FOOD SECURITY INITIATIVE

The BCGEU works with a wide range of partners to promote food security as mandated by a BCGEU convention resolution (see below). The partners include labour (including the Canadian Labour Congress), Food Secure Canada - a new national food security network, the BC Food Systems Network, and the Capital Region Food and Agriculture Initiatives Roundtable (CRFAIR). Through each of these organizations we work for sustainable local food production and access to nutritious food for all Canadians.

In October 2006 we worked with our Food Secure Canada partners and the US Community Food Security Coalition to hold a major food security conference in Vancouver. About 900 people attended, with a very good percentage of them being young.

FOOD SECURITY RESOLUTION C-66 amended

THE BCGEU WILL:

Wherever possible order locally produced foods for our meetings; and

Develop a list for each area office and headquarters of caterers who provide locally produced foods;

BECAUSE the BCGEU has a strong policy to promote food security; and

BECAUSE the BCGEU has a strong policy to reduce global warming; and

BECAUSE the BCGEU has a strong policy promoting sustainability; and

BECAUSE one of the element of food security is not having to rely on distance sources of food, particularly in a time of concern about fuel availability and price; and

BECAUSE one of the major contributors to global warming is the long distances food travels to get to our plates (over 2,000 miles on average); and

BECAUSE the reliance on distant sources of food reduces the sustainability of local communities and economies; and

BECAUSE the reliance on distant sources of food leads to large scale, energy and chemical dependent monocultures which are unsustainable.