Edmonton – The City of Edmonton has created its first Food Council.
The 15 member Edmonton Food Council’s primary role will be to advise city staff on matters of food and urban agriculture and support the implementation of “fresh,” Edmonton’s Food and Agriculture Strategy.
“The City of Edmonton wants to support opportunities to grow and process food in the city, increase access to local and healthy food in our neighbourhoods, and stimulate and diversify the local economy. The Edmonton Food Council is the first step in making that happen,” says Peter Ohm, Manager of the City’s Urban Planning and Environment Branch.
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The council will also provide advice, undertake research and evaluation, coordination, engagement and education.
Stuart Cullum and Mary Bailey are not only two members of the Food Council, they’ve also been appointed co-chairs. Cullum is the Vice President of Agriculture at Northlands. Bailey publishes “The Tomato food & drink” magazine.
“Ultimately, we want to establish a local food system that’s sustainable and resilient. I think there’s a lot of passion around local food and urban agriculture, but, ultimately, if it’s not sustainable, it’s problematic,” says Cullum.
“I think it’s not so much what we each bring individually to the council, I think it’s more about how we can work as a group to help the City implement the strategy,” says Bailey.
Fifty-seven people were nominated for the council. Twenty-two of the nominees were interviewed in July before the 15 person council was selected. The Food Council is being called a diverse group.
“To get a group of people – which we are so different – together to say ‘look, let’s look at it this way or let’s look at it that way,’ I think that’s the strength we really bring,” explains Bailey.
The Food Council will meet in the fall to determine its first set of priorities.
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