Please call or email your City Councillor TODAY and tell them to vote YES for an improved Local Food Procurement Policy at Wednesday's Council meeting.
Three Easy Steps to get your Councillor to vote YES to putting Local Food First!
- Find out who your Councillor is and tell them to adopt TEA's amendment to the policy (Details on the amendment follows below).
http://app.toronto.ca/wards/jsp/wards.jsp - TYPE the following subject line: "YES to a 50% Local Food Purchasing Target"
- PASTE this paragraph into the body of the email (or make up your own):
Dear Councillor___________,
At your October City Council meeting, I urge you to vote in support of local food for Toronto. In particular, please adopt the Toronto Environmental Alliance’s amendment that asks for the plan to explore a 50% local food purchasing target.
Local food is fresher, tastier, and helps reduce greenhouse gas and smog emissions because it’s grown by our neighbours in the Greenbelt and surrounding areas.
The concept of buying local food is simple: use the City’s purchasing power to promote food grown in the GTA, the Greenbelt, and Ontario.
In other words, buying local food helps everyone and harms no one. I know this is the kind of policy you can get behind. Please vote for the local food procurement policy and implementation plan at your next Council meeting!
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]
[Your postal code]
The Dirt
The City spends $11 million per year on food for its daycares, shelters, and seniors' homes. Last Tuesday the Government Management Committee recommended a local food procurement policy to City Council. While this plan is a baby step forward, it falls short of the expectations of the more than 2,000 Torontonians who signed our petition in support of local sustainable food policy.
The current plan suggests a phased approach for implementation of local food purchasing beginning with the Children’s Services Division but does not include a target.
To make this plan meaningful, please ask your Councillor to support a goal to buy 50% local food as soon as possible, with annual measurements gauging progress.
Please call or email your Councillor TODAY and tell them to vote YES for an improved Local Food Procurement Policy at Wednesday's Council meeting.