WCS Engagement + Planning was part of the team that supported Metro Vancouver in 2024-2025 to update the Regional Food System Strategy. Not surprisingly, there was significant interest and engagement from organizations and individuals ranging from member local governments, health authorities, food producers and retailers, community organizations, and businesses.
While the project’s focus was Metro Vancouver, undoubtedly communities elsewhere in BC and Canada share similar challenges and needs when it comes to addressing food system resiliency and sustainability. The challenges and needs we heard from those who participated in the project are summarized as:
- Increasing land costs and economic pressures on farmland/farmers
- Climate change and extreme weather events impacting agricultural productivity
- Supply chain shifts, tariffs and increased food insecurity
- Loss of agricultural and food infrastructure such as storage and processing facilities and regulation barriers to starting up food processing businesses
- High cost of local food production translating into high cost of food
- Labour shortages, partly due to lack of affordable housing and transportation
Local governments have important roles to play to support food system resiliency and sustainability such as:
- Supporting Indigenous leadership and involvement in food systems planning and accessing food production opportunities
- Increasing amount of land available for food production and processing
- Supporting local food businesses, including ways to attract and retain labour
- Convening and hosting conversations to strengthen the food system
- Delivering educational campaigns and initiatives such as Love Food Hate Waste or Buy Local
- Integrating food system initiatives into zero waste and circular economy initiatives
While these initiatives may seem a bit overwhelming, the most important thing is to start integrating local food into all planning considerations!
WCS Engagement + Planning has done a variety of other food system related work over the past years, including:
- Convening and coordinating the Squamish-Lillooet Food System Task Force, which involved supporting regional collaboration on food-related initiatives
- Leading the development of the Sea to Sky Food Recovery Plan, which was undertaken to maximize the recovery and distribution of surplus food, and to minimize food waste in the Sea to Sky region.
- Leading the Sea to Sky Food Resiliency Project that focused on building resilience in the regional social services food system that supports vulnerable populations in achieving food equity and food security.
See https://whistlercentre.ca/resources/ for more information on our food-related work.
What Do We Mean by Food Systems?
A food system encompasses all the processes and infrastructure involved in feeding a population, from growing and harvesting to processing, distributing, and consuming food. It includes the people, services, and organizations involved in these activities, as well as the broader societal, economic, and environmental factors that influence them. Understanding how all these pieces work and are interrelated is crucial to ensure the system’s sustainability and resiliency.