Past Projects

This brief urges the City of Vancouver to uphold the right to food by embedding it in budget decisions. Food is a human right and an inherent part of the right to life. A rights- based food system, as recognized in international treaties and declarations ratified by Canada, obligates our government to uphold people’s dignity and agency in feeding themselves. This means ensuring access to food that is free from stigma, shame, and oppression, while protecting the fundamental right to health and well-being.

The Vancouver Food Strategy (2017) and the Parks Local Food Action Plan (2021) provide strong frameworks for advancing a rights-based food system, yet neither explicitly recognizes the right to food. Embedding this right into City of Vancouver budgeting decisions would create the accountability needed to ensure dignified, non-charitable food access, and strengthen resilience in times of emergency.

Greater action is needed to properly address food insecurity, as current social policy does not fully respond to the social, political, and economic realities we face. While all levels of government have obligations to act, municipalities play a key role in ensuring food security and justice. Strategic investment in local food systems also delivers proven health, economic, and climate benefits.Description goes here

the Co-op Radio Food Justice Day, your antidote to the CBC Food Bank Day.

For 38 years now, CBC has broadcast this day, raising several million every year for BC Food banks. Continued uplifting of the foodbanking model undermines meaningful food system change work and functions to legitimize and normalize a harmful, stigmatizing and failed approach to solving hunger.

We need to counter the dominant narrative and ideology that food banks and food diversion schemes are the preferred and acceptable means of reducing household food insecurity.

Audio recording of the events held at Vancouver Community College and Carnegie Community Centre are available

A series of local food system briefs providing a high-level sector overview as well as key challenges and opportunities were presented to incoming City councilors to act as an invitation to further discussions around food security and food justice in Vancouver.

Food justice advocates and City of Vancouver politicians filled the large City Hall room for a Vancouver Food System Dialogue on February 9 in the spirit of sharing, listening and learning.

Ahead of the 2022 Vancouver municipal election on October 15th, the VFJC hosted a Food Justice Town Hall to explore local food policy issues, opportunities, and the vision for a just food system in Vancouver to the municipal candidates.