25 YEARS IN COUNTING

The Kamloops Food Policy Council celebrated its 25th Anniversary (virtually) on August 5, 2020. Thank you to the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Lana Popham, the attendees of the event, staff, volunteers and the community for the never-ending support, passion, hard work, and dedication that has gone into creating a food system that is regenerative, sovereign, and just over the last 25 years.

At the event, we were nostalgic as we reflected on and shared memories of the flaky, cream-filled desserts, food, and treats shared with over 40 members at the potlucks and the relationships and connections we built as a community.

We are appreciative of the shifts that have occurred in the food system and the programs that have sprung up over the last 25 years some of which involve, the development of the City of Kamloops Food and Urban Agriculture Plan, the involvement of the KFPC in the advisory committee, the legalization of Urban Hens, the Pop cycle Initiative, the availability of local food and food sharing within the community and the community-based food plan implementation project that has brought about huge impacts.

We were privileged to have with us the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Lana Popham, who shared with us the importance of food system networks most especially in the midst of the global pandemic. There have been a shift in thinking and an integration between the rural and urban communities. Seeing that farmers in our community are struggling with issues of connectivity, the Ministry of Agriculture promotes grants to assist these farmers to solve their e-commerce problems through online sales. She explains that following this huge stride in the support of local food and farmers, we need to keep the momentum going. We must Buy BC, Feed BC, and Grow BC. The mandate helps to improve the strength of land reserve and provide farmers with support through education, opportunities, seed networks, and system-level changes.

At the anniversary, we had a pre-screening of our promotional video, which will be launched officially in the following week. Stay connected for updates!

The community also posed several questions to our special guest, Lana Popham. She explained that Food Process Hubs will help increase food security in times like the CO-VID19 Pandemic as stores are unable to keep up with food distribution. By making what we need in BC, we can have a safe food supply. She explains that we are not using the Agricultural Land Reserves to its full potential. The Ministry supports a land trust that matches aging farmers and new farmers such as women, with children that want to make a change to land and promotes reconciliation with the indigenous and natural food system.