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...
