In a city often chastised for some of the worst urban sprawl in North America, the Calgary Food Policy Council (CFPC) wants to make use of all the spaces it can to grow food. From schoolyards to community gardens, from rooftops to vacant lots, its members believe there are thousands of underutilized spaces that could be used for urban agriculture. They’re taking a cue from the successes of various urban gardens in the city, the ever-popular farmers’ markets and the growing interest in ensuring food security by focusing on local production.

The CFPC (http://calgaryfoodpolicy.blogspot.com/), in partnership with other local organizations, hopes to reform the city’s food system. As interest grows, the number of members has reached about 50, including many familiar faces from Calgary’s activist community as well as relative newcomers with their own unique perspectives and motivations.

Piggybacking on the City of Vancouver’s ambitious program to develop 2,010 new growing spaces by 2010 as part of its Olympics Food Procurement program, as well as London’s 2012 by 2012 plans, the Calgary group is bringing the same idea to this former Olympic city. The 2011 by 2011 project (www.2011calgary.ca/) will encourage the use of industrial, commercial and private land for growing food.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s an abandoned lot or a backyard garden that you’re going to grow food on again. As long as it’s a new growing space, you can nominate it,” says Paul Hughes, CFPC chair.

The council sees its role as “an advisor on food system matters.” As a new grassroots initiative, its work is as diverse as collaborating with community groups to help reduce hunger by diverting unused food from grocery stores and restaurants, working with farmers to develop more sustainable ways of growing food, and directly creating opportunities for growing food in the city itself. The council plans on working with the City of Calgary, local businesses and interested citizens to make sure that it is a comprehensive effort that encompasses all of us who want affordable, locally grown food.

“We’ve got kids in this city that are eating KD [Kraft Dinner] every night. How can you compete when you can go down to the corner and buy a hamburger

for $1.50?” says Hughes.

WORKING IN COLLABORATION

The city released a draft Municipal Development Plan on March 9 that, along with a new transportation plan, will guide city planning into the future and encourage co-operation with groups like CFPC. “It [the new municipal development plan] will have policies about encouraging opportunities for urban food production within residential communities with the intent of enhancing local consumption, reducing food miles and all of that, and supporting the development of community gardens within parks and open spaces,” says Pat Gordon, project manager for Plan It Calgary.

Gordon says the city itself has no specific plans, but there are many opportunities for groups like the CFPC to work collaboratively with the city as well as other stakeholders to get projects off the ground. “This is the kind of endeavour that the city can’t impose on the community. There has to be something coming from the community and a level of interest there.”

Although the CFPC is a fairly new and small group, it’s already attracting representation from different sectors of the city.

As the co-ordinator of the new Sustainability Centre at the Students’ Association of Mount Royal College — itself a testatement to the sustainability movement — part of Alana-Dawn Eirikson’s role is to raise awareness on campus about environmental sustainability issues through educational events.

“The way the global mainstream food system operates distorts the central importance of how the food we eat contributes to our culture, health, community and our relationship with the environment,” says Eirikson, a new-comer to the council. “I am involved with the CFPC because they provide an opportunity to bring all different parties of the food system together to discuss these issues.”

She invited the CFPC to give a presentation last month on the impact of the global food industry on the environment and the benefits of having a food policy council, urban agriculture and community gardening in Calgary.

Another CFPC member brings the perspective that buying local can be an integral part of a company’s business. Kristi Peters, the general manager of the River Café, decided to get involved with the group while on maternity leave. She wants to see more co-operation with like-minded local businesses that can get involved in local food purchasing and production as well as diverting food from the waste stream.

“We’ve been working in partnership with the City of Calgary on a plan for a green roof. We would like to be able to grow herbs, flowers, lettuces and tomatoes on a green roof,” Peters says. The River Café’s philosophy includes supporting local producers and purveyors of food, as well as reducing their environmental impact as much as possible.

“Food is already a central concern through many cities and communities. It’s certainly on people’s minds, it’s more just connecting the issues with the CFPC and promoting solutions,” she says.