PelhamToday received the following letter to the editor regarding a motion recently passed by Thorold City Council:
Currently, about 60,000 Niagara residents struggle to afford healthy food, according to the United Way.
On July 11, 2023, Thorold City Council unanimously supported the following food security motion co-authored by myself and Thorold City Councillor Carmen DeRose (who also moved the motion):
That the Council of the City of Thorold ENDORSES community supported agriculture, led by local community organizations, as a way to help address the lack of nutritional food available to the community; That the Mayor BE DIRECTED to write a letter to the Provincial Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food to petition them to:
-increase purchasing power around access to nutritional food
-improve the identification of local products in existing supply chains
-encourage the development of new markets for local food
-re-explore labelling of foods that are genetically modified (in the interest of Consumer choice); and
-work with all local Niagara governments and community organizations to provide more assistance to Niagara-residents who are not food secure;
That this resolution be circulated to all Niagara-area municipalities, Niagara’s local Members of Provincial Parliament, Niagara’s local Members of Parliament, the Provincial Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Niagara Christian Gleaners, Small Scale Farms, United Way Food Security Network, federal minister of Agriculture and Agri-food, Feed Ontario, Hope Centre-Welland, Rural Ontario Municipal Association, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Community Care St Catharines and Thorold, Community Care of West Niagara, Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Food and Beverage Ontario, and the Ontario Agri-Business Association.
I would like to thank Thorold City Council for their support of this critical motion/issue and would like to give special mention to Renee Delaney of Small Scale Farms in Thorold for providing her consultation on this motion as well.
Steven Soos
Welland
