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

Manikantan Nair

City/Township Council · Kitchener

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

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. Develop a local food strategy, including research on how land-use change affects the food system
  2. Partner with other levels of government to develop local food hubs that reduce costs and barriers for small businesses
  3. Promote and support low-barrier spaces for local producers to distribute and sell food
  4. Encourage and support local landowners to rent to newcomer farmers
  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 local food procurement for school food programs, including processing/preparation infrastructure, food literacy, and youth learning opportunities
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)
  • Encourage and support private landowners to make lots available for food provisioning

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

I would support establishing a Regional Local Food Hub partnership that brings together farmers, food processors, non-profits, educational institutions and local businesses. The Region could help identify suitable public or partner facilities for shared processing, storage, distribution and low-barrier market space, while working with other levels of government to secure funding. This would reduce costs for small producers, create local jobs and strengthen our food supply chain while protecting productive farmland from unnecessary development pressure.

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

A strong local food system is about more than food security, it is also about protecting productive farmland, supporting farmers and creating local economic opportunities. The Region should work with municipalities, farmers, businesses, non-profits and other levels of government to reduce barriers to local production, processing and distribution. Growth should be planned carefully to avoid unnecessary loss and fragmentation of agricultural land, while recognizing that a healthy agricultural sector can contribute to jobs, investment and the long-term resilience of Waterloo Region.

Other priority not listed abovecandidate's own words

Protect the agricultural land base while supporting value-added agriculture, local food processing, and farm-based businesses that create jobs and strengthen the Region’s local economy. Growth and development should be planned in a way that minimizes unnecessary loss or fragmentation of productive farmland.