What do community gardens on vacant urban lots, mobilizations against sea-lice infestations on the B.C. coast, support for small-scale fishers, university and community-led elementary school food programs that promote local food, and farmer protests against the Canadian Wheat Board and the Trans-Pacific Partnership have in common? They are all part of a growing movement in...Read More

Photo above: Diversity Food Services chef Ben Kramer, “I’d rather buy raw food and pay people to process it.” Ben Kramer never thought he would end up working in a cafeteria kitchen. The chef started his career at Vancouver restaurants that catered to a clientele willing to pay top dollar for fresh and local food....Read More

When Celia White first started digging into the campus food system at Vancouver Island University (VIU) in Nanaimo, British Columbia, she found passionate people, and big potential.  “There was a lot of interest in making the VIU campus a more sustainable place in terms of food,” says White. “But there wasn’t a lot of consolidated...Read More

Our efforts are paying off!  Farm to Cafeteria Canada has been working behind the scenes with representatives from diverse sectors right across the country to support the introduction and adoption of policy that will get more local foods into our public institutions. Last June, we were delighted to support the introduction of bill C-539 in...Read More

VANCOUVER/Vancouver Sun/ – Most Canadian schools teach children about local foods as part of their regular curriculum, but only 14 per cent have an offical policy or contract that requires local procurement, according to respondents to a national survey by Farm to Cafeteria Canada. About 90 per cent of the 144 schools that completed the recent survey...Read More

VANCOUVER/Tyee/ – Colleges and universities are driving local food procurement in the public sphere, according to a new survey. The survey, conducted by Farm to Cafeteria Canada, is the first of its kind to look at local food purchasing by public institutions across Canada. In total, 239 representatives from colleges and universities, public schools and health care facilities...Read More

According to new report commissioned by Farm to Cafeteria Canada, activity to bring healthy, local and sustainable foods into public agencies is gearing up in almost every province and territory in Canada – and there is a hunger for more. The Report- Local Foods- Canadian schools, campuses, and health care facilities speak up (2013) is the first...Read More

Though the temperature may be cooling, local food initiatives are heatin’ up on campuses across Canada! From student run farmers’ markets to experiential learning opportunities, to the addition of four new campuses- Universities are seeing major transformations in their food systems to be more transparent, inclusive and sustainable. For more information and resources, please take...Read More

A few weeks ago, students and community members joined together to battle out the title for top chef at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). Though the evening was truly competitive and intense, the event was part of a celebratory  Foods Week. UNBC’s foods week involved several ‘food’ events developed in a collaborative effort...Read More

Memorial University is making great strides towards food systems sustainability. In March 2013, Campus Food Systems Project Coordinators, Caitlin Colson and Sarah Archibald had the opportunity to visit Memorial University’s St. John’s Campus and see, first hand, the local food initiatives happening on campus and in the community. We had the chance to speak with...Read More