Blog
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Fixing food for the health of Nova Scotia
Fixing food for the health of Nova Scotia What are we eating? For too many of us, it isn’t Michael Pollan’s prescription: “eat food, not too much, mostly plants” We’re eating lots of processed foods – highly processed foods – with additives including preservatives, lots of sugar and salt and taste enhancements. These foods are easy to buy and prepare quickly to provide calories. They’re also easy to waste. Taste buds may accept these foods but our health doesn’t. What we eat can cause obesity and diabetes and heart disease and cancer and overall poor health. And that affects the way we live, ...
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Considering Our Options
"Society broadly needs to change the circumstances for all members of our society to enable people to have options and live differently. In our small province we could actually achieve this." Dr. John Ross, Chronicle Herald April 1st, 2016 We have options, and not all of them require difficult choices. Many of us worry about challenges while perhaps overlooking local solutions. Dr. Ross describes the Social Determinants of Health which, among others, include income and income distribution; employment and job security; food security; social connections and safety network. There are options that can have a positive effect on these determinants. We can choose an apple ...
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Shift to Delicious – Nova Scotian Food
When you buy local food, you vote with your food dollar for family farms, thriving communities, and healthy, flavorful, plentiful food.
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Pam Warhurst: How we can eat our landscapes
What should a community do with its unused land? Plant food, of course. With energy and humor, Pam Warhurst tells at the TED Salon the story of how she and a growing team of volunteers came together to turn plots of unused land into communal vegetable gardens, and to change the narrative of food in their community. Pam Warhurst cofounded Incredible Edible, an initiative in Todmorden, England dedicated to growing food locally by planting on unused land throughout the community. Full bio »
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Vermont ‘Farm to Plate’ to Create Jobs and Strengthen Local Food System
Vermont is an example of how state-level legislative support can help regional, mid-sized, and small producers and rural communities. The state has developed polices aimed at community-based agricultural economic development aligned with local and regional food system infrastructure development. In 2009, the Vermont Legislature passed the Farm to Plate (F2P) initiative as part of the state’s jobs bill. Estimates of the F2P plan include 1,500 jobs over the next 10 years based on a five percent increase in food system production and an accompanying annual increase of $88 million in the state’s gross domestic product. Currently, 12.9 percent of private ...
