Wayne Roberts

Wayne Roberts manages the Toronto Food Policy Council, a citizen body of 30 food activists and experts. In this role he helped develop Toronto’s Food Charter and the Food and Hunger Action Plan, having an influence on Toronto’s official plan. Roberts is the author of the "No-Nonsense Guide to World Food" (2008), published in Canada by Between the Lines. [No-Nonsense Guide to World Food, by Wayne Roberts, New Internationalist Publications, 2008]

Since 1989 he has written a weekly column for Toronto’s NOW Magazine, generally on themes that link social justice, public health and green economics.

In 2002, he received the Canadian Environment Award for his contributions to sustainable living. [Canadian Geographic online. http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/cea/archives/archives_individual.asp?currentPage=13&show=8&cat=] NOW magazine named Roberts one of Toronto’s leading visionaries of the past 20 years. In 2008, he received the Canadian Eco-Hero Award presented by Planet in Focus

Roberts earned a Ph.D. in social and economic history from the University of Toronto in 1978, and completed seven books, including "Get A Life!" (1995), a manual on green economics, and "Real Food For A Change" (1999), which promotes a food system based on the four ingredients of health, joy, justice and nature. ["Real Food for a Change", by Wayne Roberts, Lori Stahlbrand, and Rod MacRae, Random House Publishers, 1999; "Get a Life!" by Wayne Roberts and Susan Brandum, Get a Life Publishers, 1995]

He chaired the influential and Toronto-based Coalition for a Green Economy for 15 years. [Coalition for a Green Economy http://www.greeneconomics.net/coalition] He has also served on the Board of the U.S.-based Community Food Security Coalition and Food Secure Canada. He is on the board of Green Enterprise Toronto, an organization of local eco-businesses that's associated with the Business Alliance for a Local Living Economy across North America. He has been invited to speak around the world on strategies that combine food security, community empowerment, environmental improvement, social equity and job creation.

Prior to his involvement with environmental issues, Roberts worked for two decades in the fields of community organizing, university teaching, media, labour education, industrial relations and union administration. During this time he chaired the Charles Street Tenants Association during the longest and biggest rent strike in Canadian history, and was senior negotiator dealing with Ontario Housing Corporation. During this period Roberts wrote: "Cracking The Canadian Formula" (1992) on the Energy and Chemical Workers Union, "Don’t Call Me Servant" (1993) on the Ontario civil service and Ontario Public Service Employees Union, and "Giving Away a Miracle" (1992) on the Ontario NDP in government. ["Cracking the Canadian Formula : The Making of the Energy & Chemical Workers Unio"n, by Wayne Roberts, Between the Lines Publishers, 1990; "Don't Call Me Servant : Government Work & Union in Ontario, 1911-1984", by Wayne Roberts, Published by the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union (OPSEU), 1994; "Giving Away a Miracle: Lost Dreams, Broken Promises & the Ontario NDP", by Wayne Roberts and George Ehring, Mosaic Press, 1993]

ee also

* Food Security
* Community-based Economics

References