USC Canada » Canada

On Creating the World We Want

USC Canada — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:25:57 +0000

In her latest book, EcoMind, Frances Moore Lappé argues that many of the basic assumptions we have about the world’s problems – such as, “We’ve hit the limits of a finite planet” – are just plain wrong.

The author of the revolutionary 1971 classic Diet for a Small Planet recently sat down with Radio Boston to talk about her views on changing the way we think, to create the world we want. Listen to the interview online here or here

AND…
If you’re going to be in Ottawa or Toronto early in the New Year, you could have your own opportunity to ask Lappé the tough questions. We’re bringing her to Ottawa and Toronto for a speaking engagement in each city.

Get your tickets now!

Bruce Cockburn Continues the Magic

USC Canada — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:47:18 +0000

Longtime USC Canada supporter and spokesperson – singer and songwriter Bruce Cockburn – was a big winner at the Canadian Folk Music Awards in Windsor this week.

Bruce’s visits to our programs in Mali and Nepal – featured in two films by Robert Lang, River of Sand and Return to Nepal – continue to inspire, just as Bruce’s music does!

Our heartfelt congratulations, Bruce.

Inside the Durban Climate Talks

USC Canada — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:08:53 +0000

Get up to speed on the issues and unfolding events in Durban this week with some quick resources we’ve put together.

Here’s a link to the UNFCCC/COP17 Conference website, where you can find webcasts – for all of us who can’t be there.
Need a nuts and bolts backgrounder? Check out this Q&A provided by The Guardian.
For a view of how Africa sees climate issues, you can do no better than with The Pambazuka Press, an African News resource based right there. Start with this feature article.
And for the view from Britain with a Canadian twist, check out this BBC story.
Here at home, check out the Climate Action Network.
What role is Canada playing in Durban? Take a look at these video clips and thought-provoking observations at a pre-conference meeting held in Ottawa in September. Pat Mooney from ETC Group is always challenging. But take a look also at what the South African High Commissioner had to say, Her Excellency Mohau Pheko, especially from the 3-minute mark.

The World We Want!

USC Canada — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:59:13 +0000

Diet for a Small Planet…remember this 1971 book title? A groundbreaker that sold millions and changed the way we think.

The Book’s Author, Frances Moore Lappé, is at it again, with her recent EcoMind, which is getting great reviews.

USC Canada is sponsoring Lappé’s Canadian visit for two talks in the New Year – in Ottawa and Toronto. Tickets have just gone on sale.

Our own Executive Director, Susan Walsh, says “I read Diet for a Small Planet cover to cover back in the 1980s. Last year I got the chance to meet Frances in person and know that her acute vision and infectious energy is inspiring – and just what is needed in these turbulent times. USC Canada is thrilled to host her in launching EcoMind in Ottawa and Toronto.”

Fear Into Action
Journalist and writer Clyde Sanger says, “She’s at it again – demolishing myths and offering positive advice to those in despair with the helter-skelter course of nations. EcoMind…is built around seven thought traps, which she says cause despair, or at least defeatism and apathy.”

Lappé writes that her book was triggered by an environmental conference that stuffed her full of scary stuff (Arctic ice-melt, soaring use of coal, floods in Australia covering an area the size of Texas, where she grew up.) So she urges us to “Remake our Mental Map” and be creative with our fear, making it possible to turn a breakdown into a breakthrough.

Check out this short video about Lappé’s continuing work:

USC Canada would like to thank The Stop Community Food Centre for their help in organizing the event in Toronto.

Behind the Scene at USC Canada

USC Canada — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:12:37 +0000

Not every organization is fortunate enough to have a history of board directors so committed and engaged in the work we do and the issues we face. This leapt out at us during our recent Annual General Meeting as we welcomed four new board members and our new Chair. Take a look at their bios – and you’ll see incredibly rich and diverse backgrounds.

Each one brings particular skills and knowledge about food and food issues to the table, and will be invaluable in helping guide the programs that you support in Canada and around the world. These short bios will give you a sense of how much effort has been put into developing a skilled and effective board of directors.

Mark Austin of Old Barns, Nova Scotia, is the new Chair of our Board of Directors, as well as Chair of the USC Foundation. A wild blueberry farmer, mark is also the Executive Director of the Rural & Coastal Communities Network, an organization dedicated to rural sustainability in Nova Scotia. He and his partner Debby have been long been supporters of USC and have even visited our work in Mali. A board member since 2006, Mark has done a great deal to help spread USC Canada’s message in Eastern Canada at Seedy Saturdays and other regional events. His eclectic background includes social and environmental policy consulting, filmmaking, university teaching, and food policy activism.

Daniel Brisebois is one of the 5 members of Tourne-Sol cooperative farm in Les Cèdres, Quebec, producing certified organic vegetables, flowers, seeds, seedlings and herbal teas. In addition, he is president of Canadian Organic Growers and a member of the Eastern Canadian Organic Seed Growers Network’s steering committee.

Dan has co-authored the book Crop Planning for Organic Vegetable Growers and writes a blog on growing seed.

Abra Brynne’s strong connection to community, land, and farming come from her childhood on a farm in BC’s Okanagan Valley as one of a family of thirteen. Sharing the work of maintaining a diverse orchard and large garden, Abra developed a deep appreciation for good food and communal efforts. She has been involved in grassroots rural community development for more than 20 years. Since 2000, Abra has worked as a food systems consultant on a broad range of projects from regulatory change to developing regional farm marketing materials to mentoring farmers and food security groups.

Dr. Harriet Friedmann is Professor of Sociology, Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto. A recipient of a Lifetime Achievement award from the Canadian Association of Food Studies, she has published in international and interdisciplinary journals on many dimensions of agriculture and food – including family farms, food policies, changing patterns of diet and consumption, and social movements to change the food system. Look for her forthcoming book on the Political Ecology of Food with Tony Weis. Harriet is also a member of the Toronto Food Policy Council as well as several editorial boards of journals related to food and agriculture.

Marcelo Saavedra-Vargas, an Aymara-Quechua indigenous person from Bolivia, teaches in the Aboriginal Studies Program at the University of Ottawa. He specializes in indigenous issues, web design, and open-source technologies, and has conducted research and produced interactive materials for organizations like the International Development Research Center and The North-South Institute. In 2008, he served on the research and editorial team of the Institute’s Canadian Development Report. Marcelo also volunteers with the Bolivia Action Solidarity Network as its National Coordinator and is an advisor to the Council of Andean First Nations.

Mali – Canada: Farmer to Farmer

USC Canada — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:05:42 +0000

Thumbs Up: (L to R) Abrahamane and Greta with Sarah Dalle, USC Canada’s Africa Program Manager.

The new director of our program in Douentza Mali, Abdrahamane Goïta, was in Canada in October and was keen to visit local Ottawa area seed producer and longtime USC friend and supporter, Greta Kryger of Greta’s Organics.

Seed production and seed security for vegetable crops is a big priority in our Douentza program. There, many new vegetables – cabbage, carrots, potatoes – have been introduced into market gardening, but they need to be adapted to local conditions, and farmers need to learn seed saving techniques for them.

Greta gets a big thumbs up! Abdrahamane took away some ideas for a farmers’ seed cooperative – one devoted to adapting and producing seed for market gardens.

Abdrahamane was particularly impressed with the portable display Greta has built to cart her seeds to and from seed fairs in the spring.

Tomato Trials
Greta is a seed powerhouse. She ran a tomato trial this past summer, showcasing two plants of every last one of her stunning 300 tomato varieties! Local farmers and chefs came to see the mind-boggling results, taste testing the varieties that most interested them.

This type of work – participatory varietal selection – is also common in USC Canada programs, but in Mali it’s has been done more with cereal crops like sorghum and pearl millet. This testing is one of the best ways for farmers to identify their own criteria, such as taste, disease resistance, culinary qualities, and of course yield.

Farmer Exchange
On the other side of the exchange, Mali’s community seed banking experience is of interest to Canadian farmers and gardeners in the growing movement here to preserve heirloom seeds.

While in Canada, Abdrahamane also met members of our board of directors who are farmers and seed producers: Patrick Steiner and Daniel Brisebois.

In spite of very different contexts, farmers in different parts of the world have much to gain and learn from meeting and exchanging with one another.

Land Grabs to Top Agenda at World Food Security Meeting

USC Canada — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:52:07 +0000

Starting next week in Rome, representatives from around the world are meeting to address the issue of land investment. The international community agrees that large-scale investment and speculation on land – seen as a way to make money or produce food for richer countries – is causing alarming hikes in food prices and taking food and land away from those who depend on it most. This is exacerbating the continuing world food crisis.

USC’s work is about more than land grabs, but we see the critical link between land use and our core mission of promoting food sovereignty, biodiversity, and ecosystem resilience. The most vulnerable – some 1.5 billion small farmers, fisher folk, and nomadic herders – stand to lose the most, because they depend on access to land to produce food for themselves and the majority of the planet.

According to Grassroots International, North American farmer and food organizations want stricter rules and regulations applied to land tenure and other forms of agricultural investment. They want government to go further than simply suggesting ‘voluntary guidelines’ for reducing the impacts of land grabs.

“Land rights are the first building block on the road to achieving food security, and without international consensus on how land should be governed, the interests of vulnerable land users will continue to be swept aside,” warns Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food in a recent news release from the office of the UN Human Rights High Commissioner.

If you want to voice your concerns with the Canadian delegates to this UN Committee meeting, check out this e-alert from Grassroots International.

From Field to Fork

USC Canada — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 16:54:18 +0000

A World Food Day Forum
Thursday, October 13, 7 pm (Marketplace @ 6 pm)
St. Paul University Amphitheatre, 223 Main Street, Ottawa

For a healthy, resilient, and fair food system, we need more of our food produced close to where we live.

The good news is the local-food movement is already gathering steam.

USC Canada is hosting a free, public World Food Day forum in Ottawa – From Field to Fork: Building a Better Food System.

Mark your calendars for 7 pm on Thursday, October 13 (St. Paul University) and help us celebrate a strengthening local food system with three dynamic leaders:

Sarah Elton is a Canadian journalist (Maclean’s, Globe & Mail), a dynamic food commentator, and local food activist. Her book, Locavore, explores how – from farmers fields to rooftop gardens – Canadians are changing the way we eat and grow food.

Susan Jessup is an Ottawa Cordon-Bleu-trained chef, and owner of Ottawa’s 42 Fine Foods. An advocate of local food, she has developed a close relationship with many area farmers who are sustainably delivering a wealth of local produce and foods.

Colleen Ross is a passionate, Ottawa-area organic farmer and National Farmers’ Union leader. She has broadened her commitment by moving into the global arena through her work with La Via Campesina– an international organization representing about 200 million small-scale, peasant farmers around the world.

Pre-Forum Marketplace

Mix and mingle in the foyer, starting at 6pm. Sample a beautiful array of cheeses produced by Canreg Station Farm and Pasture Dairy in nearby Finch, Ontario. Enjoy fairly traded beverages from our event sponsor, La Siembra as well as from Bridgehead Coffee. Get to know the folks from Just Food and Canadian Organic Growers. Peruse the fine books on offer from Octopus Books. And don’t miss our Name that Seed contest – there will be prizes!

Admission is free
St. Paul University, 223 Main Street, Ottawa
Amphitheatre
7 pm (Marketplace @ 6 pm)

A Seed-Saving Workshop

The event also features a chance to learn seed saving techniques from organic farmer and seed producer, Daniel Brisebois, who co-wrote Crop Planning for Organic Vegetable Growers. This workshop will take place from 5-6 pm (before the forum begins); however, registration for this workshop is required since space is limited to 20 participants. To learn more about Daniel Brisebois visit the website for his farm: Le Ferme Coopérative Tourne-sol.

To register for the seed-saving workshop or for more information about any part of this forum, please contact Julia by email or by phone (613.234.6827 x225).

We hope to see you there!

Please share with anyone who might be interested.

USC Canada would like to thank ottawakiosk.com for listing our Ottawa-based events! Please confirm time and location prior to the event.

Food Matters Across Canada

USC Canada — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 20:31:45 +0000

Voters across eight Canadian provinces and territories go to the polls within the next six weeks. If there’s an election in your province, you’ve probably heard your candidates say something about the local economy, the environment, health, and hunger. These are important issues, but there’s an ingredient missing: food and farming.

Are you up to speed on critical food and agriculture issues for the coming provincial elections? They should be high on the radar in several provincial elections in the coming weeks across Canada – but are they?

How we produce our food matters to our health, environment, economy, and our ability to ensure that every family has food on the table. In 2011, a wide range of organizations across the country have called for Canada to develop a national food policy.USC Canada actively participated in the Food Secure Canada network’s initiative to develop a People’s Food Policy, but these issues are equally relevant in your province and city. Thinking globally and nationally also requires acting locally. Find out who’s working on local food policy in your region, by checking out the links below.

Here are some web links with information, tips and “good food questions” to ask your local candidates. Vote with your forks, and make food a key issue in your riding!

Check out these election kits that have been put together for

Manitoba (by Food Matters Manitoba)
Newfoundland and Labrador (by The Food Security Network of Newfoundland and Labrador)
Ontario (by Sustain Ontario).

You might also find useful information via the CBC provincial election websites for

Raising Awarenes, or…?

USC Canada — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:43:38 +0000

We’re seeing many businesses appearing to take note of public concern about our food system, and creating some interesting videos. We’ve noted two short videos. The first was produced by the Chipotle chain of restaurants, the second is by the makers of Hellman’s mayonnaise.

Take a look at both videos and ask yourself these questions:

Are these creative videos articulating important values?
Will this make you think more about food choices when you go shopping for food?
Could it change food habits or agricultural practices?
Will you be tempted to buy their products?
How did the video make you feel?
Are you better informed after seeing this video?
Do you have any questions about this kind of marketing?

Share your thoughts with us and start a discussion! The two videos follow: