Access to healthy and affordable food is a key component of living a healthy lifestyle; it’s also an essential part of creating healthy and strong communities. Food nourishes local economies when locally sourced and ethically produced goods are readily available. A sustainable food system is necessary for minimizing environmental impacts and healing our ecosystems. Finally, as a social and cultural activity, food can bring a community together.

The Canadian CED Network has always recognized the importance of celebrating and learning about community food initiatives at our Annual Manitoba CD/CD Gathering. As this year’s event quickly approaches, we took a moment to connect with Stefan Epp-Koop, a member of the Gathering Planning Committee and the Program Director for Food Matters Manitoba. Stefan offered his thoughts on the connection between food and CED, the local food economy in Manitoba, and gives some tips on where to eat locally in Winnipeg.

Let’s start with some terminology: Fair trade. Local. Organic. These terms are often used to describe foods that might be healthier and more ethically produced and sourced. But what exactly do each of these terms mean, and what are the differences between them?

Stefan: Let’s start at the local level.  Here in Manitoba, “local” generally refers to food grown within the province.  Certified organic crops have to pass inspections and audits to demonstrate that they have not used any synthetic fertilizers on their crops or fed non-organic feed to their animals.  Some farmers use organic methods, but are not certified, so can’t advertise as being organic.  Fair trade provides fair prices to farmers in the Global South for products like coffee, tea, and chocolate.  In the commodity market, these farmers often suffer, so the fair trade model creates a better life for farmers and their communities.  I don’t see local and fair trade competing with each other – usually they are different products and I think that what we want is fair economic arrangements for all producers – whether here locally or in the Global South.

Making ethical and healthy food choices can sometimes feel overwhelming. Are there any logos consumers should be looking for, or any particular stores in Manitoba that carry fair trade, local and/or organic food products?

Stefan: If people are interested in buying local, fair trade and/or organic food products I’d encourage them to check out Dig In Manitoba, which has a great listing of places to buy local, sustainable foods.  Fair Trade Manitoba also has a really comprehensive list of places to buy fair trade products across Manitoba.

What is your vision for a fair food economy?

Stefan: My vision for a fair food economy is rooted in the Manitoba Food Charter which calls for both fair prices for farmers, fishers, and harvesters, as well as access to food for all Manitobans.  I think that the beauty of this vision is that it was created by many Manitobans from across the province through consultations in urban, rural and northern communities.

Several cities are beginning to adopt food policy councils to address the issue of food security in urban environments. What are some of the innovative food policies you see having an impact in other municipalities? What policies do you think could work here in Winnipeg or in Manitoba at the provincial level?

Stefan: A few years ago it was easy to say that food policies work in big centres like Toronto or Vancouver or Montreal – but in the last few years what has been interesting to me is the work done by municipalities that are not all that different than Winnipeg.  Edmonton, for example, has had a really innovative food-centered planning process and has created a food policy council.  Calgary did a community food assessment.  Support has come from other municipalities across the Prairies for everything from curbside compost pick up to farmers’ markets.  Here in Manitoba, Brandon has taken some innovative steps to talk about food at the municipal level.

You are helping to coordinate two workshops on food and food security at the 2013 Gathering. One of these workshops focuses specifically on food co-operatives. How does the co-operative model fit in with food security objectives?

Stefan: What is really exciting about this workshop is that it demonstrates that many kinds of co-ops can take significant action towards improving food security in a community.  Whether it is a community service model like Nor’West Community Health Co-op or a retail store like Neechi Commons, co-ops have been used in a variety of ways to create healthier, more food secure communities.

Lunch at the Gathering is catered by local social enterprises and co-operatives. Do you have a favourite restaurant in the city that is helping to create a fairer and more sustainable food economy?

Stefan: When you work on food issues you get to know a lot of really great local restaurants!  Our office is located close to Elements Restaurant at U of W which, as part of Diversity Food Services, has been doing some great work around local, sustainable purchasing at an institutional level.  I’ve also been involved with Sam’s Place, a social enterprise café and bookstore in Elmwood that serves some great local and fair trade food.  But I think what is truly exciting is how many restaurants there are that are now looking to be local and sustainable.  Food Matters produces a local food restaurant guide – it used to be hard to find enough restaurants…and now we can hardly fit them all!

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About Stefan Epp-Koop: Stefan is Program Director of Food Matters Manitoba. Previously, Stefan has coordinated research, evaluation, and policy analysis at Food Matters and was also Project Coordinator for the Manitoba Alternative Food Research Alliance.  Stefan holds an MA in History from Queen’s University.  Stefan became interested in food for many reasons – growing up in rural Alberta, involvement in international development work, and an interest in policy issues, to name a few, not to mention the joy of getting his hands in the garden dirt.

The 2013 Manitoba CD/CED Gathering takes place on October 25. Visit the Gathering homepage for more details and programming information.

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Such models, not driven by quarterly results or share prices, can take the long view 

As we emerge from the global recession and focus on building B.C.’s economy into one that’s strong, stable and capable of serving its citizens over the long term, it is time to bring co-operatives into the conversation.

Or perhaps I should say back into the conversation.

The 2008 crisis cut a painful swath throughout the globe. It threw millions out of work, forced homeowners into foreclosure, saw huge financial institutions collapse and siphoned tax dollars out of the economy into massive government bailout efforts to thwart another Great Depression.

Yet during the global credit crunch, co-ops quietly stood their ground. Annual loan growth for credit unions — which operate as financial co-operatives — has increased dramatically since 2009, the nadir of the recession. Figures from Credit Union Central of Canada show that the annual loan growth of Canadian credit unions affiliated with CUCC increased by 9.8 per cent in 2012, while in B.C., the increase was 8.1 per cent. That compares to 2009 loan growth of just 5.2 per cent for Canada and 2.6 per cent for B.C. It’s clear that credit unions were not left unaffected by the recession, but the World Council of Credit Unions reports that not one credit union in the world has received government recapitalization because of the financial crisis.

We in British Columbia were fortunate to remain relatively unscathed compared with other parts of the world. Nonetheless, it’s time to look more closely at how the co-op can complement other business models to keep our economy diverse, stable and prosperous for the long haul.

Co-operatives’ features are their strengths. They’re democratic, one-member, one-vote institutions owned by the people they serve. They’re rooted in their communities. They are collaborative and values-based. They support local groups committed to building healthy, equitable communities.

Financial co-operatives like Vancity provide credit to organizations working to make positive social contributions and create jobs. We also focus on levelling the playing field in financial services so that all citizens have knowledge about and access to the financial services they need, supporting their own economic self-determination.

Co-ops are a powerful economic force. The largest 300 co-operatives in the world have collective revenues of $1.6 trillion US, according to the International Co-operative Alliance Global 300 Report of 2011. That puts co-ops in the top 10 global economies in comparative terms. Some co-operatives are surprisingly mainstream business names — The Best Western hotel chain is a co-operative; so is Canada’s Home Hardware Stores Ltd., a co-operative wholesaler owned by more than 1,000 independent small business operators across the country. In the food sector, Ultima Foods, which produces the Olympic and iögo yogurt brands, is co-owned by two dairy co-operatives: Agropur and Agrifoods.

Canada’s 9,000 co-operatives have more than $370 billion in assets and provide 150,000 jobs in virtually every sector, from agriculture to retail to funeral services, according to the Canadian Co-operative Association. Well-known national co-operatives such as Mountain Equipment Co-op and Pharmasave — and well known credit unions, including Vancity — are based in British Columbia.

Other jurisdictions are bringing in co-operative legislation, viewing co-ops as important additions to their growing economies. Last December, legislation in South Korea took effect permitting certain types of non-profits to register as employee-owned social co-operatives. The idea was to create jobs in smaller firms, not just the mega-conglomerates that dominate the nation’s economy. If any one of those conglomerates were to fail, the ramifications would be massive.

Studies done in Quebec and B.C. have found that co-operatives have more longevity than traditional businesses. Some think this resilience stems from a greater willingness among their broad membership to band together to ensure its continued existence, even during tough times. In fact, many co-ops were started in periods of intense hardship when traditional markets failed and when no one else would serve their members.

Co-ops also take the long view. Unlike publicly traded corporations, they are not driven by quarterly returns and stock-market vagaries. Co-operative managers favour stable, steady operations and growth. So as we saw before the 2008 banking crisis, while co-ops are not as likely to hit the highest highs, they also avoid the lowest lows.

Like shareholder-owned corporations, co-operatives can be large or small. They can operate in any niche of an economy. In B.C., which relies heavily on natural resources and the service sector for its well-being, adding more co-ops to the mix can provide the diversity that contributes to economic stability and long-term health.

Together with other types of organizations, co-operatives, with their longevity, responsiveness to local needs and democratic, progressive features, can help B.C. move forward to build an economy that provides solid returns — for us all.

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This article originally appeared in the Vancouver Sun

Tamara Vrooman is president and CEO of Vancouver-based Vancity, Canada’s largest community credit union, and a member of the Steering Committee of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values.

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At their last meeting, CCEDNet’s Board of Directors approved a motion to join the New Economy Coalition. 

The New Economy Coalition was launched earlier this year by a merger of the New Economics Institute and the New Economy Network.  It is a network of individuals and organizations collaborating within a shared framework of economic justice and environmental sustainability. 

Although primarily US-based, the New Economy Coalition reflects a broader movement for economic change that offers significant promise for Canada as well.  CCEDNet’s strategic planning process last year concluded that, in order to achieve our vision of sustainable and inclusive communities, we need to embed CED in a wider economic paradigm that is part of a movement supported by a broad base of citizens committed to transformative political and economic change.  Building on the progress made at the National Summit on a People-Centred Economy, the New Economy Coalition does exactly that. 

We hope you will join us in person or on-line to hear Bob Massie, President and CEO of the New Economy Coalition, speak during the CCEDNet reception at the Social Enterprise World Forum on October 2.  He will share insights into the growing New Economy movement in the U.S. and strategies for transformative economic change. 

CCEDNet looks forward to working with our new partners in shared action towards a just and sustainable economy.  Join us!

NEW ECONOMY COALITION

STATEMENT OF MISSION AND VALUES

Toward an economy that sustains people and the planet

The mission of the New Economy Coalition (NEC) is to support a transition to a new economy where people and planet are the priorities; social justice and cohesion are prized; and peace, communities, democracy, and nature all flourish.

Many environmental problems are reaching crisis level, including climate disruption, the loss of forests and biological diversity, declining water and soil resources, and pervasive environmental toxins.

Meanwhile, current levels of economic inequality and insecurity, in the United States and elsewhere, are abysmal and rapidly getting worse.  These conditions are tightly linked: current economic norms, structures, and polices exacerbate the gap between rich and poor and simultaneously hasten the demise of natural ecosystems.

In the search for solutions to these huge challenges, many of us have come to realize that we cannot achieve shared prosperity or environmental sustainability without systemic changes in our economy and our politics.  Our current political economy is not delivering.  Something new is required.

We believe it is possible to usher in a new economy.  Some of the needed answers are already available, many others can be found.  The same can be said for initiatives needed to reclaim American democracy.  But policy and other solutions are meaningless without the will and capacity to implement them.  Our nation can realize an equitable and ecologically balanced future and embrace a new economic paradigm, but only if we build a movement supported by a broad base of citizens committed to transformative political and economic change.

NEC is a network of individuals and organizations interacting and collaborating within a broad framework of shared objectives. It is an ecumenical endeavor open to many perspectives and ideas. We are oriented toward finding solutions. What brings us together and defines our activities as a group is our shared commitment to collaborative action, systemic change, diversity of perspective, and mutual learning.

Many individuals and organizations are currently working on aspects of a new economy which, unlike the present economy, gives true priority to restoring and sustaining people, place and planet, including: the objectives and the values to which such an economy should be dedicated, the principles on which it should operate, the metrics by which it should be measured, and the steps needed to move in these directions. But current efforts remain small fragmented, and outside the mainstream of public discourse. Too often, innovative solutions and alternatives to the status quo are isolated or marginalized.

A creative fusion of people and institutions, ideas and action offers tremendous potential to shape a new, vastly improved economic ecosystem and associated public policy. Making this happen will be the work of the New Economy Coalition. 

Specifically, The New Economy Coalition will:

• Enhance coordination and integration of different fields and disciplines involved through online and offline forums and educational tools
• Work together to broaden the understanding that when the country is faced with so many problems across so many fields, it is the result of fundamental flaws in our economic and political systems
• Build long-term capacity by inviting groups to share in joint projects and events, either by topic or by region
• Generate a positive vision for the future, encourage new thinkers and doers, and give them broad exposure through the combined network communications structure
• Attract and energize young people, in order to create a pipeline of leadership for today and tomorrow
• Change the public policy debate by working at the local and regional levels with mayors, state legislators and other innovators
• Empower members of marginalized communities who have been fighting for economic and social justice
• Help support the development of new policy proposals as well as ideas for local action that confirm that the path to a better world does indeed exist.
• Build a broad-based citizens movement for systemic change.

As an organization, NEC will serve as a clearinghouse, capacity builder, and catalyst of its members’ efforts. NEC is not intended to replace or duplicate the work of its members but provide a supportive forum for common discussion, joint action, and collective impact. At a key moment in the nation and the planet’s history, NEC will serve its members and the community by helping to link and align work toward transformational change.

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