The People's Food- WEFC Blog

In the late 1970’s, meetings took place in communities across Canada to discuss the food system and how to improve it. The process was an extraordinary set of hearings called the People’s Food Commission.
 
Modeled as a people-driven version of the Royal Commissions, the commissioners (mostly volunteers, many of whom continue today as Canada’s most effective activists and workers for change) held hearings everywhere, including people’s kitchens, school gymnasiums, churches, etc. The problems from over thirty years ago sound familiar today...


...farmers could not afford to live or farm on the prices they get; consumers struggled to afford food and to find food that was safe and nutritious for themselves and their families. Farmers, fishers, unions, consumers, policy-makers, politicians and sector associations were at odds about the right solutions. Canada’s cheap food policy was already creating cracks in the system that have since deepened to chasms.

The heart and spirit of co-operation at these hearings was extraordinary. As they ended in the 1980s, there were no resources to take it farther. Now three decades later the spirit of the People’s Food Commission has risen again, and this time it has an identified purpose and goals after the hearings. The People’s Food Policy Project, a project of Food Secure Canada, found initial funding from Heifer International. As part of the project, animators across the country held meetings and gathered input from stakeholders. A team of policy writers is collating the material to create a draft policy. The draft People’s Food Policy will be submitted to additional consultation and revision, and then will go to the federal government. The coordinators have completed the submission process and received 270 submissions from across the country. There are ongoing opportunities to participate in this important project: check out the peoplesfoodpolicy.ca for more information.

The original People’s Food Commission (PFC) resulted in a report entitled The Land of Milk and Money. See also Edible Action: Food Activism and Alternative Economics (by Sally Miller, 2008) for more on the PFC.