An exploration of what is food resiliency, and how the Transition Town movement contributes towards it. Examines what is happening in Waterloo Region and beyond both nationally and internationally, with a special emphasis on the efforts of TransitionKW,

1. Tr ansition Towns &
Food Resiliency
Alisa McClurg
September 14, 2012

2. Outline
 What is the “Transition Town” movement
 Local, resilient food (e.g. within TT context)
 Promising eg’s of change (TTs & beyond!)
 Resistance/obstacles to change
------
 Role of planning in relation to food

3. What is the Transition
Town movement?
 Promotes local community resiliency

4. How do Transition
Towns promote
resiliency?
 Seek to address:
1. climate change
2. peak oil, and (now)
3. economic
uncertainty

5. Where are its
members?
 Started in Totnes,
U.K. (2005)
 Over 900
initiatives in 34
countries
 Europe, North
America, Australia http://transitionnetwork.org
etc.

6. How are TT’s changing
how we relate to food?
 Local food production
 Emphasis on “permaculture”
 Farming according to principles of
ecology
 “permanent” + “agriculture”
 Not waiting for government!

7. What is happening
specifically?
 Community gardens/yard sharing
 Markets / Cafés / “Crop Swaps”
 Urban fruit tree harvesting
 Potlucks / “slow food” dinners
 Reducing food waste events
 Farm work opportunities

8. What are some
examples in North
America?
 L.A.  harvest-sharing, plant fruit trees
 Peterborough  Slow Food and Culture Festival,
wild food foraging
 Guelph  Sharing Backyards, backyardbokboks

9. What is happening with
TransitionKW?
 Started in Fall 2009
 ~100 members
 Awareness raising about:
 Climate change + peak oil = ? Food security
 Local economy
 Pollination
 KW Urban Harvester...

10. Struggles and
Successes
- +
Where do we fit/ “Resiliency” = flexible
what is our focus? adaptation
How do we stay in Deals with
touch? complexities
How do we organize Less structure = broad
ourselves? appeal
Low overhead

11. Economy Community
Equity
Resilience
Sustainability Livability
Environment
Adapted from Hancock, T. , Labonte, R., Edwards, R., (1999). Indicators that Count!-Measuring Population Health at the Community Level

12. Economy Community
•Improved nutrition
•Economic diversity •Food options
•Self reliance Equity •Food access
•Decreased oil •Social ties
dependency •Working conditions
•Dollars at home •food = necessity
Resilience
Sustainability Livability
•Decreased fossil fuel use
•Greater control over inputs
(fertilizers, pesticides etc.)
•Protection of seed stock and
farmland
Environment
Adapted from Hancock, T. , Labonte, R., Edwards, R., (1999). Indicators that Count!-Measuring Population Health at the Community Level

13. Examples of local food
initiatives
 Foodland Ontario
 Ontario Farmland
Trust

14. Regional local food
initiatives
 FoodLink
 Farmers’ Markets
 Food Buying Club
 Community gardens (40+)
 Local food groups
(Food Systems Round Table)
 Favourable land use planning
(i.e. community gardens)

15. Obvious threats to
resilient local food
systems
 Poor planning (i.e. food “deserts”, sprawl)
 “Chicken-and-the-egg” -> consumer behaviour
& supportive retailers
 Attracting new farmers
 Challenges of small-scale production

16. Less obvious threats to
resilient local food
systems
 Productivity obsession (post WWII)
 GMO foods & “terminator” seeds
 Dumping of subsidized food
 Waste treatment (i.e. human sludge)
 Trade policies (i.e. CETA)

17. Moving towards
resilient food systems?
 Farm-to-table
(Farm to fork)
movement
 La Campesina
(1993)
 Terra Madre (2004) -
Produce food in
sustainable way

18. Moving towards
resilient food systems
today?
 Commission on Sustainable
Agriculture and Climate Change
(2012)
 Sought to enhance local capacity:
 farmer and community-based
organizations,
 reinvigorating local markets, and
 provide growing space for local families

19. Canadian local food
initiatives
 Towards a National Food Strategy (2011)
 Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (2011)- “75
by 25” (up from 68%)
 The People’s Food Policy Project (2011) –
Localize the system
 Local Food Plus - Brings farmers and consumers
together regionally

20. Provincial and
municipal initiatives
 Shall be “consistent with” (PPS 2005)
 Region of Waterloo – Promotes access
to healthy food, community gardens
 City of Waterloo – Community gardens,
<=mid-sized food stores

21. Other indicators
 Growing number of community gardens,
farmers markets in NA
 Declaration for Healthy Food and
Agriculture - http://fooddeclaration.org
 National Student Food Charter (NSFC) -
http://studentfood.ca/about-the-charter

22. Planning initiatives
 City Beautiful Movement (early 1900s)
 APA Food Systems Steering Committee
(2006)
 OPPI Healthy Communities and Planning
for Food Symposium (2010)

23. How planners can promote
resilient food systems?
 Legislation and policy
 Favourable zoning or by-law changes
 Land regulation policies
 Programs & grants
 Public outreach
 Partnerships with other organizations

24. ...illogical and absurd demands [are placed on
you] from the planning department when you
want to put up a poly tunnel or a shed in your
market garden. It's as if the authorities are
going out of their way to make it as difficult as
possible for small scale food production.
Food in Transition: Growing, gathering and sharing,”
Ann Owen, June 2012

25. Role of Planners in
Food:
Citizenship is a two-way street, not just about
government doing things for the people”
(p. 95)
The No-Nonsense Guide to World Food, Wayne Roberts

26. Role of Planners in
Food cont.
The community doesn't need or want more
experts telling them what to do. We want
partners and we want help to develop and
implement our dream. Transition is assisting
our community in analyzing the confluence of
inter-related challenges that we face...to
develop a common vision and take more action
to achieve it.
Fred Brown, TT Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, “Transitioning a Low-income,
Inner-city, Marginalized Community,” March 2013