Creating Food Initiatives at the Neighbourhood Level - April 26 and 27

Sowing Seeds of Possibilities: Creating Food Initiatives at the Neighbourhood Level - April 26 and 27 - Robertson Wesley United Church (10209 123 St., Edmonton)
Our workshop facilitator for the two days will be Angela ElzingaCheng from Food Share Toronto (http://www.foodshare.net) Angela is Foodshares' Urban Agriculture and Community Food Animations Manager.
 
Friday evening: From Gardens to Food Hubs: Sparking our imaginations- Begins at 7:00 p.m. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.).Through presentations and small group discussions we will spark our imagination about what could be possible in Edmonton. We will also learn some of FoodShare’s story around their work in supporting and developing  community based initiatives leading to better access to healthy food and begin to connect with people and groups interested in moving forward at the neighbourhood level.
 
Saturday morning: Hands on Tools and Strategies that Create Action for Food Initiatives: Begins at 9:00 a.m. (Doors open at 8:30 a.m.). We will continue to explore and experience some of the tools and strategies used and lessons learned by FoodShare in their work around community driven and asset based action intitiatives. We will finish up the workshop with a catered lunch from 12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.. This will provide people with a networking opportunity.
 
Cost for registration: $15.00 Friday evening only. $20.00 (includes a catered lunch) Saturday only. $30.00 both days. Folks can learn more about the workshop and register online at: http://sowingseedsofpossibilities-eac2.eventbrite.ca/ or by phone (Debbie Hubbard: 780-458-9286). Pre-registration is required.

Slow Food Canada Conference, April 25 to 28, Osoyoos, BC, Canada

There are so many good things happening in the Okanagan Valley this spring and summer. Let's start here:

Click image to enlargeI have been a Slow Food member for over a decade. It's very exciting to see how so many great food and wine people are coming together to make this an unforgettable conference. Please note, you don't have to be a Slow Food member to participate in the events above. You just need to be interested in the story behind the best ingredients, best chefs and cooks, and best wine in the country. See you there!

On April 25th to 28th The Annual Slow Food Canada National Meeting is being held in Osoyoos British Columbia at Watermark Beach Resort. This is the first time it is being held in British Columbia, and the first time in a small agriculture community.

This is a gathering of food communities from across Canada with a commitment to good, clean, fair food. The meetings and conference will include: Our Lieutenant Governor for British Columbia, our First Nations, workshops on Food Sovereignty, Food Security, Procurement, Agriculture in the classroom, Sustainable Seafood, Farm and Winery Tours, Slow Fish, Profiling Flavours of the Thompson Okanagan, the events for all three days will be about farming – our land – our people.

I have attached a document which profiles the sequence of events for your information. The Market on the Saturday is certain to be a wonderful opportunity for our local artisans, farmers and community to connect. The evening dinners on Friday and Saturday are fundraising dinners, with more than 20 Executive Chefs from our region showcasing our local producers and their Culinary  excellence. Our regional Wineries are partnering hand in hand with our Chef’s showcasing the complimentary flavours of our winemakers brilliance.

We have options for locals to participate as well as individuals to register and participate in the entire program. Please go to www.slowfoodcanada.ca to register – or if you are able to participate only in one or both of the dinners, and markets – please email cfossett@watermarkbeachresort.com. Special slow food sleepover rates are available for participants at Watermark Beach Resort.

Follow Slow Food Thompson-Okanagan on Facebook.

Upcoming Food and the City Book Talk: Literally Place-Making, April 12, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Registration now available.I'm honoured to be speaking at the up-coming event in Saskatoon, SK, next month. I'm on the panel with two incredible writers, Candace Savage and Gail Bowen. If you are in the Saskatoon region, the Centre for Civic Governance Forum is now taking registrations for this symposium.

Literally Place-Making

When: April 12th, 2013

Where: At the Wanuskewin Heritage Park, 20 minutes north of Saskatoon

Featuring Keynote Presentations by Candace Savage, author of the new Governor General Award Winning  Book A Geography of Blood.

GAIL BOWEN's first Joanne Kilbourn mystery, Deadly Appearances (1990), was nominated for the W.H. Smith/Books in Canada Best First Novel Award. Her new novel The Gifted is the fourteenth novel in the series and she is hard at work on the fifteenth. A Colder Kind of Death (1995) won the Arthur Ellis Award for best crime novel; in 2008 Reader's Digest named Bowen Canada's Best Mystery Novelist; in 2009 she received the Derrick Murdoch Award from the Crime Writers of Canada. Bowen has also written plays that have been produced across Canada and on CBC Radio. Now retired from teaching at the First Nations University, Bowen lives in Regina.

JENNIFER COCKRALL-KING is a Canadian food journalist and author based in Edmonton, Alberta, and Naramata, in the heart of British Columbia’s wine country in the Okanagan Valley. Jennifer’s first book, Food and the City: Urban Agriculture and The New Food Revolution is about the groundswell of urban agriculture in cities around the world. It examines why there is a reaction to the current global, industrial food system, and how urban agriculture is changing the mood, texture and dinner plates in over a dozen cities in five countries profiled in her book.

In addition to these presentations, there will be several key workshops local leaders in communities small and large. The conference will take place all day April 12th at Wanuskewin Heritage Park near Saskatoon. Please save the date, and watch for further event and registration details at: http://www.civicgovernance.ca/events/literally-placemaking.

Greenland Garden Show on 630 CHED (Edmonton) this morning

First round of seedlings, started early for once.I'll be on the Edmonton 630 CHED Garden Show this morning with Tina Burback and Morgan Webb. They have a great call-in show, with lots of local information about gardening and planting in the Edmonton area.

We plan on talking about urban agriculture around the world, and also Edmonton Seedy Sunday next weekend. (I'll be presenting a slide show at Seedy Sunday next week.)

I'll also mention the fabulous 2012 Edmonton community gardens report that was just released last week by Sustainable Food Edmonton, so here is the link to that report for those who wish to read the report themselves. Sustainable Food Edmonton is a wonderful resource to help you find a community garden near you as well, plus much more. Happy gardening!

The Future of Urban Agriculture in the Alberta Capital Region

On February 12, 2013, I was one of three speakers at a presentation called The Future of Urban Agriculture in the Alberta Capital Region. It was part of the Regional Planning Speakers Series, The City Region Studies Centre.

The event was really well attended, the Alberta Art Gallery theatre was full! Regional Planning Speakers Series has just uploaded the podcast and slides from the event. So if you want to take a listen, here's the intro and the link.

"This event, held on February 12 2013, was forward thinking in nature. It looked at the future of urban agriculture in the Alberta Capital Region: What does it look like ? What are the implications on land – use planning? On the economy?  On policy making ? These and other issues were discussed by our panelists, Jennifer Cockrall - King (Edmonton based food Author and blogger), Candace Vanin (Agrologist, Government of Canada) and Dustin Bajer (teacher at Jasper Place High School and permaculture expert)."

Click here to go to the City Region Studies' page where the slideshows from this evening are archived.