Date: June 4th 2012

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Food Security E-News for Newfoundland & Labrador

Highlighting

Coming Up: Root Cellars Rock Food Skills Workshops Launch

When: July 4th - 18th

Are you interested in hosting a food skills workshop in your community? The Food Security Network, through its Root Cellars Rock project, is about to launch a kit of resources to support groups or individuals across the province in hosting food skills workshops on these exciting topics:

• Container Gardening
• Composting
• Seed Saving
• Edible Wild Plants
• Preparing Local Vegetables
• Using Culinary Herbs
• Canning
• Root Cellars

FSN is recruiting groups to host workshops across the province to help launch these great new resources during the period of July 4th-18th. If you or a group you know are interested in hosting a workshop in your community, contact Sarah at sarahferber@foodsecuritynews.com or by calling 709-237-4026.

Events

City Building: A New Convergence & St. John's Municipal Plan Review

When: Monday, June 4
Time: 7:00 pm
Where: Foran/Greene Room, St. John’s City Hall

The City of St. John’s is pleased to welcome special guest speaker Ken Greenberg. Mr. Greenberg is an architect, urban designer, teacher, author and former Director of Urban Design and Architecture for the City of Toronto. For more than 30 years he has focused on the rejuvenation of downtowns, waterfronts, neighbourhoods, regional growth management and planning new communities. His presentation will focus on the need to redefine urban spaces and create dynamic models for city building that meet the future needs of the community, economy and environment.

Mr. Greenberg’s presentation is part of the City’s public consultations for Envision: St. John’s, the City’s Municipal Plan review. The presentation is open to all residents, no RSVP required.

Future public consultations as part of the municipal plan review:

Downtown Forum
When: Tuesday, June 19
Time: 7:00 pm
Where: Foran/Greene Room, St. John’s City Hall

Written submissions are being accepted. For further information please contact the City’s Department of Planning at municipalplan@stjohns.ca or by phone at (709) 576-8220, or visit www.stjohns.ca/cityservices/planning/municipalplanreview.jsp

1. St. John's Farmers' Market

When: Every Saturday June - December
Time: 9:00 am - 2:00 pm
Where: Lions Club Chalet, Bonaventure Ave.

Local produce, food, crafts, and more. The market is now accepting applications for vendors for the 2012 season. Visit http://stjohnsfarmersmarket.org/ for more information.

2. Junior Forest Wardens Tree Sale

When: Saturday, June 9
Time: 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Where: 204 Brookfield Rd.

Large selection of trees and shrubs. Proceeds from the sale support the activities of the Junior Forest Warden Association of Newfoundland and Labrador. For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150817701302553&set=o.163498830379516&type=1&theater

3. EcoMentors Training Sessions

When: June 9 - 16
Where: Multiple communities in NL

EcoMentors training sessions are free, fun-filled days of interactive activities that will inspire and equip youth as community leaders. Plus, youth earn volunteer hours, meet other environmentally engaged youth and take home resources to help them facilitate workshops!

Visit www.ecomentors.ca/events.php for a listing of workshops and to register.

4. Mercy Centre for Ecology and Justice Summer Environmental Day Camp

When: June 25- 29 ; July 2 – 6 or July 9 -13
Where: 101 Mount Scio Road, St. John's

The Mercy Centre for Ecology and Justice invites children in Grades 2 and 3 this school year to attend a week long Summer Environmental Day Camp. Children will gain a greater awareness of themselves as part of creation. The cost of the program is $50.00. To register or for further information please phone 709-722-0082 or email: teersm@hotmail.com. Please register early as space is limited to ten children per week.

Container Garden Workshop

When: June 19
Time: 1:30pm-3:30pm
Where: Mercy Sisters Centre for Ecology and Justice, 101 Mt. Scio Road, St. John’s.

Interested in learning about container gardening? We are inviting seniors and their friends and family to join us for a hands-on, informative workshop and to go home with a beautiful container garden of your own. Bring your questions and enthusiasm, and if you have a pair of gardening gloves bring those too. Afternoon tea will be provided.
Registration is free, but space is limited. Please RSVP by June 15th to mcej@live.com or 709 722-0082.

A partnership between the Mercy Centre, Food Security Network, and Nature NL’s Growing Health Project.

5. Webinar: 'What’s Next? A Beginners’ Guide to Succession Planting’

When: Tuesday, June 26
Time: 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm (Newfoundland Time)
Cost: $10 or free for ACORN members

Succession Planting—following one crop with another—is a key tool for maximizing a garden/farm's yield. Creating a detailed succession plan eliminates the guesswork of what and when to plant later on in the season. This webinar will cover the basics of planting short-season crops to ensure a weekly harvest for market or CSA, and talk about the limitations of this practice too! With Roxanne Beavers, ACORN’s Organic Transition Specialist.

Register by calling 1-866-322-2676 or email lucia@acornorganic.org.

6. 2012 Urban Agriculture Summit

When: August 15 - 18
Where: Toronto, ON

Around the world people are growing food in cities! The 2012 Urban Agriculture Summit will bring together a diversity of people that are making it happen - design professionals, community groups, social housing advocates, tenants and developers, educators, planners, homeowners, urban growers and others - to share what is working, and to discover what is possible. More information, program, and call for proposals at www.urbanagsummit.org

7. Mushroom Foray 2012

When: September 28 - 30
Where: Terra Nova National Park

Foray Newfoundland Labrador host annual mushroom forays in different parts of the province. The purpose of a major annual foray like this one is to enable participants to learn about mushrooms while actively collecting them in the field. It concentrates more on species identification, list development and census than on collecting for food. Exchange of information, both informal during outings and social events and formal in the form of lectures, are very much part of a major foray. For more information and to register visit www.nlmushrooms.ca/page22.html

News

1. Groups Including Food Secure Canada Call for an Apology to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food

Food Secure Canada along with over 100 organizations and numerous well respected Canadians have written to Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressing deep concern about the government’s treatment of Olivier de Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, during his mission to Canada earlier this month.

De Schutter was undiplomatically dismissed by several Government ministers at the end of his official mission to Canada after he expressed concerns about the government’s failure to address widespread hunger in so affluent a country as Canada. The government’s response “trivializes the evident and continuing food and poverty-related human rights challenges faced daily by hundreds of thousands of Canadians,” said Diana Bronson, Executive Director of Food Secure Canada. “We should be seriously looking at how to implement the recommendations in De Schutter’s report, not dismissing them.”

Read the press release and the full text of the letter and list of signatures here. Click here to add your name to the letter to Prime Minister Harper.

For more information about the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food's mission to Canada visit http://foodsecurecanada.org/

2. Stella Bury Community Services Offering Raised Garden Boxes in St. John's

Beautiful vegetable & herb gardens custom-made & installed by participants of Stella’s Circle. For more information visit www.stellaburry.ca/event/raised-garden-boxes or see the attached brochure.

3. Western Environment Centre (WEC) Spring Newsletter

The spring 2012 edition of the Western Environment Centre newsletter is now available! Check it out for articles about the Blow me Down Community Garden in Corner Brook, the Norris Point Community Garden, and more.

http://wecnl.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/latest-wec-newsletter/

4. News Bites

Local

• Audio: Food Security in The Humber Basin. CBC West Coast Morning Show, April 25
• No Farmers' Market in Corner Brook this year. Western Star, May 10
• Home for dinner. Telegram, May 12
• Audio: Could we make Nfld and Lab self-sufficient when it comes to food? CBC NL Crosstalk, May 16
• Video: St. John's Farmers' Market. thegreenrock.ca, May 17
• Audio: NL seafood reality check. CBC St. John's Morning Show, May 17
• Cod recreational fishery dates released. Telegram, May 17
• Newfoundland cod fishery sees glimmer of hope. The Star, May 18
• Buyer beware on natural food, says consumer. Telegram, May 23
• Audio: Cavell Park Community Garden. CBC St. John's Morning Show, May 24
• Newfoundland and Labrador growers optimistic about 2012 season. Farm Credit Canada Newsletter, May 25
• New Provincial Agriculture Strategy Released. NL Government, May 25
• St. John's, old supermarkets and economic black holes. CBC NL, May 27
• St. John’s Farmers’ Market enters fifth season. The Independent, June 3
• Counting caplin and cod. Telegram, June 4

National

• Guelph area fruit trees could be fruitless. Guelph Mercury, May 7
• Audio: United Nations Takes Interest In Food Security For Inuit Communities. CBC Labrador Morning, May 10
• Rethinking the food bank: It’s no longer just about handing out food to the hungry. The Star, May 12
• Climate change hurts access to country foods in Iqaluit: study. Nunatsiaq Online, May 15
• Childhood hunger is a Canadian public health crisis. Population Health Improvement Research Network, May 30
• Feds urged to apologize to UN human rights expert. The Star, May 30
• Scratching the farming itch. Telegram, June 4

International

• The return of heritage fruit and veg varieties. BBC, May 3
• 'Fat tax' on unhealthy food must raise prices by 20% to have effect, says study. The Guardian, May 16

Opportunities

1. St. John's Farmers' Market Seeks Volunteers and Buskers

The St. John's Farmers' Market is looking for volunteers every Saturday from 9am until 12pm or 1pm until 3pm. Duties would vary and include helping with set up or tear down, aiding market vendors, washing cups, serving coffee, etc.

If you’re interested in volunteering, contact the market manager at sjfm.volunteer@gmail.com

Space for buskers is also available during the 2012 market season. Time slots are available for one hour and start at the top of each hour from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. You can apply for more than one slot on any given Saturday. Space for buskers is free unless you are selling merchandise.

For more information or to give your time and date preferences email sjfm.buskers@gmail.com

2. Funding: Farm Credit Canada AgriSpirit Fund

Deadline: June 18th

Fundraising? Maybe we can help. If your organization is raising money for a capital project, it may qualify for a donation between $5,000 and $25,000 to supplement your other fundraising efforts.

The FCC AgriSpirit Fund is about making life better for people in rural communities. Successful projects in the past have included hospitals and medical centres, childcare facilities, fire and rescue equipment, playgrounds, food banks, libraries, recreation centres and community gardens.

For more information and to apply visit: www.fcc-fac.ca/en/aboutus/responsibility/agrispiritfund_e.asp

3. Funding: Nature's Path Gardens for Good

Deadline: June 30th

$15,000 grants will be awarded to three garden projects based on (1) the compelling, empowering and inspirational nature in which they describe their organic garden project, (2) the Eligible Non-Profit Participant’s ability to establish and maintain a garden taking into consideration available resources and land permit use (3) the demonstrated need of the community they serve.

Visit www.facebook.com/naturespath/app_401418026549919 to apply (via Facebook).

Resources

1. Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada May Newsletter

Featuring information and resources for organic growers: www.oacc.info/FriendsE-zines/may2012.asp

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The FSN E-News is a monthly update of events, news, highlights, and resources in Food Security relevant for Newfoundland & Labrador. Release: First Monday of the month. Want to Include your Event or News Item in the next FSN E-News? email: e-news@foodsecuritynews.com by the Thursday before its release.

Food Security Network of Newfoundland & Labrador
Tel. 709.237.4126
www.foodsecuritynews.com
"Healthy Food For All!"