The Skeena
For many of us food isn’t something we think too deeply about. We buy groceries or order a meal at a restaurant and then go on with our day. But what if someday the grocery store shelves were empty? Or farms couldn’t produce the vegetables and meat needed by restaurants?
More than 80 people across the Skeena region and beyond recently took part in an online meeting about these types of issues. The discussion centred on the idea of “food security”, which means people having good, reliable access to fresh, affordable and nutritious food.
“Reviewing the notes from the event, some central themes emerge,” said Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach this week in an email to people who took part in the event.
People at the event wanted the federal government to bring together people from different backgrounds to come up with ways to protect and improve Canada’s food supply. They said that indigenous people have to be a central part of that effort. And they felt that there should be more research into agriculture, and more support at the local and regional level to ensure that we can produce food locally to feed our communities–especially during massive disruptions like coronavirus.
“I will be sharing these notes with my colleague Alistair MacGregor, the NDP critic for Agriculture, and we’ll be looking at ways we can take the event’s ideas and themes to Ottawa,” Bachrach wrote.
He urged people to contact him with further ideas or concerns: “I encourage you to keep in touch on the topic of food security and I look forward to continuing this discussion in the future.”
Check out a video recording of the event here.
