbikes and Altered Exhaust Systems, supported by the Motorcycle Industry

2011-04-23T13:03:00.000-07:00

City moves ahead on noisy motorbike ban

BATHURST - The City of Bathurst has laid out a proposed bylaw to curb excessive noise from exhaust systems on motorcycles.

The bylaw was introduced for the first time at the Feb. 21 regular public meeting of council.

Mayor Stephen Brunet said the first reading of the bylaw will take place during the next regular public council meeting of March 21 and second and third readings would take place in April.

Coun. Graham Wiseman said the bylaw is needed to give police the ability to fine those making excessive noise with their vehicles.

"This is a discussion that's been going on for a while," he told council.

"What we've done is we have held a couple of meetings with all the committee members, discussed and looked at different avenues and what we can or possibly cannot do and what legislation is existing in the province that would be of assistance to us. So having put all that stuff together we have put together a proposed bylaw."

Wiseman said the bylaw would set a decibel noise level that no motor vehicle would be allowed to exceed within city limits. City police would use decibel reading devices to determine if a vehicle is within compliance.

"The provincial legislation states the driver of a motor vehicle that is being operating on a highway shall ensure that the motor vehicle is equipped with a muffler and exhaust pipes, or pipes that are in good working order and in constant operation so as to prevent excessive or unusual noise. And no person shall operate a motor vehicle equipped with a muffler cut out bypass or similar device. What we are proposing is to complement the provincial legislation by a level of measurement...which sets the maximum decibel level."

Decibel readings would be measured by placing a sound meter 50 centimetres away from an exhaust pipe. The passing maximum decibel level is 92 and there are some exceptions. Wiseman said a one, two, five, or six-cylinder motorcycle will pass under 96 decibels, while a three and four-cylinder motorcycle will pass under 100 decibels.

The sound tests will be done 50 cm from the exhaust pipe and background noise tests will be done prior to readings being taken.

Should a vehicle surpass the acceptable decibel level, police may issue a minimum fine of $250 to a maximum fine of $10,000.

Wiseman noted that a presentation was recently made to council from the motorcycle industry in support of this bylaw.

At a council meeting last month, Wiseman showed an instructional video by the motorcycle industry which describes how this bylaw would be introduced and enforced.

He noted that all manufactured motorcycles should be able to pass the decibel tests and the only ones which may fail would be the bikes that have been modified.

"The decibel level is set high enough so that motorcycles will be heard," he said, in reference to comments from some motorcyclists about the proposed bylaw that it's important for safety reasons that motorcycles be heard. "For example, a Harley Davidson...will pass this test as long as they have not altered their exhaust system."

Wiseman said clinics will be set up to have motorcycles or other vehicles checked by police prior to the bylaw being introduced.

Full Story

Constitutional Challenge: Canadian Right to Food

2011-04-20T08:07:00.001-07:00

The constitutional challenge is going to get scrappy and we'll need all the help we can get. Here's our new lawyer...

Painting a New Food Canvas

2011-04-10T09:51:00.000-07:00

I have read many times how local food policy is not a one size fits all dynamic, that each community has a unique set of data to interpret. However, each report that I read on a local food system assessment contains incredible quantities of similar data, each identifying both the disquieting presence of an embedded industrial food archetype and the extraordinary opportunities that exist in the pursuit of building a sustainable, local food system.

It is therefore no secret that many of us involved in local food policy are encouraged by the ideas presented and advocated from the many jurisdictions represented on this list. We learn of an innovative initiative elsewhere and automatically consider how we can make it work in our own community. Many of us feel a camaraderie for this very reason; that we are all having comparable experiences as we seek to transform our local food environments. A local food meme is firmly entrenched in North America.

Advancing concepts related to creating a superior and deeper understanding of our local food system have a profound impact on long term food production capacity in our communities. A good example of this growing of ideas is the realization that production advocates will be well served to embrace the notion of community farms vis~a~vis community gardens.

Perhaps the most significant step a community can take is to survey and map out the reality of our respective local food systems. Ironically, a great deal of work can go into these studies, with the hope that they will reveal what we already know, a dominant industrial food paradigm. We amass data so we can reinforce our position with decision makers and then persuade and influence policy direction. We often agonize over the scope, scale and methodology of our investigations into our local food system. The important component to focus on is that we are gathering valuable information on local food conditions.

If this distils to a CFA or an FSA, or as Calgary is pursuing, a LIFA (Land Inventory & Food Assessment), then your community has, or will have committed energy, time and resources wisely. The validation is found not so much in the empirical data gathered, but rather the actionable items that allow a community to transition to sustainable production and access to food. In other words, the transitional strategy and associated tactics that your community will implement to create food resilience and security are paramount.

Paul Hughes

Vertical Realty & Why Calgary needs a living, growing, inspired, visionary, innovative, experimental, original Art Policy

2011-04-07T10:18:00.000-07:00

Vertical Realty, Empty Spaces, Dead Energy

Why Calgary needs a living, growing, inspired, visionary, innovative, experimental, original Art Policy

Calgary has 1000's of "horizontal realtors", people who sell homes, commercial/industrial property or land everyday. Economically, we place a value on these properties and have constructed a massive trade, permitting & zoning system around the process of buying & selling horizontal realty.

Presently there is no system or process in place that allows us to identify and value vertical realty (walls, fences, poles, pillars, et al) for the purpose of cultural innovation, presentation, community beautification and artistic advancement.

Yes, we have an advertising industry that utilizes vertical realty to sell us products and services via outdoor advertising.

Vertical Realty as part of a Calgary Art & Cultural Policy that nourishes the roots of our society, requires our attention and focus in order to grow. Crafting an Art Policy that recognizes the important contribution of public art presented on vertical realty and the economic multipliers associated with employing artists, purchasing materials and beautification of our realtime, human scale environment, is the essence of advancing concepts.

While our city is about to embark on a Land Inventory & a Food Assessment (LIFA), we should also launch a Vertical Realty/Cultural Spaces Inventory & Cultural Assessment. Once completed, we can easily match artists, groups & cultural organizations with the available space.

Included in the inventory analysis would be vacant/empty buildings that could be occupied by community building tenants. This strategy of creating incentives for property owners to allow access to community building & cultural groups was used effectively in Glasgow to rebuild the downtown core in the 80's & 90's, as well as Glasgow being voted the Most Culturally Vibrant City in Europe. Property owners were given a reduction on their taxes, sometimes as much as 100%, if they allowed empty buildings to be utilized by community building groups.

The same tactic could be used to encourage property owners to offer their Vertical Realty to artists. The City of Calgary Hoarding Project presently provides for a 25% discount on hoarding related costs for construction sites. I believe this should be increased in order for the sector to grow and mature, but it is a start.

From a risk management perspective, CADA (Calgary Arts Development Authority) could take a leadership role by underwriting the risk through a group plan. By doing this, CADA would eliminate one of the most onerous barriers to public art, public expression and community building... liability coverage.

A progressive and robust art policy that creates incentives for increased cultural opportunities is urgently needed in Calgary.

Paul Hughes

City of Calgary Pothole Team 2011

2011-04-05T14:40:00.001-07:00

City of Calgary Pothole Team 2011

Potholes are dangerous. These guys fill potholes.

Efficiently?

During high school my summer job was working with a municipality filling potholes, by myself. It was painful to watch City of Calgary crews with this type of equipment and manpower achieve such a level of mediocrity.

The meritocracy meets mediocrity.

Second Right to Food/Urban Chicken Constitutional Challenge filed in Ontario

2011-04-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

05April11

Do Canadians Have A Right To Food?

A Toronto, Ontario man files second Right to Food/Urban Chicken Constitutional Challenge in Canada

Jason Froats has filed his Section 7 constitutional challenge & UN Human Rights Declaration Article 25 assertion to the federal and provincial court on the issue of keeping urban chickens and his family's Right to Food.

Jason joins Paul Hughes of Calgary as the 1st Canadians to assert their fundamental freedom of a right to food, which includes the right to decide what they eat, and how they access their food, through the judicial process of a constitutional challenge.

Contacts:

Jason Froats
jasonfroats [at] mac [dot]com

Paul Hughes
c403.383.3420
paul [at] paulinate [dot] com

Calgary Mayor Nenshi Promotes BUBUM... Backyard Urban Bison in Utopian Municipalities

2011-04-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

BUBUM (pronounced Buh BUM)

Calgary Mayor Nenshi Promotes BUBUM... Backyard Urban Bison in Utopian Municipalities

Food & Art Citizen Budget Engagement Conversation Potlucks

2011-03-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

“I want to go from 15 problem solvers around the Council table, to 15,000 staff who are problem solvers, to over a million citizens who can solve the problem – together.” ~Mayor Nenshi

What are your thoughts on the budget process?

Food & Art Citizen Budget Engagement Conversation Potlucks

Food Budget Engagement Potluck 29March11 @6.30pm @1028 Memorial Dr NW

Art Budget Engagement Potluck 05April11 @6.30pm @1028 Memorial Dr NW

Sunnyside LRT station is 2 blocks North.

All welcome. Contact me @403.383.3420 or paul@paulinate.com to confirm attendance.

Background:

Conversation Budget Kit Hosting Workshops (March 16-22)Eager to lead your own conversation...starting March 16 a series of workshops will be held to train citizens, staff and community organizations to host your own conversation using the Budget Kit and discussion guides, and submit your input directly to us.

Check the schedule for a convenient time.

Each year elected representatives make some hard decisions about where our tax dollars are spent. City services affect our lives every day, and the services The City delivers are the path to developing the city you envision. Budgets are a reflection of your values, priorities and needs, and a tool to deliver services that are important to citizens, Council and staff. We want you to tell us: What do you value? What is a priority to you? There’s only so much money available – how is it best spent? What trade-offs are you prepared to make to create the future we all want? Take this opportunity to get involved and have your say!

Don’t wait. Participate!

Our City. Our Budget. Our Future.

http://ourcity-ourbudget-ourfuture.blogspot.com/

LIFA: Land Inventory/Food Assessment

2011-03-10T15:54:00.000-08:00

LIFA: Land Inventory/Food Assessment

All municipalities, around the planet, should initiate a LIFA. Calgarians are embarking on a LIFA. A LIFA citizen driven group has been formed to implement the LIFA study.

Is your municipality conducting a LIFA? I encourage you to initiate this important study in you community... ASAP!

The Case for Urban Ag powerpoint.

Here's what Oakland did...

Food touches the life of every Oakland citizen. It is a basic human need on par with water,

housing, transportation and other essential urban infrastructure. Though complex and

interrelated, the food system can be conceptually broken down into five basic elements:

production, distribution, processing, consumption, and waste. These elements present

social, economic, and environmental opportunities as well as challenges to our every-day

lives and to society as a whole. Such current and interdisciplinary issues as obesity, fossil fuel

consumption, urban sprawl, and job preservation/growth can all be seen through a “food

lens.” Concerns over quality of food, access to food, and the long-term environmental

impacts of both patterns of agriculture and urban food consumption present a number of

problems that current food system relationships have not adequately addressed.

Across North America and around the world, a group of diverse actors in cities are stepping

up to identify problems within the current food system that cause harm, and are searching

for ways in which the system can be improved to provide for greater health and wellbeing of

our cities and the surrounding countryside. Many organizations in Oakland, including

departments within the City government, have been active in seeking solutions to problems

that the food system presents to the community. Over recent years, these efforts have

increased as new organizations, programs, studies, and partnerships have formed.

In June 2005, Mayor Jerry Brown’s Office of Sustainability initiated this study in order to

begin a process of evaluating each element of the food system in Oakland, and to provide

key baseline information on the various activities that represent it. On January 10, 2006, the

Oakland City Council, Life Enrichment Committee unanimously passed a resolution that:

…[authorizes] the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability to develop an Oakland

Food Policy and Plan for thirty percent local area food production, by

undertaking an initial food system assessment study, conducted by a research

team from the Department of City and Regional Planning, University of

California at Berkeley, at no cost to the City.

This baseline analysis is therefore intended to initiate discussion among City policymakers,

staff, and community members to consider the impact that the City’s food system might

have on different areas of public concern. It also begins to assess the potential for

increasing the consumption of local foods among Oakland residents. This includes

exploring how systems of production, distribution, processing, consumption, and waste, as

well as city planning and policymaking could support the objective of having at least 30

percent of the City's food needs sourced from within the City and immediate region.

Link to Oakland's LIFA

Nenshine Food Garden @Old City Hall

2011-03-10T15:07:00.001-08:00

Email sent to Mayor Nenshi & all aldermen on 15Feb11:

Dear Mayor Nenshi & Aldermen,

RE: Nenshine: The Mayor's Garden @ Old City Hall

The Calgary Food Policy Council would like to team up with your office to plant a small, albeit highly visible & symbolic food garden on the lawn outside Mayor Nenshi's office. There are numerous precedents for this across North America, including Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson & Council's Community Garden. Additionally, the CFPC teamed up with the city & Downtown Calgary to plant the Calgary Downtown Community Garden on Barclay Mall (3rd St between 5 & 6 Ave SW). It is now going into its 3rd year. Standard Life also planted the 1st Corporate Community Garden in Canada last year.

Our volunteers and technical advisors will assist your office in designing, building & maintaining the garden.

We are suggesting a small plot, roughly the size of 2 sheets of plywood or 8' x 8'. We would plant 15 small rows of the favourite vegetable of each alderman & mayor. A simple layout has been attached.

Please let me know if you would like to proceed.

Paul Hughes

City Legal & Triangle Building: 2nd Opinion on Roof

2011-03-10T14:45:00.000-08:00

The city emailed me the following letter in response to my effort to source a 2nd opinion on the Triangle Building Roof. Click to enlarge.

URGENT RELEASE: Dr Vandana Shiva event will proceed... The Show Will Go On!!

2011-03-09T12:55:00.000-08:00

URGENT RELEASE to all attendees of “An Evening with Vandana Shiva” and to all Calgarians and the media

Dr Vandana Shiva event will proceed... The Show Will Go On!!

Calgary Community Rallies to support Consortium for Peace Studies event @ Mac Hall tonight... 1000 expected to attend

Dr. Vandana Shiva, respected environmentalist, activist, philosopher and author was scheduled to speak to a sold out audience of 1000 people at Mac Hall this evening. Her visit to Calgary was prompted by the awarding of the 2011 Calgary Peace Prize, which was to be presented to her by Mayor Nenshi tomorrow evening.

With great misfortune Vandana has been unable to cross the U.S. border and enter into Canada as officials claim her Visa has expired. However we are working extremely hard with Immigration Canada to have her arrive in Calgary.

THE SHOW WILL GO ON... Calgary Community Rallies to support Consortium Peace event

A diverse line up of local eco/food/peace celebrities has volunteered to speak at the event.

Kris Vester, Paul Hughes, Wade Sirios, Hugo Bonjean & Chris Turner will each address the audience for 10 minutes, followed by a panel discussion. Numerous local agencies will also be participating and information booths will be set up so audience members can have their questions answered about local food justice & peace issues. We are also working with Mayor Nenshi’s office to have him come and speak at the event.

The Consortium for Peace Studies at the University of Calgary had planned to honor Dr. Shiva for her commitment to social justice, empowerment of women in developing countries, her advocacy of human rights and her scientific analysis of environmental sustainability.

Her talk was to address elements of the global food crisis and its relation to democracy, gender justice and the environment.

Please check with the Consortium for Peace Studies website for further information. www.ucalgary.ca/peacestudies

The Future of the SunnySide Triangle Building

2011-02-28T23:07:00.000-08:00

The Future of the SunnySide Triangle Building, located at 1020-2nd Ave NW is undetermined.

SunnySide Triangle Building Strategy Group, a citizen driven ad hoc org, has been struck.

There is no formal contact info as of yet, but I would be happy to pass on any ideas, suggestions or concerns you may have. A facebook group will be up promptly and you can also comment there. This was the FB event.

My concerns are about negligence & "Acting With Due Care". Here is my letter, dated 28Feb11, to The Mayor & Council:

Dear Calgary Mayor & Aldermen,

The following questions are with reference to the property known informally as the Sunnyside Triangle Building (STB), located at 1020-2nd Ave NW.

1. There is a question of "Act with Due Care". How was this building allowed to deteriorate to such a state (presuming the engineering report is accurate), while in the care and control of the Calgary Housing Company and the City of Calgary?

2. Who slated the Sunnyside Triangle Building (STB) to be torn down? Who decided this course of action? How was it determined?

3. Have the citizens decided the future of this building and space through an engagement process?

4. What are the timelines associated with redevelopment?

5. Is this decision an act of City of Calgary Council?

6. A. What department was responsible for the STB property prior to "people being moved out"?
6. B. What department is now responsible for the STB building and property?

7. Please provide a copy of the final engineering analysis on the roof, with all proprietary information excluded.

8. Will the City of Calgary Council assist with access to this building for the purpose of a 2nd opinion on the roof?

Respectfully,

Paul Hughes

2011 TED Prize Winner: JR

2011-02-21T23:05:00.000-08:00

Wow...

Calgary vs New York City (5 Boroughs)

2011-02-19T11:12:00.000-08:00

#YYC vs #NYC
Stats:
~1. Size? Comparable
~2. Population? 1.2M vs 11M
~3. Food Policy? Nil vs Progressive

New York is aggressively identifying all potential urban ag spaces, including lawns & rooftops. This is the NYC Land Inventory Project.

Calgary has an abundance of unused space, suitable for Urban Ag (most of Calgary is built on farmland), to the tune of 22,000 acres from an empty land inventory of almost 100,000 acres. Calgary is finally embarking on a LIFA: Land Inventory & Food System Assessment this summer, 3 years after it was first suggested to the Bronco regime.

NYC has 600 community gardens and numerous community farms.

Calgary has 50 community gardens on less than 10 acres of space & no community farms.

Calgary can become a world leader in Urban Agriculture.

CAFO: Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation

2011-02-19T10:52:00.000-08:00

70% of all antibiotics used in this country R given 2 animals in CAFOs. This is how we get 95% of our meat. #yyc

A Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) is an animal feeding facility that confines animals for more than 45 days in an area that does not produce vegetation during the growing season. The term "CAFO" was first coined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to describe facilities that have a potential pollution profile.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentrated_Animal_Feeding_Operations

Citizens back on top?

2011-02-18T10:38:00.000-08:00

Some quick comments on the YYCCC (City of Calgary City Council or Corporation of the City of Calgary) org chart. The 1st example, an older org chart, clearly has citizens at the top, reflecting democratic principles. The next, & latest version, has removed the citizens, symbolically representing the demotion given citizens by the current bureaucratic/administrative regime. It is unknown if YYCCC removed citizens intentionally, however the mere fact WE (the citizens) are absent is a massive contradiction to democratic principles & imagineCalgary targets for governance.

The last example is my quick rework to reflect the present reality, having become too impatient with the City Manager's office to do this after requesting the change last month.

Paul Hughes

City Chicks: Minimalist Coop with skylight

2011-02-16T07:47:00.000-08:00

Foxy Modern Hen Houses For Urban Chickens

City chicks listen up: you too can roost in style. Described by its designers, Matthew Hayward and Nadia Turan, as “a stylish & sculptural piece of garden furniture with breakfast thrown in,” the nogg is a modern chicken coop designed to encourage domestic urban farming while adding elegance to your—and 2-4 hens—space.

Original post

Community Gardens vs Community Farms

2011-02-13T19:07:00.000-08:00

Urban Farming Project Sites

Feeding any large city requires much more than small scale community projects like community gardens. Such projects are useful educational & recruiting vehicles but community urban farming will maximize land base utilization and produce food on a scale that will help us meet imagineCalgary targets for food production.

Built environment and infrastructure system targets
Food
T1 By 2036, Calgarians support local food production.
T2 By 2036, Calgary maintains access to reliable and quality food sources.
T3 By 2036, 100 per cent of Calgary’s food supply derives from sources that practice sustainable food production.
T4 By 2010, 100 per cent of Calgarians have access to nutritious foods.

Natural environment system targets
Land and soil
T2 By 2036, sustainable urban food production increases to five per cent.
T3 By 2036, the consumption of urban- and regionally produced food by Calgarians increases to 30 per cent.
T4 By 2010, 100 per cent of Calgarians have access to nutritious foods.

Sugar Tsunami: Hyper Driven Youth: 1,400 empty calories of pure sugar. Is this really good 4 our kids?

2011-02-12T00:58:00.000-08:00

Is this really good 4 our kids?

A Day’s Worth of Sugary Drinks Adds Up to A Whopping 93 Sugar Packets

In a continuing effort to educate New Yorkers about the potentially serious health effects of consuming sugary drinks, the NY Health Department launched the latest installment of its “Pouring On the Pounds” health education campaign. The 30-second spot shows how a day’s worth of sugary drinks can add up. Building on a previous campaign, sugar content is measured in “packets” to illustrate how a daily routine of just a few sweetened drinks can cumulate to a whopping 93 packets of sugar by the end of the day. These excessive amounts of sugar would amount to almost 1,400 empty calories of pure sugar – that’s nearly ¾ of the daily recommended calories for most adults. The spot ends with devastating images of the serious potential health consequences of obesity and diabetes.

See Video Here.

SHOK: Sugar Hurts Our Kids

Adopt-a-Stop to keep Calgary Bus Stops clean & snow free

2011-02-11T09:04:00.000-08:00

Adopt-a-Stop to keep Calgary Bus Stops clean, snow free, improve service, increase safety and reduce transit costs.

Vandana Shiva, Global Food Justice Champion, speaks in Calgary

2011-02-10T17:02:00.000-08:00

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi will present the 2011 Calgary Peace Prize to Vandana Shiva, World famous environmentalist. Vandana Shiva, Global Food Justice Champion, speaks in Calgary

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi will present the 2011 Calgary Peace Prize to Vandana Shiva, World famous environmentalist

Vandana Shiva speaks on democracy, gender, development & social justice
March 9, 2011 7:00-8:30pm
Murray Fraser Hall 162,
University of Calgary Tickets: $12.00 online;
$15 at the door
To purchase advance tickets, visit
www.netcommunity.ucalgary.ca/shiva
Or call 403-220-2136
All event information available at www.ucalgary.ca/peacestudies
Supported by: Slow Food Calgary, Calgary Centre for Global Community, Project Ploughshares, Calgary Food Policy Council, Social Work Students, Political Science Students, India Canada Association of Calgary & Shastri Indo-Canada Institute
Lecture opens with Indian Classical Music
Samosas, chai & Dr Shiva’s books will be available for purchase in the event

Park Minus

2011-02-10T01:14:00.000-08:00

Park Minus

Really Bad Predictions

2011-02-05T11:11:00.000-08:00

It will be gone by June.
~Variety, passing judgment on rock 'n roll in 1955

In all likelihood, world inflation is over.
~Per Jacobsson, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, 1959

We will bury you.
~ Nikita Krushchev, Soviet Premier, predicting Soviet communism will win over US capitalism, 1958  

Everything that can be invented has been invented. 
~Charles H. Duell, an official at the US patent office, 1899
 
I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious sensibilities of anyone.
~ Charles Darwin, in the foreword to his book, The Origin of Species, 1869
 
Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau. 
~Irving Fisher, economics professor at Yale University, 1929
 
If anything remains more or less unchanged, it will be the role of women.
~ David Riesman, conservative American social scientist, 1967
 

Democracy will be dead by 1950. 
~John Langdon-Davies, A Short History of The Future, 1936
 
A short-lived satirical pulp.
~ TIME, writing off Mad magazine in 1956
 
And for the tourist who really wants to get away from it all, safaris in Vietnam .
~Newsweek, predicting popular holidays for the late '60s
 
Four or five frigates will do the business without any military force.
~British prime minister Lord North, on dealing with the rebellious American colonies, 1774

This antitrust thing will blow over. 
~Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft
 
Remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop - because women like to get out of the house, like to handle merchandise, like to be able to change their minds.
~ TIME, 1966, in one sentence writing off e-commerce long before anyone had ever heard of it
 
They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist...
~ Last words of Gen. John Sedgwick, spoken as he looked out over the parapet at enemy lines during the Battle of Spotsylvania in 1864
 
Our country has deliberately undertaken a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far reaching in purpose.
~Herbert Hoover, on Prohibition, 1928
 
It will be years - not in my time - before a woman will become Prime Minister.
~ Margaret Thatcher, future Prime Minister, October 26th, 1969
 
Read my lips: NO NEW TAXES. 
~George Bush, 1988
 
You will be home before the leaves have fallen from the trees.
~Kaiser Wilhelm, to the German troops, August 1914
 
This is the second time in our history that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time.
~Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minister, September 30th, 1938
 
That virus is a pussycat.
~Dr. Peter Duesberg, molecular-biology professor at U.C. Berkeley, on HIV, 1988
   
Reagan doesn't have that presidential look.
~United Artists Executive, rejecting Reagan as lead in 1964 film The Best Man
 
Capitalist production begets, with the inexorability of a law of nature, its own negation. 
~Karl Marx
 
Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote. 
~Grover Cleveland, U.S. President, 1905
 
Man will not fly for 50 years. 
~Wilbur Wright, American aviation pioneer, to brother Orville, after a disappointing flying experiment, 1901 (their first successful flight was in 1903)
 
I am tired of all this sort of thing called science here... We have spent millions in that sort of thing for the last few years, and it is time it should be stopped.
~ Simon Cameron, U.S. Senator, on the Smithsonian Institute, 1901
 
The Americans are good about making fancy cars and refrigerators, but that doesn't mean they are any good at making aircraft. They are bluffing. They are excellent at bluffing.
~ Hermann Goering, Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, 1942
 
With over fifteen types of foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn't likely to carve out a big share of the market for itself. 
~Business Week, August 2, 1968
 
The multitude of books is a great evil. There is no limit to this fever for writing; every one must be an author; some out of vanity, to acquire celebrity and raise up a name, others for the sake of mere gain.
~ Martin Luther, German Reformation leader, Table Talk, 1530s(?)
 
Ours has been the first [expedition], and doubtless to be the last, to visit this profitless locality. 
~Lt. Joseph Ives, after visiting the Grand Canyon in 1861
 
There is no doubt that the regime of Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction. As this operation continues, those weapons will be identified, found, along with the people who have produced them and who guard them. 
~General Tommy Franks, March 22nd, 2003.

iC: imagineCalgary: Every single mention of the word "FOOD"

2011-01-27T12:00:00.001-08:00

iC: imagineCalgary: Every single mention of the word "FOOD"

ImagineCalgary refers to FOOD over 130 times

I took a look @ food* in imagineCalgary & ...

*surprising how some aldermen still think food is strictly a provincial or federal matter... it is most obviously a hyper local issue.

FOOD
FOOD sources derive from sustainable practices that provide us with a high quality, healthy, affordable and
secure supply of FOOD.

FOOD
T1 By 2036, Calgarians support local FOOD production.
T2 By 2036, Calgary maintains access to reliable and quality FOOD sources.
T3 By 2036, 100 per cent of Calgary’s FOOD supply derives from sources that practice sustainable FOOD
production.
T4 By 2010, 100 per cent of Calgarians have access to nutritious FOODs.

Land and soil
T2 By 2036, sustainable urban FOOD production increases to five per cent.
T3 By 2036, the consumption of urban- and regionally produced FOOD by Calgarians increases to
30 per cent.

Health and wellness
T1 By 2036, all Calgarians live in a safe and clean natural environment, as measured by the quality of its
air, water, soil and FOOD sources, plus by the lack of exposure to toxic waste.
T2 By 2036, 95 per cent of Calgarians enjoy positive and supportive living conditions, as reflected by
adequate income; high rates of employment; adequate FOOD and appropriate nutrition; appropriate,
adequate and affordable housing; and high levels of personal safety.

FOOD
System Built environment and infrastructure
Goal FOOD sources derive from sustainable practices that provide us with a high quality,
healthy, affordable and secure supply of FOOD.
1 Target
By 2036, Calgarians support local FOOD production.
Strat egy 1
Provide opportunities for local FOOD producers to easily access the Calgary FOOD marketplace.
• Subsidize local FOOD producers.
• Set aside some of The City’s landholdings for FOOD production.
• Develop land use districts for local FOOD production.
• Consider microclimate options when citing FOOD growth areas.
• Require mainstream FOOD stores to carry a certain percentage of locally produced FOOD.
• Promote community-based gardens and local farmers’ markets in various communities
within Calgary.
• Increase accessibility so small producers can participate in farmers’ markets.
Strat egy 2
Encourage household and community gardens.
• Enable green roofs for FOOD production.
• Encourage local gardens to supplement FOOD production.
• Utilize spaces within The City’s park space inventory for local FOOD production.
Strat egy 3
Establish educational programs on the benefits of supporting local FOOD suppliers.
2 Target
By 2036, Calgary maintains access to reliable and quality FOOD sources.
Strat egy 1
Ensure FOOD sources are affordable and derived from secure and reliable suppliers.
3 Target
By 2036, 100 per cent of Calgary’s FOOD supply derives from sources that practice sustainable
FOOD production.
Strat egy 1
Promote sustainable FOOD production.
• Establish educational programs about sustainable FOOD production.
• Develop awareness programs about where our FOOD comes from and how far it has travelled.
• Indicate the distance that FOOD has travelled to get to your door.
• Discourage the use of chemicals in the production of FOOD.
Strat egy 2
Foster opportunities for farmers’ markets to locate within Calgary.
built environment & infrastructure system
1 8 i m a g i n e C A L G A R Y — S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 7
Copyright © 2006, The City of Calgary. All rights reserved.
FOOD
System Built environment and infrastructure
Goal FOOD sources derive from sustainable practices that provide us with a high quality,
healthy, affordable and secure supply of FOOD.

4 Target
By 2010, 100 per cent of Calgarians have access to nutritious FOODs.
Strat egy 1
Direct FOOD surpluses to those in need.
Strat egy 2
Establish educational programs about making healthy FOOD choices.
Strat egy 3
Use FOOD banks to provide nutritious FOODs to those in need.

Waste management
Assist in the development of markets that use waste as a resource.
• Support using the organic wastes currently in landfills to generate gas for energy.
• Create accessible composting facilities throughout city.
• Develop “energy from waste” programs as technologies become available and proven.
• Enable opportunities for waste generated from construction activities to be utilized by individuals
or other businesses.
•
• Promote opportunities for industries to utilize by-products (waste) from other industries
in their businesses (e.g. waste heat could be used to heat greenhouses that increase local
FOOD production).

By 2036, 85 per cent of waste materials are converted to other useful products.
Strat egy 1
Support the use of organic materials for composting.
• Develop a city-wide organic collection system.
• Support community composting to support local FOOD production.
• Promote backyard composting.

Sufficient income
System Economic
Goal All Calgarians have sufficient income and other resources to meet their current and
future needs and to provide for healthy lives.

Enable more people to participate in the economy in a sustainable fashion by exploring the
social economy and promoting it through various policies and financial instruments, such as
micro-loans and specialized venture capital funds.
Strat egy 7
Explore and promote ways for people to make the most out of their money through
• better access to local or cheaper FOOD sources (e.g. farmer markets, garden sharing/communal
gardens).

Air
System Natural environment
Goal Calgarians value the quality of clean air, recognizing it as the most basic need for
survival. Treasuring clear, bright skies, we steward our airshed and responsibly
address climate change. Economic and social activities protect all living things by
ensuring healthy air quality indoors and out.

5 Target
By 2036, Calgary’s ecological footprint decreases to below the 2001 Canadian average of
7.25 hectares per capita.
Strat egy 1
Mitigate the environmental impacts of transportation, including for work, recreation,
trade, etc.
• Invest in public transportation and bicycle lanes.
• Integrate land use and transportation planning to counter low density, segregated land use and
vehicle dependence (a.k.a. sprawl).
• Encourage people to walk or bicycle whenever possible.
• Encourage people to carpool or take public transportation to work instead of driving alone.
• Encourage people to drive smaller, more fuel-efficient cars and keep them well maintained.
• Encourage people to buy more locally grown FOODs and locally produced goods, to reduce the
need for transportation.

Land and soil
System Natural environment
Goal Fertile soil is vital to maintaining life. Calgarians are responsible stewards of land,
maintaining the life-supporting processes integral to healthy, intact ecosystems.
We use and share our land wisely and equitably.
Strategy 4
Develop incentives to support businesses that operate in environmentally sustainable ways.
• Offer support for attracting and retaining sustainable industry.
• Ensure industrial and business centres are designed to be eco-efficient.
• Enhance e-commerce infrastructure within Calgary.
• Provide incentives for companies wanting to be located in eco-parks.
• Provide property tax incentives for green homes/properties (e.g. smaller homes).
• Promote sustainable practices like LEED.

2 Target
By 2036, sustainable urban FOOD production increases to five per cent.
Strat egy 1
Support and develop land use, public regulations and infrastructure that promote urban
FOOD production.
• Promote the farming of unused and underused lands.
• Establish a percentage of urban land to be set aside for FOOD production
(e.g. community gardens).
• Develop land use districts for urban FOOD production.
• Introduce urban agriculture as part of housing development.
• Consider areas with appropriate microclimates to place FOOD growth areas.
Strat egy 2
Extend appropriate farm-related services and other consumer opportunities to urban farmers.
• Establish subsidies for local FOOD producers.
• Require mainstream FOOD stores to carry certain a percentage of locally produced FOOD.
• Increase accessibility to allow small producers to participate in farmers’ markets.
Strat egy 3
Encourage the development of household, community and public FOOD gardens.
• Allow green roofs for FOOD production.
• Encourage people to plant rear yard gardens to supplement FOOD production.
• Grow FOOD in city parks, on hospital grounds, on school grounds and on other appropriate lands.
• Encourage FOOD banks to develop their own gardens through sweat equity.
• Promote community-based gardens and local farmers’ markets in various Calgary communities.
Strat egy 4
Educate the public and professionals about unsustainable land use patterns and
opportunities for local FOOD production.
• Educate about composting, gardens, soil conservation and surface permeability.
• Educate about the benefits of local FOOD production, such as increasing the link between urban
and rural lands.
• Promote and develop FOOD production training.
• Support smart growth that steers development away from farmland with good quality soil.

Land and soil
System Natural environment
Goal Fertile soil is vital to maintaining life. Calgarians are responsible stewards of land,
maintaining the life-supporting processes integral to healthy, intact ecosystems.
We use and share our land wisely and equitably.

3 Target
By 2036, the consumption of urban- and regionally produced FOOD by Calgarians increases to
30 per cent.

Strat egy 1
Educate the public about unsustainable land use patterns and opportunities for local
FOOD production.
• Educate about composting, gardens, soil conservation and surface permeability.
• Educate about the benefits of local FOOD production, such as increasing the link between urban
and rural lands.
• Provide information on the outcomes of applying full cost accounting to FOOD (production,
delivery, transportation, etc.).
Strat egy 2
Increase market access to locally produced FOOD, such as through supermarkets, farmers’
markets, restaurants, etc.
• Support the slow FOOD movement in restaurants.
• Require mainstream FOOD stores to carry a certain percentage of locally produced FOOD.
• Work with the provincial government and health authorities to research and promote the use of
locally produced FOOD.
Strat egy 3
Use economic/financial mechanisms to capture the costs of FOOD and provide incentives to
purchase in a sustainable way.
• Apply full cost accounting (cost and benefit analysis) to FOOD (production, delivery,
transportation, etc.).
• Establish environmental taxes to discourage unsustainable practices.

4 Target
By 2036, there is zero per cent new soil contamination.
Strategy 1
Educate residents, organizations and business about the advantages of soil fertility.
• Establish FOOD gardens.
• Educate the public on the value of soil.

6 Target
By 2036, Calgary’s ecological footprint decreases to below the 2001 Canadian average of
7.25 hectares per capita.
Strategy 1
Improve FOOD consumption to reflect sustainable living.
• Use product labelling and certification systems to guide consumption and green procurement.
• Establish reliable certification systems to give people the choice to buy products that are grown/
harvested in sustainable ways.
• Avoid dependence on imports that are produced with destructive consequences to people and
ecosystems.
• Encourage people not to overeat, but to consume the calories appropriate for their ages and
levels of activity.
• Encourage people to eat more grains, vegetables and natural FOODs.
• Support local agriculture, sustainable farming methods and nutritional education.

Strategy 2
Create educational programs that address unsustainable consumption patterns
and promote
sustainable practices.
• Increase public literacy on why and how to reduce the consumption
of threatened
ecosystem resources.
• Encourage producers

Health and wellness
System Social
Goal Calgary is known for its attention to a healthy lifestyle. We sustain physical, mental
and social well-being. In circumstances in which health is compromised, we can easily
access knowledge and services. Ecological, social and economic interconnectedness is
reflected in our support for well-being.
1 Target
By 2036, all Calgarians live in a safe and clean natural environment, as measured by the
quality of its air, water, soil and FOOD sources, plus by the lack of exposure to toxic waste.

Health and wellness
System Social
Goal Calgary is known for its attention to a healthy lifestyle. We sustain physical, mental
and social well-being. In circumstances in which health is compromised, we can easily
access knowledge and services. Ecological, social and economic interconnectedness is
reflected in our support for well-being.

2
Target
By 2036, 95 per cent of Calgarians enjoy positive and supportive living conditions, as reflected
by adequate income; high rates of employment; adequate FOOD and appropriate nutrition;
appropriate, adequate and affordable housing; and high levels of personal safety.
Indicators
• Unemployment rates remain below five per cent for all demographic groups in Calgary.
• Disparities between the income levels of the richest and poorest Calgarians, as measured by
the Gini coefficient, do not exceed 0.25 (over 0.3 in 2006, while 0.25 is common in
Scandinavian countries).
• All parents report that they have enough money to buy sufficient FOOD for their children all of
the time (80 per cent to 85 per cent in 2006).
• FOOD banks and FOOD supplement programs are not required.

T arg e t D e v e lopm e nt
i m a g i n e C A L G A R Y — S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 7

This document provides background context for understanding the imagineCALGARY targets. These targets were
developed using a wide range of research, expert analysis and the collective wisdom of participants in the multidisciplinary
working group process. Guided by the 100-year goals, these create a reference point for the community to determine
individual and collective action.

FOOD
T1 By 2036, Calgarians support
local FOOD production.
• Local FOOD production is important to promote as it reduces the need to
rely on FOOD from sources that are beyond our control, it reduces the high
costs and energy consumption associated with transporting our FOOD and
it supports opportunities for local FOOD producers. The population within
Calgary requires a significant amount of FOOD to sustain itself, and it is
unlikely a significant amount of our FOOD can be produced locally, given
our climate and soil conditions. Therefore, a numerical value has not been
assigned to the amount of local FOOD production that will be achieved
within Calgary — only that it will be optimized.
• There is no data available to describe how much FOOD is being produced
within Calgary. However, it is recognized that according to the Alberta
Government, 71.5 per cent of Calgarians participated in gardening
activities during 2004. This is down slightly from the 2000 level of 73.5
per cent. These figures do not make the distinction between leisure
(aesthetic) and FOOD gardening.

T2 By 2036, Calgary maintains
access to reliable and quality
FOOD sources.
• At regular intervals, we should ensure we are maintaining access to
reliable and quality FOOD sources. FOOD security exists when all people,
at all times, have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious FOOD to meet
their dietary needs and FOOD preferences for active and healthy lives. FOOD
security includes, at a minimum, (1) the ready availability of nutritionally
adequate and safe FOODs and (2) an assured ability to acquire acceptable
FOODs in socially acceptable ways (that is, without resorting to emergency
FOOD supplies, scavenging, stealing or other coping strategies).
T3 By 2036, 100 per cent of
Calgary’s FOOD supply derives
from sources that practice
sustainable FOOD production.
• Many FOOD producers do not practice sustainable FOOD production.
In many cases, there is considerable use of chemicals, there is no
consideration for the long-term impacts of producing FOOD in certain
ways and there are practices that do not operate under fair trade
practices. This target is intended to address the practices of those
supplying FOOD to Calgarians and to encourage us to move to more
sustainable sources and practices.
T4 By 2010, 100 per cent of
Calgarians have access to
nutritious FOODs.
• In countries, provinces and cities as well off as ours, all people should
have access to nutritious FOOD. Currently, FOOD banks are still required to
provide FOOD to those unable to access FOOD. This target looks at a shorter
time frame than 30 years and directs us to ensure nutritious FOODs are
available to all people.

T2 By 2036, sustainable urban
FOOD production increases to
five per cent.
There is no data available to describe how much FOOD is being produced
within Calgary. However, it is recognized that according to the Alberta
Government (Alberta Recreation Survey), 71.5 per cent of Calgarians
participated in gardening activities during 2004. This is down slightly from
the 2000 level of 73.5 per cent. These figures do not discriminate between
leisure (aesthetic) and FOOD gardening. Other studies (Sustainable Calgary,
2004 State of the City Report) indicate a growing number of Calgarians are
participating in community gardens; however, these lands are becoming
increasingly vulnerable to land development. Vancouver has set a target of
a five per cent increase in urban FOOD production, based on their already
high level of production (above 50 per cent). A five per cent production
increase would, for instance, mean an increase of five per cent of the land
set aside for FOOD production on each residential lot in Calgary.
This equals approximately 6.5 to 14 square metres of each lot dedicated to
FOOD production.

T3 By 2036, the consumption of
urban- and regionally produced
FOOD by Calgarians increases to
30 per cent.
This is backcasted from 100 per cent in 2106 and uses zero per cent as a
base. According to Sustainable Calgary, the numbers of farmers’ markets,
vendors and visitors have all increased. This favourable trend bodes well
for the residents’ independence from FOOD produced outside the region.
Increasing this trend will reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions
related to transporting FOOD long distances and will improve soil quality,
which in turn will improve overall ecological health.

Water
T4 By 2036, watershed health — as
measured by loss of wetlands,
water quality, non-compliance
with pollution standards, instream
flow and groundwater
levels — improves.
Watersheds are a reflection of the health of our natural environment. Water
quality and water quantity are directly impacted by human intervention
in ecosystems – from the way we construct our communities, including
residential development and infrastructure, to the way we live on a daily
basis, including driving habits that cause air/soil pollution to waste creation
from certain consumption patterns. Ecosystems that involve fresh water
produce countless essential ecological goods and services, like human
health maintenance, air and water purification, nutrient cycling, FOOD
production and waste treatment. Freshwater ecosystems provide habitat for
numerous species of plants and animals, including fish, shellfish, mammals
and birds. These services need to be protected for long-term sustainability.
When freshwater decreases in quantity and quality, there is a long-term
cost to attempting to replace lost ecological goods and services. As Calgary
attracts more people and grows faster, the greater its influence is likely to
be on surrounding areas. In Calgary’s case, growing industrial production
and higher levels of income in particular place even more pressure on areas
of sensitivity.

Health and wellness
T1 By 2036, all Calgarians live
in a safe and clean natural
environment, as measured by
the quality of its air, water, soil
and FOOD sources, plus by the
lack of exposure to toxic waste.
Human health is deeply affected by the health of the natural environment.
Healthy individuals form a healthy community.
T2 By 2036, 95 per cent of
Calgarians enjoy positive and
supportive living conditions, as
reflected by adequate income;
high rates of employment;
adequate FOOD and appropriate
nutrition; appropriate, adequate
and affordable housing; and
high levels of personal safety.
Socio-economic factors directly impact the health status of individuals and
communities. Calgary’s widening income gap, and the issues that go with
it, are significant risks to the health of our community.

P R I M A R Y TA R G E T C O N N E C T I O N S
FOOD
Target 1
Increase local
FOOD production
• goods and
services
• economic
well-being
• land and soil • lifelong learning
• sense of community
Target 2
Maintain secure
and reliable
FOOD sources
• goods and
services
• economic
well-being
• health and wellness
Target 3
Increase
sustainable
FOOD production
• goods and
services
• economic
well-being
• land and soil • health and wellness
• lifelong learning
Target 4
Ensure access to
nutritious FOODs
• economic
well-being
• sufficient
income
• health and wellness
• lifelong learning

Goods and services
Target 1
Align with
a sustainable
business
practice ethic
• economic
well-being
• air
• water
• health and wellness
• sense of community

Need Built Economic Governance Natural Social
Target 2
Diversity of locally
based businesses
• FOOD • economic
well-being
• sense of community
Target 3
Responsible
consumers
• FOOD • economic
well-being
• soil
• air
• lifelong learning

Target 4
Complete
communities
with daily
goods and
services
• FOOD
• housing
• air • lifelong learning
• sense of community

Land and soil

Target 2
Increase urban
FOOD production
• FOOD
• energy
• transportation
• goods and
services
• economic
well-being
• meaningful
work
• water
• plants and
animals
• lifelong learning
• sense of community

Target 3
Increase urban
and regional FOOD
consumption
• energy
• transportation
• goods and
services
• economic
well-being
• meaningful
work
• water
• plants and
animals
• health and wellness
• lifelong learning

Calgary Hoarding Art Projects update 25Jan11

2011-01-25T09:51:00.000-08:00

% Completion on Calgary Hoarding Project: 50%
Projected install date: 14Feb11 V-Day

Our next project... Looks more like Buffalo, NY than Calgary.

Paulinate :::: Paulin8

Vicious Animal vs Non-Vicious, Friendly, Food Producing Animal

Ready 2 Run in Ward 7

Fantasy Island: Alberta taxpayers finance $250Million+ Playground in Calgary

Druh Farrell introduces "The Red Cart"

The "Magic Pullet" for Household Food Security: CLUCK Red Deer Pilot Project Approved!

If you have questions about this project, whether you can take part, or anything else, please contact us through this page or at CLUCK.RedDeer [at] gmail [dot] com

CLUCK Red Deer on FB http://www.facebook.com/groups/CLUCKRedDeer/

CLUCK Canada on FB http://www.facebook.com/groups/CLUCKCANADA/

The 5 Freedoms: Basic rights for animals

Bridge 2 Nowhere

Facebook: Say NO to another $25 Million Bridge in Calgary

Canadian Right to Food Trial: 05-09March2012 in Calgary, Alberta

A) The jurisdiction of a municipality to determine what we consume.

B) The default consumption model for citizens when personal production, cultivation, growing, raising & household food security is denied.

C) Sustainability of urban ag methods.

D) The Right to Food as guaranteed and protected by the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, Article 25 and subsequent legislation, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966

E) The unconstitutionality of the City of Calgary bylaw based on The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 1982, S1, S2, S7 & S15 arguments. Substantial breach and violation of rights.

F) The hypocrisy of the City of Calgary's public policies, three of which have been ratified and approved by council.

G) Poor governance practices on the part of the City of Calgary which contravene the Alberta Municipal Government Act, MGA:M-26-3:

Municipal :3) The purposes of a municipality are:(a) to provide good government

H) International obligations and responsibilities, pursuant to the UNHRD & ICESSCC.

I) Appropriate remedy. This is presumably based on reasonableness.

As you can read, chicken has not been mentioned once in these 9 points. It is no longer an argument about chickens, per se. The CR2FT is a Right to Food issue now, with consequences that impact all Canadians.

22 countries now have a Right to Food enshrined in their constitution as a result of each nation embracing their international obligations, as set forth in the UNHRD.

It is Canada's turn to meet its international responsibilities and obligations, and to protect the charter rights of its citizens.

Happy 70th Birthday, Muhammad Ali... Your legacy is still butterfly & Bee

Muhammad Ali's legacy still butterfly and bee

The Economic Case for Urban Agriculture & Household Food Security

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Calgary Art News: Marnie Burkhart Exhibition 09Feb2012

St Pat's Housing for the Homeless is successful!

Occupy Calgary Olympic Plaza Faction & Bill Bruce, City of Calgary Bylaw Director

It's 2011... Time to STOP KILLING of Big Game in Canada

NEW Seven Wonders of the Natural World

CBC, HNIC & Profanity/Racism

11.11.11 11:11:11 Remembrance Day, Poppy Day, Armistice Day 2011

Nenshi Jam

Sisters & Brothers: This is an independent proposal 2 all #OccupyCalgary participants. Attn: No commitments have been made.

05Oct11

Sisters & Brothers:

This is an independent proposal 2 all #OccupyCalgary participants.

Attn: No commitments have been made.

This is a proposal that has been researched and discussed, NO commitments have been made.

Via a conversation with a representative of Calgary City Police and a representative of the City of Calgary, we have a SUGGESTION on how the Occupy Calgary event can unfold in a respectful, responsible & safe manner.

Tenatively, the base camp would be established for aprox 2 weeks at Centenary Park, with portable toilets, water and clearly designated camping spots. There would be an area for daily assemblies and group gatherings. After 2 weeks, we would review with The City of Calgary & Calgary Police Service.

The CPS has indicated that they would like to work together. We have been invited to a meeting tomorrow @ 9am at CPS HQ to discuss the details of #OccupyCalgary and how we can HOST our event so that Public Safety is achieved.

Again, NO commitments have been made.

My humble suggestion to the General Assembly is we meet with the CPS/City of Calgary and finalize the above option.

Again, NO commitments have been made.

Respectfully,

Paul Hughes

Occupy Wall Street Posters #OccupyWallStreet #99

Dr Vandana Shiva arrives in Calgary! 23Sep11

Food Policy & the Political Foundation of a Local Food System: Saskatoon

Food For Thought: A celebration of Local Food Producers, Chefs & People Calgary 15October, 2011

Food 4 Thought 15Oct11 @2255 Crowchild TrailA celebration of Local Food Producers, Chefs & People

Graffiti: Yes, Comrade, we love our pure, unadulterated, grey infrastructure. Yay 4 Grey!

50 Best Neighbourhoods in Calgary... Only 1 east of Deerfoot Trail

Raw Milk = Real Milk

Fiskars & Canadian Tire are slave drivers, but we got it done! Flowers 4 @algernon

YYCCC Research & Decision-Making Flow Chart Improvement Recommendation 1.0

Start Food Policy Councils

YYCCC has massive rooftop farming capacity, yet EMPTY

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#1 Barrier 2 imagineCalgary Targets? These guys get my vote...

KidsFarm Institute Inc is a registered society in Alberta

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Mayor Nenshi "I support the Urban Chicken Pilot Project"

Sprawl Repair Manual

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FFWD Weekly Best of Calgary: Most Dedicated Activist: Paulin8

Andres Duany, founder of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, to speak in Calgary

YYC Bumper Bin Solution: Inserts

Agri-Urban Spectrum

Emily Carr aka Small "Big Raven"

GET IT NEW YORK! 3,500 gallons of Raw Milk a day!

How 2 transition #BlackCarts 2 #GreenBoxes

Municipal :
3) The purposes of a municipality are:
(a) to provide good government

Food 4 Thought 15Oct11 @2255 Crowchild Trail
A celebration of Local Food Producers, Chefs & People