Food for thought

Food has never been a major issue in municipal politics.

Connie Nelson is trying to put it front and centre, using World Food Day as a platform to bring together about half the candidates running for seats in Thunder Bay together in a series of open forums discussing food and related topics.

Nelson, a social work professor at Lakehead University, on Thursday said a successful food security network cannot be accomplished without the help of city council.

"The municipal council plays a very pivotal role in terms of land usage, tax credits, tax subsidies, for shaping the way we can build that local food system," Nelson said.

"They’re not the only players, but they can often open doors that need to be opened in order to facilitate this local food system."

Nelson, who has been preaching the benefits and importance of local food security – the ability of a community to produce its own food and not completely rely on imports from elsewhere around the planet – said Thunder Bay’s council has done its fair share, but there’s much more than can be done to facilitate the plan.

"I think we’re very fortunate that we have a very strong framework to begin this discussion. The city of Thunder Bay has endorsed a food charter and it does recognize the connection between a local food system and the potential of decreasing our health-care costs," she said.

"A lot of issues around nutritional food are diet related. If we can enhance the nutritional food that’s available to everybody, we might possibly begin to reduce the chronic dietary diseases that we’re faced with."

Candidates, much to the surprise of some in the audience, were well-versed, touching on topics ranging from greenhouses and local food availability to the city’s progress – or lack thereof – in the area of composting.

At large Coun. Aldo Ruberto said when he was young, every household had its own garden and joked he must have eaten a potato 10 different ways as a child.

Times have changed, he said, and maybe people should consider a return to earlier times. But there has to be an education aspect to convince people to change their modern-day habits.

"It’s one thing for them to learn to grow food. It’s another thing to know how to turn it into ingredients and eat it," Ruberto said.

"When I was young, nobody went to a restaurant. Nobody could afford a restaurant. If you went to a restaurant, they better be able to cook better than your mother. And that wasn’t likely."

McIntyre candidate Terrence Yahn, one of 24 expected to participate, said people need to have faith in the local system.

"You trust what’s closest to you. You trust what’s in your own garden. You trust what’s grown by local farmers."

But it won’t happen unless people are aware, he said.

When it comes to larger greenhouses, that might allow people to produce, at-large Coun. Iain Angus likes the idea, but admitted there are challenges that must be overcome, citing a western Canadian example.

"They found the big barrier there is a lack of trained personnel. You can’t go from growing trees to growing fruits and vegetables. It’s a different set of skills," Angus said.

Mayoralty candidate Jeff Irwin says Thunder Bay can grow its own bananas – they do it in Colorado, he said – but specialty greenhouses can’t come at all costs.

"You have to have a plan and it can’t always be subsidized by the government," he said.
Education is the big challenge when it comes to composting, and there is plenty the city can do, said McKellar hopeful David Nicholson, but there’s plenty people can do on their own.

"I don’t agree with putting the leaves out in plastic bags because it supports the petroleum-based industry," Nicholson said, adding he composts his own leaves and shares the resulting soil with his neighbours.

At-large candidate Rebecca Johnson agreed that education is the key.

"There’s not enough people composting," she said.

Frank Pullia, one of six seeking the mayor’s chair, said the city is only processing about 35 per cent of its recyclables, noting a city-wide wet-waste organic composting program could easily up that number.

"Then you capture that at the source. That alone would ensure that our recyclables would go over 45 per cent or 50 per cent," Pullia said.

The municipal election is scheduled for Oct. 25.