August 2010 - In Addition…

The Future of the Good Food Box Project

Towards Fresh Food and Better Health for All

Kate is raising two school aged boys on her own in a small rural community in South East Ontario. She moved here, to her husband’s home community, when they married. With her marriage now ended, she is on Ontario Works and living in a subsidized housing unit. She does not have close family or friends in the community and hasn’t been able to find work.

Kate has done her best to meet the nutritional needs of her family but finds it hard to buy fresh fruit and vegetables, especially in her rural area where grocery store food costs are high.

While seeing a social worker at a local health centre she discovers that there is a program available that would allow her to purchase fresh produce at low cost within her own community. She is considering participating in this Good Food Box Program (GFB) because it will not only help her to feed her family well, it will also offer her a volunteer opportunity that can provide her with social connections and will build her work skills.

Despite the clear benefits that this program has to offer, Kate hesitates to join. She has heard from program staff that the program may not be around if funding isn’t found to pay for some of the overhead costs. Kate wonders, as do many of those working in GFB programs, how can we keep these beneficial programs alive in the communities they serve so well? The Future of the Good Food Box Project is working to provide answers.

Good Food Box (GFB) programs are run on a non-profit basis to provide a variety of fresh nutritious foods at affordable prices. These programs have been established in communities throughout Ontario, as well as across Canada and worldwide. On a regular basis, individuals and families place orders for boxes with coordinators in their communities. Coordinators may be volunteers or paid staff. Typically, programs buy fresh produce in bulk from local farmers, producers, and wholesalers who deliver these vegetables and fruit to packing sites (often in a school, church hall, or warehouse). Volunteers and staff then pack the boxes for delivery to those who placed individual orders.

Although the GFB program was initiated to make nutritious food available to lower income families, in many communities customers participate from across a range of income levels. Some programs offer a variety of options from organic boxes to fruit bags only, to full fruit and vegetable baskets. Many include newsletters and recipes for using the produce.

GFB programs generally do not have a core budget but try to cover expenses through ongoing grant-seeking, fund-raising, and in-kind donations. Typically, customers just pay the cost of the food, while distribution overheads are often subsidized either through time-limited funding or in-kind contributions (space, administration) from community based organizations.

The Future of the Good Food Box Project strives to strengthen the Good Food Box programs across the entire province by:

  • developing a solid and accurate database of existing programs;
  • evaluating the successes, challenges, and impacting factors across various programs experiences;
  • developing a sustainable GFB business model;
  • activating a supportive GFB network; and
  • enhancing the profile of GFB programs so that they are recognized for the health benefits they provide.

The development of a business model and the creation of the GFB Network will assist GFB coordinators in their efforts to develop funding proposals, share information, plan for long term sustainability and optimize program efficiency. It will also help GFB programs to be established in communities where none presently exist.

The anticipated outcome of this project is improved advocacy efforts targeted at potential funders and local, provincial, and federal levels of government for sustainable GFB programs, resulting in increased access to fresh vegetables and fruit for individuals, children and families living on low incomes in Ontario.

The project was initiated in October 2009 with project coordination provided as of January 2010 by Community Voices Consulting (Cathy Cleary and Linda Stevens). The project is ongoing until March 31, 2011. Project administration is provided through the lead organization, Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition, and is guided by a project steering committee of representatives from public health units and community organizations involved in GFB programs from across the province. Funding for this project has been received from the Spark Community Advocacy Fund of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and Healthy Communities Fund of the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion.

For more information, please contact Community Voices at 613-876-0330 or communityvoicesconsulting@cogeco.ca

 

Clean Water Act- Drinking Water Source Protection

The Ministry of the Environment is pleased to announce that it has now finalized the regulation (Ontario Regulation 287/07) in support of the development and implementation of source protection plans under the Clean Water Act, 2006. The goal of the Act is to protect existing and future sources of drinking water, as part of an overall commitment to human health and the environment.

The requirements for source protection plans are set out as amendments to the General Regulation (O. Reg. 287/07) under the Act, and came into effect July 1, 2010. These amendments follow a public consultation process that included a policy discussion paper posted on the Environmental Bill of Rights’ Environmental Registry (EBR) website in June 2009, and a draft regulation posted on the EBR in January 2010. OPHA responded to this EBR.

The Ministry of the Environment has indicated that all comments provided in writing and at multi-stakeholder discussion sessions and focus groups were taken into consideration and were helpful in finalizing the regulatory amendments.

Information about the Clean Water Act, 2006 is posted on the Ministry’s website. Fact sheets can be found on the Ministry of the Environment's site. The regulation itself is currently posted under ‘Source Law’ on the e-Laws website.