Toronto Food Policy Council

The Toronto Food Policy Council (TFPC) keeps food security and food policy on the municipal agenda in Toronto.

Formed in 1991, the Council is a forum for discussing, integrating, and acting on policy issues that often fall between the cracks of established departments and research specialties [ [http://www.anthrosource.net/doi/abs/10.1525/cag.1994.-.50.15 Culture & Agriculture Winter 1994, Vol. -, No. 50, pp. 15-18] Posted online on December 10, 2004] .The 30-member TFPC supports scores of programs with the shared goal of ensuring equitable access to food, nutrition, community development and environmental health, acting as professional lobbyist for the people on food and related issues.

The Council is free to make its own decisions on food policy issues. Staff working with the TFPC are employed by, and responsible to, Toronto Public Health. This arrangement has gained interest from public health, community food security and sustainable agriculture organizations around the world [See, for example, Harriet Friedmann, "Bringing public institutions and food service companies into the project for a local, sustainable food system in Ontario," Agriculture and Human Values, 24,3, March, 2007] . Rod MacRae was the Council’s founding coordinator. He was succeeded by Wayne Roberts in April, 1999. Working to ensure all significant decisions and expenditures are viewed through a “food lens,” the Council, under the leadership of Co-chair Janice Etter, succeeded in having food issues highlighted in the city of Toronto's official plan, adopted by city council in 2002 and updated in 2007 [ [http://www.toronto.ca/planning/official_plan/pdf_chapter1-5/chapters1_5_aug2007.pdf City of Toronto's Official plan] ] .

Some of the Council’s work has included [ [http://www.toronto.ca/health/tfpc_index.htm Toronto Food Policy Council's website] ] :
* Helping community organisations obtain $3.5 million for projects increasing access to affordable nourishing food in the early 1990s.
* Successfully lobbying the federal government to refuse to license Bovine Growth Hormone, a biotechnology product, for use in Canadian dairy operations.
* Working with the Student Nutrition Coalition to expand school food programs in Toronto from 53 to 350.
* Founding the Rooftop Garden Resource Group to research and promote a green roof industry in Canada.
* Producing a ground-breaking series of discussion papers on a food systems approach to public health policy, and giving hundreds of presentations to university classes, and environmental and community groups.
* Championing the Toronto Food Charter, a declaration of citizen rights and government responsibilities that sets the food security standard for municipalities.
* Publishing two email services on food system issues, one dealing with local food and one with global [ [http://www.foodforethought.net/ www.foodforethought.net] ] .

Many of the ideas of the TFPC are featured in a 2008 book by Wayne Roberts called the No Nonsense Guide to World Food [ [http://www.btlbooks.com/bookinfo.php?index=186 No-Nonsense Guide to World Food] ] .

See also

*Wayne Roberts
*Food security
*Community-based economics

References

External links

* [http://www.toronto.ca/health/tfpc_index.htm Toronto Food Policy Council website]