The Good Food Program
The Good Food Program is a project of the Squamish Food Policy Council and a strategic priortity of the Squamish Valley Agriculture Plan. The program aims to shift the buying power of the food industry in the Squamish to Lillooet region towards procuring more local food based on Good Food Values.
In Phase 1, all five local governments in the region endorsed the Good Food Values. We are now in Phase 2 and 3 of the project, where we are working to support food purchasers procure more locally-grown food and address barriers to accessing local food in the region.
We want to celebrate the abundance of food grown and eaten in the Squamish to Lillooet region and find ways to bring more local food onto the table. Institutions and businesses make food purchases; this purchasing power can be strategically leveraged to generate greater health and wealth in communities. How and where procurement dollars are spent can have important economic, employment, social, and environmental impacts.
In Phase 1, all five local governments in the region endorsed the Good Food Values. We are now in Phase 2 and 3 of the project, where we are working to support food purchasers procure more locally-grown food and address barriers to accessing local food in the region.
We want to celebrate the abundance of food grown and eaten in the Squamish to Lillooet region and find ways to bring more local food onto the table. Institutions and businesses make food purchases; this purchasing power can be strategically leveraged to generate greater health and wealth in communities. How and where procurement dollars are spent can have important economic, employment, social, and environmental impacts.
About
The Squamish Lillooet Food Project was developed to advance region-wide initiatives that will help to create a more sustainable food system in the region.
It builds on existing plans and policies, identifying internal gaps and best practices from other regions that can be adapted for this region. The Squamish Lillooet Regional Food Task Force, composed of regional food stakeholders, collaboratively identified actions to help advance the sustainability of the regional food system. Implementation partners are those organizations committed to implementing the identified actions. One of the identified action items was to develop a Regional Procurement strategy, led by the Squamish Food Policy Council (SFPC).
The program begins with the endorsement of the Good Food Pledge and intention to develop and adopt policy. On the horizon, a Good Food Program run by the SFPC will offer performance indicators, evaluations, and implementation support. The proposed pledge and policy aims to support local food producers and processors through establishing food procurement practices aligned with “good food” values. A pledge and policy will help increase the percentage of local and sustainable food purchased by the institutions, businesses, etc., in turn, increasing the support and demand for local agriculture and products. The following “good food” values have been identified as the guiding principles to the pledge.
It builds on existing plans and policies, identifying internal gaps and best practices from other regions that can be adapted for this region. The Squamish Lillooet Regional Food Task Force, composed of regional food stakeholders, collaboratively identified actions to help advance the sustainability of the regional food system. Implementation partners are those organizations committed to implementing the identified actions. One of the identified action items was to develop a Regional Procurement strategy, led by the Squamish Food Policy Council (SFPC).
The program begins with the endorsement of the Good Food Pledge and intention to develop and adopt policy. On the horizon, a Good Food Program run by the SFPC will offer performance indicators, evaluations, and implementation support. The proposed pledge and policy aims to support local food producers and processors through establishing food procurement practices aligned with “good food” values. A pledge and policy will help increase the percentage of local and sustainable food purchased by the institutions, businesses, etc., in turn, increasing the support and demand for local agriculture and products. The following “good food” values have been identified as the guiding principles to the pledge.
Good Food Values
The Current Sea to Sky Food System
- For every $100 spent with a local BC business, $63 is recirculated back into the BC economy (compared to $14 for multinational corporations) (LOCOBC)
- In Southwest BC, about $8.6 billion is spent on food annually, much of which does not stay in the local economy
- Squamish residents spend a collective $8 million on food per month; Whistler's total annual consumer spending at restaurants was over $400 million annually → there is massive potential for more spending to be redirected to local food!
- There are 138 farms located between Furry Creek and Lillooet!
- Check out the Squamish to Lillooet Food Asset Map for a list of places where you can grow, buy, prepare, share, or learn about food in the Squamish to Lillooet region
How Can You Procure Local Food?
Review contracts
Budget for local food wins
Commit to local food
- Revise and insert local food requirements setting increasing yearly targets
- 80 / 20 rule: leave a minimum of 20% of your food contracts open to seasonality and for sourcing local
- Use Food Forward Contracts
Budget for local food wins
- Find out what's available locally and in season
- Meet your local farmers
- Learn more about local food in the Sea to Sky
Commit to local food
- Track, report, improve, repeat
- Set targets to increase percentage of local food
- Review your menu to feature local food
- Share your story and market what’s local
- Sign our Good Food Pledge!
- Learn about best practices for Food Recovery in the Sea to Sky
Good Food Values Checklist
The checklist provides a guide with key points to be accounted for in order to comply with the "Good Food Pledge". When making food purchases try to meet as many of these definitions as possible.
Get in the Food Loop!
Do you work in the private or public food sector? Join the Sea-to-Sky Good Food Network to be a part of a growing food culture in the corridor and help shape the way food ends up on our plates. Stay tuned for resources, workshops and events!
Want to learn more? Contact Gabriela Lech, our Food Systems Manager, at gabriela@squamishcan.net.
Want to learn more? Contact Gabriela Lech, our Food Systems Manager, at gabriela@squamishcan.net.