All topics Housing Getting Around Climate Food Growth & Planning Budget & Taxes

David Alton

City/Township Council · Kitchener

Back to candidates
All topics Housing Getting Around Climate Food Growth & Planning Budget & Taxes
This candidate finalized their responses after this guide and scoring methodology was published.

Food Systems & Security

In the context of growing pressure for economic development and the connected loss of farmland, what role do municipalities and the Region hold in promoting local food livelihoods, production, and processing?ranked from highest to lowest importance
  1. Promote and support low-barrier spaces for local producers to distribute and sell food
  2. Partner with other levels of government to develop local food hubs that reduce costs and barriers for small businesses
  3. Encourage and support local landowners to rent to newcomer farmers
  4. Develop a local food strategy, including research on how land-use change affects the food system
  5. Leave local food livelihoods to the private market
How should municipalities and the Region approach food insecurity and affordability?select up to 3 per part
A. Access to food
  • Partner with local charities, non-profits, and other organizations to strengthen access to food and redistribution of surplus food and produce for low-income residents
  • Support the development of community buying clubs or municipal grocery stores
  • Set community gardens and urban agriculture mandates so every neighbourhood has local garden access.
B. Access to land for growing food
  • Make public lands (Regional and municipal) available for sustenance food provisioning, including in urban and peri-urban spaces as cities expand
  • Enable access to land and resources for local people who want to grow their own food (e.g. the community-garden model)
  • Turn the Wilmot Land Assembly into a small scale agriculture incubator. Explore similar opportunities in South Plains area.

Please describe one concrete policy, program, or decision you would support to strengthen the local food system.candidate's own words

Setting up agriculture innovation spaces. These would be regional or city owned land that is leased to small scale farmers in partnership with agricultural and academic networks.

Would you like to provide any additional context for your views on food systems?candidate's own words

I deliver food every week to food not bombs and the food system roundtable network.