About fresh - Edmonton’s Food and Agriculture Strategy

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fresh: Edmonton’s Food and Agriculture Strategy, was developed by an Advisory Committee comprised of 15 stakeholders and experts in agriculture, food systems, economic, community and land development, and supported by project consultants and City staff.

Using the food system as a guide, the Advisory Committee identified 5 Goals that would serve as a foundation for the Strategy.

A stronger, more vibrant local economy
A healthier, more food secure community
Healthier ecosystems
Less energy, emissions and waste
More vibrant, attractive and unique places

Strategic Directions

Next, the Advisory Committee developed 9 Strategic Directions, which form the basis of action for the entire Strategy.

The recommendations provide direction and actions that will help realize the vision, goals, and objectives, taking advantage of the strong relationships, assets, and opportunities that already exist in Edmonton.

Future adoption and implementation of the recommendations will position the City of Edmonton to become a leading example for municipal food and urban agriculture initiatives.

Establish the Edmonton Food Council

Recommendations

Establish the Edmonton Food Council (EFC) by June 1, 2013
Explore the creation of an Edmonton Food Charter
Provide appropriate supporting resources to the EFC

Provide Food Skill Education & Information

Recommendations

Work with the Edmonton Food Council and various partners (such as Northlands, the University of Alberta, NAIT and others) to provide multiple learning opportunities on key food and urban agriculture topics and initiatives
Work with partners such as Northlands to enhance existing capacity for information sharing amongst the many organizations, businesses, agencies and institutions involved in food and urban agriculture
Create a single portal for a wide-range of food and urban agriculture information and education
Assess and map Edmonton’s food system assets
Support mentorship and training for urban agriculture

Expand Urban Agriculture

Recommendations

Pursue urban agriculture opportunities in existing and developing neighbourhoods
Develop partnerships to support innovation in urban agriculture
Support for-profit urban and peri-urban agriculture
Examine opportunities for citizens to keep bees and raise hens

Develop Local Food Infrastructure Capacity

Recommendations

Assist in creating appropriate spaces and opportunities for local food businesses to operate and expand
Pursue partnerships with private business and other economic agencies and examine establishing a commercial/private sector Agri-Food Hub
Assist in improving neighbourhood-scale food infrastructure

Grow Local Food Supply and Demand

Recommendations

Request that the Edmonton Food Council examine local food system resilience
Create partnerships to strengthen and diversify the local food economy
Strengthen farmers’ markets
Increase local food purchasing within City of Edmonton operations
Work with the Province of Alberta and other industry stakeholders such as Northlands to develop a made/raised/grown-in-Alberta identification system
Pursue partnerships with non-profits and other agencies such as Community Food Centres Canada to establish a public sector Edmonton Community Food Hub

Enliven the Public Realm Through a Diversity of Food Activities

Recommendations

Celebrate and promote local food producers, community gardens, and food grown, raised and made in Edmonton
Examine City regulations to allow, where appropriate, permanent and temporary sidewalk patios
Support a wide range of food retail in new and existing neighbourhoods to promote convenient pedestrian access to healthy food sources
Continue to build on the success of street vendors

Treat Food Waste as a Resource

Recommendations

Develop partnerships to assist in the redistribution of healthy, fresh and high-quality surplus food
Develop partnerships and initiatives to utilize and reduce food waste
Take a leadership role in promoting initiatives to reduce the volume of packaging associated with the food system

Support Urban Farmers & Ecological Approaches to Farming

Recommendations

Create partnerships with key stakeholders to provide education and training about ecological approaches to urban farming and urban agriculture in Edmonton
Identify options for providing incentives to new and emerging urban farmers, including the possibility of leasing City-owned land to urban farmers
Examine regulations and guidelines for urban and peri-urban agriculture
Identify mechanisms to protect and maintain the healthy ecosystems that are connected to peri-urban agricultural lands

Integrate Land Use for Agriculture

Recommendations

Examine establishing a municipal Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) designation
Examine the costs and benefits of the following tools to secure agricultural land and report to City Council
Adopt and apply the “Integrating Land for Agriculture Framework”
Work with the Capital Region Board to develop a regional agricultural land use policy

Public Engagement

In developing fresh: Edmonton's Food and Urban Agriculture Strategy, the City of Edmonton used a variety of methods to consult with residents, community organizations, businesses and other stakeholders.

Consultation Reports

Public Opinion Survey Report

Landowner Survey Report

Stakeholder Group Summary – Round 1

Stakeholder Group Summary – Round 2

Citizen Panel Report

Food and Urban Agriculture Advisory Committee

The City of Edmonton created the Food and Urban Agriculture Advisory Committee during the development of fresh to offer guidance and experience in exploring the many complex issues associated with food and urban agriculture policy. The committee included members who have considerable knowledge, experience, expertise and interest in food and agriculture issues in Edmonton. The Advisory Committee was instrumental in ensuring that fresh was a made-in-Edmonton strategy that reflected the context of Edmonton and the Capital Region.

Open Houses and Surveys

Four open houses were held at the beginning of October 2012 after the draft version of fresh was written, and before the document was finalized. In conjunction with the open houses, an on-line survey was conducted to allow citizens to give their input on the nine strategic directions and the recommendations within the strategy.

Online Survey

A public opinion survey on food and agriculture issues in Edmonton ran for much of the month of June. The survey was one of the tools we used to gather input from citizens for the development of a food and agriculture strategy. The survey closed on June 23, 2012.

A total of 2,269 people from the Capital Region participated in the survey. Everyone who participated had a chance to win an iPod. L. Botsford was the winner.

Citizen Panels

An innovative consultation process was designed to engage citizens in discussions on food and agriculture policy issues.

See below for a video showing the first Citizen Panel at work. The Citizen Panels began their discussions at the end of April 2012 and ran till June 2, 2012. Randomly selected citizens gathered in groups of 12 every week for six weeks to discuss the issues in depth.

The Centre for Public Involvement from the University of Alberta tracked the progress of these groups as they explored recommendations for the evolving food and agriculture strategy. Their recommendations will be integrated into the discussions on a wider strategy.

Focus Groups

The City organized focus groups made up of those who have a strong interest or knowledge of food and agriculture policy issues, a strong potential to influence food and agriculture policy issues, or those who might reasonably expect to be significantly impacted by the results of this project.

A total of nine focus groups held their first discussions between April 30 and May 4, 2012.

Another round of focus groups held discussions in mid-June 2012.

The groups were divided into a number of categories, representing a broad cross-section of those in the community having knowledge, experiences and interests in food and agriculture issues: farmers and producers, food retail and restaurants, government, development community, culture, local processors and distributors, community organizations, education, and social welfare and health.

Food in the City Conference

As part of the exploration of this important subject, the City of Edmonton hosted an exciting conference that was held May 25-26, 2012.

The conference keynote speaker was Wayne Roberts, author of The No-Nonsense Guide to World Food and former manager of the Toronto Food Policy Council. Workshops were led by local experts on food and agriculture issues. HB Lanarc Consultants presented their work to date on a food and agriculture strategy, including research findings on food and agriculture opportunities in Edmonton and the latest feedback from stakeholder consultations.

Citizen Panel 5: It’s a wrap!
Citizen Panel 4: Healthier Ecosystems
Citizen Panel 3: Stronger and more vibrant local economy
Citizen Panel 2: Healthy and Food Secure
Citizen Panel 1: Everybody Eats
Food in the City conference: Janine de la Salle
Food in the City conference: Conference recap
Food in the City conference: Wayne Roberts