Local Food & Climate Change

What's on my mind these days, and a suitable topic for 2009 Blog Action Day on climate change, is local food production and how municipalities might help to make it easier for residents to produce food themselves and to buy locally-produced food.

The March 2009 issue of Municipal World ("Canada's municipal magazine since 1891") had an article talking about "foodshed strategy." It provides inspiring examples of ways that municipal governments and other organizations are finding ways to "shorten food chains and build community capacity."

A foodshed strategy, according to the article, includes three basic elements that depend on local resources and experiences:

- direct-marketing venues

- processes that connect producers and consumers

- avenues to develop greater access and security to food

There are aspects of these elements already in place in small ways in our region, and although we haven't completely lost our connection between food production and consumption in this area, we increasingly rely on food that comes from a great distance. Transporting food is a contributor to climate change; it also makes us vulnerable to disruptions in supply.

As a small step in this direction, since Peace River is currently reviewing its Animal Control Bylaw, I asked a local food advocate to do a presentation to inform Council (October 19, 5:30) about whether small scale poultry production Peace River might fit. It will be interesting to see how residents respond to this idea and to the more general idea of increasing local food production capacity.

There are visionary people in the region already working in practical ways on food issues. Municipal governments can provide support and leadership through appropriate bylaws, programs and other initiatives that could lead to a Peace regional foodshed strategy. The Town of Peace River is in the midst of developing a municipal sustainability plan; a foodshed strategy would fit in nicely. I'm looking forward to more discussion, but more importantly, action in this direction.

Snow, Sidewalks & Goat Tracks

Walking around Peace River is a standard feature of my days because when I was elected to Council, I decided to walk to meetings whenever possible. So for two winters now, I've tromped through the snow and have become a lot more aware of which homes and businesses keep their sidewalks shovelled and which don't.

There is a house on my regular walking route that has been sale for two winters now and the sidewalks not cleaned. This results in what someone has called a "goat track," a narrow path that makes walking very challenging. If this was a side street where there is little pedestrian traffic, it would be less of an issue, but this is a major pedestrian route.

There is a large, empty building downtown where the owner has not made snow removal arrangements. A large store on 101st Street removes snow from one side, but not the other. More goat tracks.

It seems like time to look at a snow removal bylaw (it's surprising to me that the Town doesn't already have one). As the Complete Streets workshop I attended this winter reminded us, if people can't comfortably walk around town, it's going to be very difficult to get them out of their vehicles, whether for fitness or to reduce our carbon footprint.

A bylaw would need to be reasonable and manageable for residents and businesses (as well as for the Town itself). But with a bylaw, the Town could do more than just try to educate. Warnings could be issued to those who aren't clearing in a timely way and if the warning wasn't enough, then the Town could arrange for clearing and bill the owner. And we walkers would find winter life so much easier!

Nuclear Power

Last Saturday night Dr. Gordon Edwards of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility (http://www.ccnr.org/) kept a large crowd at the Catholic Conference Centre spellbound as he described the history of atomic energy, explained how nuclear power plants work, outlined concerns about uranium production, radiation, waste storage and disposal, and then answered questions and responded to comments.

Most people stayed until he finished speaking at 11:00 and there was a line-up to talk with him afterwards. The next morning, there were around 100 people at the pancake breakfast in Grimshaw and the discussion was apparently again lively.

People in the area are taking advantage of opportunities to learn about the issue from the variety of options, such as Energy Alberta's open houses, sessions put on by the Peace River Environmental Society, and, judging by comments made on Saturday, extensive use of resources available online.

Nuclear power is a rather large departure from the way Alberta currently generates electricity. Where is the provincial government in this discussion with public education and consultation and a full debate in the legislature? Where is the evidence that we actually need to generate this power? What effort has the province taken to reduce demand for electricity? Has enough help been given to alternative technologies? I have many questions!