Our Food NL
2020 was a milestone year for Food First NL as we wrapped up a 10-year partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). The core of our work with PHAC was the “Our Food NL” project, which supported rural, remote, northern, and Indigenous communities as they conducted Community-Led Food Assessments (CLFAs). Based on their CLFA findings, communities developed local interventions, to increase access to healthy and culturally-appropriate food. You can read more about the project and the impacts it made in this report
Some key outcomes:
Improved access to healthy and culturally-appropriate food.
New community food programs have been created, and existing ones have been enhanced, that improve access to healthy, culturally-appropriate food.
Program participants have gained new or enhanced food skills and knowledge, from healthy cooking to gardening, and have reported improved consumption of healthy food
Increased community capacity to advance food security action.
Community members report an increased ability to address food security challenges, and several have participated in policy conversations.
Food security has become part of municipal-level planning and policies in some participating communities.
Increased food security engagement at regional and provincial levels.
There is heightened awareness of food security in the province, and understanding of food security challenges facing rural, remote, Northern, and Indigenous communities
Many ripple effects have been reported resulting from the project. As one example, some local stores have made efforts to increase their stock of healthy foods.
Our Food NL has proven that people facing food security challenges are the ones best placed to develop effective solutions. Through Our Food NL, Food First NL has seen the impact of resources and support to help a community realize their unique vision. Improving distribution of food to communities, enhancing food knowledge and skills among residents, and increasing household income are each one part of the solution to food security, but it is an issue that requires a collaborative and multifaceted approach.
Our Food NL was a transformative project for Food First NL in many ways. It took our staff all over the province, from Nain in the North to Rencontre East in the South. It gave us a chance to build relationships with Indigenous communities and governments, to develop and refine the food assessment process, and to learn so much about what communities value and prioritize in their food systems.
Food First NL will continue to use this knowledge to meaningfully support communities across the province to advance food security for many years to come.