Thanks to all who came out to the public forum on short-term food relief last week! It was a great opportunity to hear from local agencies involved in this work, to share food, and to reconnect and meet new friends. We were amazed to learn about the diversity of programs that exist and new programs that are in the works. The major challenges discussed were limited resources and difficulties with communication. To assist with communication, Food Link will be moving forward with creating a comprehensive, up-to-date, and printable list of organizations that provide access to free or low-cost food and their programs including times, services, costs and locations.  This tool will be useful for all front-line service providers and community members in the Nanaimo area.  As an online resource, it will be easy to update and to provide current information and to hopefully reduce the confusion and paper waste of printed guides that are difficult and costly to change each time program information changes. (Click here to read more)

"We, small-scale farmers and fisher peoples, pastoralists, women, youth, indigenous peoples, other social movements and civil society organisations, have taken the challenge together to propose policies and actions that would lead to the eradication of hunger and malnutrition in our world.

We strongly believe that the actions to eradicate hunger and malnutrition must be based on a vision of a world where:

• food sovereignty is recognised and implemented by communities, peoples, states and international institutions;
• all peoples, societies and states determine their own food systems and have policies that ensure availability of sufficient, good quality, affordable, healthy, and culturally appropriate food;
• there is recognition and respect for women’s rights and their crucial contribution to food provision, and representation of women in all decision making bodies;
• terrestrial and aquatic environments and biodiversity are conserved and rehabilitated based on ecologically sustainable management of land, soils, water, seas, seeds, livestock and aquatic organisms;
• the diversity of traditional knowledge, food, language and culture, are all valued and respected;
• the way people organise and express themselves is accepted and peoples’ power to make decisions about their material, natural and spiritual heritage is defended;" (Eradicate Hunger and Malnutrition)

To read the open letter go to www.eradicatehunger.org/en/open-letter

To sign the document go to www.eradicatehunger.org/en/home

EXTRACT: The oceans are being emptied to provide feed for farmed animals such as fish, chickens and pigs, a study involving the University of B.C. concludes.The study, published this week in Oryx: the International Journal of Conservation, finds that 30 million tonnes or 36 per cent of the world's total fisheries catch each year is ground up into fishmeal and oil to feed farmed animals. (Click here to read article)