Where Local Sustainable Food Policy Meets Action
It was called “re-imagining our cities,” but the summit was just as much about re-imagining Canada’s social democrats — the New Democratic Party, now positioning itself as a national government in waiting. At one of its first public events since electing Tom Mulcair federal leader, an invitation-only conference hosted by the federal NDP and York [...]
Did you hear the one about a physicist, a chemist, and an economist who were stranded on a desert island without any food, when all of a sudden a can of beans was washed ashore? The physicist identifies the pressure points in the can and proposes pounding it with a rock until there’s an opening. [...]
Four uprisings of global significance surprised the world in 2011, and the spirit of all four will surprise those who manage the food system in 2012—which leads to my choice of year-end and year-beginning indicators that pick up the colors of these uprisings in emerging habits related to eating. North American sales of local food [...]
The people of Ontario have taken two weeks of being kicked in the assets following the release of bank economist Don Drummond’s report on government overspending. The document is one-third wake-up call (we’re spending a lot of money very inefficiently), one-third call to arms for some bold eco-economic thinking and one-third shock therapy designed to [...]
Okay, I admit it, the Canadian Urban Institute’s new report doesn’t exactly have a catchy title. But don’t be deceived – Repositioning Age-Friendly Communities: Opportunities To Take AFC Mainstream, far from being a staid policy tract, is actually counselling a radical shakeup in the way cities plan. The operative phrase is “universal design,” and the [...]
Whatever happens in his 330-pound challenge, Mayor Rob Ford has a lot to gain or lose politically from the big publicity splash of his pledge to cut 50 pounds, the halfway mark for his long-term commitment to a healthier weight. The problem is, any effort to cut 2 pounds a week for six months can’t [...]
One of the first lessons most of us learned at our mother’s knee about table manners. Hold back before gobbling the grub, and share a moment with everyone at the table to say “grace,” or some toast for all there is to be grateful for. At the end of the meal, at the very latest, [...]
Four uprisings of global significance surprised the world in 2011, and the spirit of all four will surprise those who manage the food system in 2012—which leads to my choice of year-end and year-beginning indicators that pick up the colors of these uprisings in emerging habits related to eating. North American sales of local food [...]
Fair Trade sales have skyrocketed to 70 times what they were a decade ago, but – here comes the bad news – Fair Traders are now suffering from their first serious food fight. Fair trade practices have been especially helpful for coffee farmers around the world. (Photo credit: Bernard Pollack) Fair Trade is the best-known [...]
By Wayne Roberts Citywatch: Whether it’s action or traction in the food world, cities are stepping up to the plate. The world is fast going urban, as are challenges of social, economic and environmental well-being. Citywatch is crucial to Worldwatch. Wayne Roberts, retired manager of the world-renowned Toronto Food Policy Council, has his eye out for [...]
Take a pass on food guides, ingredient pyramids, and with any diet books that feature pro-carb, anti-carb, low-fat or packaged solutions of any sort. The emphasis of the food movement may be shifting towards nutrition and the fight against heavily processed foods. Go fresh! The whole field of nutrition – all the way from basic [...]
It’s a given that better food habits can help cure what ails individual bodies that are overweight or undernourished, but what if better food habits on the part of city governments can just as effectively help cure what ails the body politic. Our current urban-rural divide needs to be addressed if we want to truly [...]
Wayne’s November 19, 2011 memorial tribute to Dale Roberts: Welcome, and thank for you coming to this celebration of Dale Roberts. I hope we can share many happy memories together, and support each other through our sorrow. Dale wanted this gathering to enjoy one of her favorite views, which I think offers a lovely picture [...]
Last week, the flashbulb explosion met the population explosion, as news cameras clicked at several newborns identified as the seventh billion humans in the world. Now that the global birthday party is over, it’s time for new thinking about preparing food for a party of seven billion. As our population continues to grow, improving urban [...]
This week’s blog comes to you via World Watch: Nourishing the Planet. I have been posting my articles on their site for some time and am hoping that it will encourage my readers to check out their site and vice-versa. This week I offer my view on why Occupy grabs attention and starts a new [...]
There will be no hogs in Hogtown’s future, but neither does there appear to be any squealing. Toronto’s pre-eminence as a food processing center — the city has long been second only to Chicago in North American food manufacturing – took a hit last week when Maple Leaf Foods shed 1550 jobs from its Canada-wide [...]
A lot of people gave the middle finger to Ontario’s political system last week. Leaving aside any feelings of joy, relief or disappointment about specific election results, these fingers are the signs of a full-fledged democratic deficit that may prove as ominous as our runaway financial and environmental deficits. I’m worried that half of all [...]
This week’s blog comes to you via World Watch: Nourishing the Planet. I have been posting my articles on their site for sometime and am hoping that it will encourage my readers to check out their site and visa-versa. So without further adoo, Click Here http://bit.ly/rmNngz to read about how cities can eat their way [...]
The way things look now, it will be as much work keeping up with Jack’s afterlife as it was keeping up with the pace he set in his all-too-brief life down here. His death on August 21 kindled an extraordinary national wide outpouring of sorrow, love and spiritual reflection that will go down in history [...]
Economic geeks tell a joke about Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates that goes a long way to explaining why so many cities face a budgetary crisis that can result in serious tears in the city’s social fabric while undermining its ability to invest in projects that beautify and restore the environment. Gates was crossing a border [...]
Thank you for organizing this time to show appreciation for Jack Layton, a central figure in the success story of public health in Canada. Jack gave us many gifts during the many vibrant days of his lifetime, and left us with a monumental gift during his fatal illness, when his generous and giving spirit was [...]
Before I outline how this could be done, I should explain why I didn’t hand in this article last week, as originally promised. I faced computer problems that Bell Telephone’s exasperating voicemail machines couldn’t respond to, on the very same day I was trying to pack for an eight-day canoe trip while writing a complex [...]
I’ve waited patiently the last two months to see if some city government or health official somewhere might respond to Nature Magazine’s breakthrough article on urban stressors affecting mental illness. Regrettably, there is no gravy, corruption, hacking or sex scandal to make this a story. It’s just the same- old, same-old professional specialists and government [...]
You don’t really get to know some people until you know them when they’re down. That’s a problem for anyone who wants to write about Jack Layton, the leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, who’s taking a medical leave while he delas with some health setbacks. Even during his media conference announcing hard news on [...]
A lot of people blame fast buck artists for bringing on the 2008 economic crash, but few have yet looked to slow money artistry to get the economy moving in a better direction. For social investment promoter Woody Tasch, however, the crash was an aha moment that led him to take his stand: the buck [...]
I met a beer whisperer at a party last week. She helps beer with real personality express the good times it’s had, the food it wants to pair with, and its place in the proletarian taste division of the local and sustainable food movement. Her name is Tracy Phillippi, and she’s a high-level beer hound [...]
One nice thing about early posting of the fixed date for Ontario’s upcoming election (October 6, don’t you know?) is that all parties have the same lead time to drop early platform stupidities without too many people noticing. The NDP would be smart to use this headstart to bury promises to phase out harmonized sales [...]
By Wayne Roberts There’s only one issue that gets all right-thinking North Americans yelling out of the far left side of their mouth. Roads. It’s almost universally believed that roads should be built by the state, from each according to the government’s ability, and to each according to their need. Some political junkies think medicare [...]
To read more about the challenges of Toronto food policy in the past and where food policies are heading see how my interview with Supriya Kumar from Worldwatch unfolded here Part Two of the Same Interview can be found here
Cuts to Government Services, But not to Double Standards By Wayne Roberts Politicians at all levels are promising more cuts to government expenses without any cut to services. For politicians, this is better than a gift that keeps on giving. It’s a promise they can keep on promising. For most of the past 40 years, [...]
PLASTIC BAGS By Wayne Roberts The looming Toronto council debate about ending the five cent fee required for disposable bags from food retailers wastes almost as much energy as plastic bags made from fossil fuels. No matter what this council decides, the war on plastic bags has barely begun. From a global perspective, Toronto’s decision [...]
I was fortunate to be asked to contribute to Alison Blay-Palmer’s new book, Imagining Sustainable Food Systems. It’s a terrific read — I encourage you to pick it up. For a sample of what you might expect, you can download my chapter for free. A review of the book appeared in the May 2011 issue [...]
Food is a many-splendored thing, so the more we learn about it, the more we discover new ways to look for it, and come to appreciate why the centre of gravity for food thinking keeps lurching in different directions. This year’s Earth Day is time to name and celebrate a signpost on the latest lurch [...]
Wayne’s spoke in Red Deer, Alberta, at their exciting Pathways2Sustainability conference; a reporter’s preview of the talk is available here: http://permaculturebc.com/Wayne-Roberts-Food-Security-Organic Watch Wayne’s Keynote:
LECTURE 2:30 – 4 PM STUFFED & STARVED THE HIDDEN BATTLE FOR THE WORLD’S FOOD SYSTEM Gardiner Museum Terrace Room* 111 Queen’s Park Crescent *NEW VENUE $12 General Admission / $10 Students TICKETS AT THE DOOR LIMITED SEATING, ARRIVE EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT PS — It’s moderated by the lovely and talented Lori Stahlbrand [...]
The narrow defeat of Canadian Conservative efforts to de-register rifle ownership will produce a lingering hangover for positive political and social movements, as Conservatives gear up to foment rural-urban divisions. The urban-rural divide that emerged during the rifle registration debate has been manufactured by slick urban bluebloods as a political gift that they hope will [...]
Driving from Toronto to Halifax last week to help move my daughter Anika into King’s College, I had a lot of quiet time to rehearse a rant against a recent flurry of attacks against local food systems by right-wing extremists across North America. I was pretty happy with some of my vitriolic lines until we [...]
Yellowknife and Hay River “We’re so far behind up here that we’re ahead,” Evellyn Coleman told me, explaining why her Territorial Farmers Association, the first in North America to consider accepting backyard and community gardeners as full members, was inviting me up to speak in the Northwest Territories. Just south of the Arctic tundra, where [...]
Imitation is the highest form of flattery, and the intricate form of food production practiced by peasants through much of Asia and South America still express that flattery in relation to Nature. In the Global North, all food production except hunting and gathering is commonly referred to as agriculture. But in the Global South, the [...]
By sheer luck, our family stumbled on a little-known urban success story while looking for a place to crash in Quebec City that offered direct access to the throughway to northern Quebec, where our daughter was going to learn French. Right next to Quebec City’s famous central core, preserved as a walled monument of an [...]
Visiting Japan a few years ago changed the way I look at the difference between conventional and nuclear war. On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima became the target for the first atomic bomb dropped on civilian populations, a chilling example of the use of non-conventional weapons. That moment is now commemorated around the world every August. [...]
The following remarks were delivered by Wayne at a June 29 party of 130 people celebrating his ten years with the Toronto Food Policy Council and Toronto Public Health. Liz Janzen, the recently retired director of Toronto Public Health, who did so much to champion the Toronto Food Policy Council and many other bold initiatives, [...]
Canadian Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff released his proposed national food policy on April 26. Policy-wise, the dish makes for slim pickin’s, mostly overcooked, a bit stale, loaded with artificial sweeteners and flavors, low on basic nutrients. But that’s not the point. Ignatieff is Canada’s first major political leader to stake out ground for the next [...]
(Adapted from NOW Magazine, 2000-1) When I went on a welfare diet last week, I didn’t realize just how quickly I would have to swallow my pride. At the request of Daily Bread Food Bank, about 20 politicians, journalists and policy wonks agreed to try eating on the same budget as people on social assistance. [...]
Most people think of food as tax-free, but it’s not. The issue is not so much the absence of taxes on food, but the lack of purpose behind them. The general public calls such levies tax grabs. Among fans of smart public policy, they’re called dumb taxes. The federal government, with which most provinces will [...]
President Barack Obama’s efforts at reforming the U.S. approach to medical care won’t win many imitators in other countries. Indeed, he’s likely to be upstaged in global health debates by First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign against childhood obesity. Lady Obama launched a Let’s Move anti-obesity campaign on February 9, and is already catching up with [...]
The best publisher’s freebie on the ’Net these days is the February special issue of Science devoted to Food Security. But, as with all things gratis, it rolls out a welcome mat to something else that should raise more questions than gratitude for the free pass. It’s an indicator of the potential of the emerging [...]
A review of Raj Patel, The Value of Nothing: Why Everything Costs so Much More Than We Think (Harper Collins) I can barely contain my enthusiasm for Raj Patel’s book on the failings of market-driven societies, but at this stage of my and my younger daughter’s life, all I can think is: what a terrific [...]
The British government raised the bar on New Year’s Resolutions on January 4 when it released its 20 years worth of pledges in Food 2030. Eat more fruits and veg, lose weight, buy local, sustainable and fair trade, grow your own, stop wasting so much, make full use of people power… the list goes on. [...]
Money talks, power whispers – it’s a norm of politics that may be challenged at the Copenhagen conference, which will decide if the world’s power brokers are ready to adopt a treaty in time to prevent irreversible climate pollution. For the dozen years since the Kyoto protocol of 1997 was adopted, someone or other has [...]
Any number multiplied by 27 billion will be fairly big, so the prospects of the planet coming up with three meals a day for nine billion humans on the planet some 40 years from now has some people worried. The worrying went mainstream during 2007 when a sudden hike in the price of groceries fomented [...]
The following is an excerpt, written by Wayne, and edited by Christina Palassio and Alana Wilcoxfor The Edible City: Toronto’s Food from Farm to Fork. The Edible City: Toronto’s Food from Farm to Fork asks: if a city is its people, and its people are what they eat, then shouldn’t food play a larger role [...]
A lot of people were upset to learn that their best friend was a major global warming culprit. According to the October 23 issue of the New Scientist, pet owners can no longer look down on SUV owners as if they alone belonged in the eco-criminal doghouse. New Zealand green architects Brenda and Robert Vale [...]
The Ontario government has a new theory about the cause of the global recession. To share this breakthrough in economic analysis, Minister of Education Kathleen Wynne announced on November 2 that she will require that financial literacy be integrated into the school curriculum from grade 4 on in order to “promote a stronger economy.” According [...]
Cities Alive, the first world congress of green roofers held in Toronto, put me a little over the top, so as chair of the October 19 session on urban agriculture, I opened the event as if it were a wedding ceremony. Dearly beloved, I intoned, and went the whole nine yards on Sustainable Urban Design [...]
Sneak preview of Wayne Roberts’ controversial article from Alternatives’ new issue, Work. Watch for it newsstands next week. Suppose they had a depression and nobody came? Instead of accepting today’s economic downturn as a pink slip that can’t be refused, what if our governments reacted as if they had received a Facebook invitation: by selecting [...]
As we pass the first anniversary of the recession brought on by the crash and burn of houses of financial speculation and ill repute, who still remembers the great one-liner from Rahm Emanuel, chief of staff for then-presidential contender Barrack Obama, who gave his version of “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste.” As [...]
One pundit had it exactly right. It’s no wonder, he sneered, that many environmentalists ignore Norman Borlaug, the father of the Green Revolution: Borlaug “actually thinks man can do something useful by altering nature through science.” Nevertheless, on July 17, in his 93rd year, Borlaug was awarded the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal for his contributions [...]
I’m out on this limb because, when it comes to making green food choices, the beginning of wisdom is knowing how complex the whole matter has become. While the 100-mile diet makes for a dramatic storyline and expresses the green aspirations of today’s shoppers, it doesn’t necessarily say a great deal about sustainable or equitable [...]
A crack lets the light in, the song goes, and a first crack has just appeared in the corporate walls of Canada’s top food retailers. Sobeys — a chain that flies the banner “the Hometown Advantage,” and which ten years ago took over a chain that called itself “Hometown Proud”– now confronts nine formerly locked-in [...]
From Wayne’s archives. Fall 2008. I’m hanging out in the crowded back yard of a community recreation centre in Toronto’s west end on a warm and sunny fall day, listening to the reggae/funk/country sounds of a local band called Nine Mile, getting ready to cheer on two cooking teams in an Iron Chef competition featuring [...]
Detroit I was in Motown speaking at a City Council meeting the day Detroit auto execs jetted into Washington to ask for the big bailout that could forestall certain bankruptcy. Though they were shown the door in Washington, the mood at Detroit City Council was anything but deathwatch. The city that’s become an icon for [...]
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