Current Opportunities, Resources & Community Connection Shares

[roannewhitticase]

Hello everyone, 

I hope these winter days are treating you well and you are enjoying these cozy evenings leading up to the holidays! Below are some exciting highlights and resource/opportunity shares. 

If you have any events, opportunities, or resources you would like to share with this network please share!

GRANTS

Thank you to everyone who submitted a grant application, they are currently being reviewed, and you will be notified the week of December 12th about the status of your grant proposal. For those that may not receive funding I will connect with you to see how I can still support your project success. 

For those within or interested in participating in supporting SD57 they have just made a recent call out for participating in the School District No. 57 (Prince George) Identity/Renaming Project details below. Survey closes Dec 16th 

​School District No. 57 (Prince George) would like to hear from our school communities regarding the current identity of the district. The 50-year old name and visual identity references only one of the four communities served and currently does not reflect local First Nations on whose traditional territory our District is situated.

We've created a preliminary survey for those within the district to help us better understand what the current logo and name represent. This way, the District administrative team and advisory working group (made up of representatives of students, parents, guardians, caregivers, Elders, First Nations and SD57 employees) can decide how to move forward with confidence.

The survey will launch on Monday, December 5th and close Friday, December 16th. Please access the survey here.

All responses will be completely anonymous, and information gathered will be reported back in January.

'Awetzeh, Cindy Heitman (she/her) / Superintendent of Schools, School District 57

FarmFolk/CityFolk is looking for schools who might be interested in participating in their Citizen Seed trials. This is a citizen science program in vegetable trialing with hope of growing BC's seed saving community! This year the quick growing crops chose are radishes, peas and salad turnips so your school can plant them during late spring and harvest before summer, or even save seeds in fall. 

You are provided with the seeds with instructions, resources and direct support from FFCF staff.

If you are interested in more information or joining please email lmseedco...@farmfolkcityfolk.ca 

Video: Farm Folk City Folk | Seed Saving in BC Schools: 2021

Northern Indigenous Food Ways: Learning Circle

Our second session of our Northern Indigenous Food Ways: Learning Circle series will be happening January 11th 3:15-4:30pm. Tea Creek Farm will be presenting on Tea Creek Farm - history of Indigenous food in the Northern Context, ReconciliACTION & experiences of tea creek model. 

To register for this and our other 2 upcoming Learning Circles in this series, please visit https://www.eventbrite.ca/cc/northern-indigenous-food-ways-learning-circle-1368969

“Let's Talk Trash” Video Released

There is trash talk going on at Shuswap Middle School, and it’s a great thing! SMS’s Environmental Student Leadership group wanted to improve the school’s waste management. They worked alongside a teacher champion to put together information and then the group got to work spreading the word. With the help of the Shuswap Community Foundation, Shuswap Food Action Society, and Farm to School BC, they managed to film an informative and funny video for their community. 

If you are interested in circulating this video or interested in a waste audit, please reach out to kamloop...@farmtoschoolbc.ca  We will be re-visiting this initiative in the Spring and happy to connect with your classroom or send resources your way. 

Online Resources:

FoodShare Green New Meal Learning Resources 

Includes educational resources related to the social and environmental aspects of food, including lesson plans on Foodprints, Climate Justice is Racial Justice, and Serving up a Green New Meal. Geared towards a secondary school audience. 

See the Green New Meal Learning Resources and other Learning Resources (including Body Liberation, Right to Food and other lesson plans ) here: 

https://foodshare.net/program/educator/

Get on the School Food Map! From Farm to Cafeteria Canada 

In honor of last month’s theme of Food Connects Farm to

 Cafeteria Canada’s has announced a new tool to help you connect with schools and community partners across the country. By registering on the School Food Map, you’re helping to document activities happening across Canada to transform how food is experienced, learned and celebrated in schools across Canada. We’re on the new school food map! And now it’s your turn - take 10 minutes to get on the map and invite other schools,

 organizations and other champions who are involved with school food to get on it too. Their big goal is to get 500 entries by the end of 2022 and get up to 1500 by the end of the 2022-23 school year.

Add your program to the School Food Map! 

https://www.farmtocafeteriacanada.ca/our-impact/school-food-map/ 

Growing School Farms Pro-d Recap 

Not able to attend the Growing School Farms Pro-d in person in October? Read the blog post for the four key takeaways and a summary of the day, including a summary of the sessions on ways to use the farm as an outdoor classroom and strengthening partnerships, a tour by Lifecycles Project Society of the Reynolds micro-school farm, and panels on amplifying youth voices and Indigenous-led projects.

Read the blog post here: https://farmtoschoolbc.ca/growing_school_farms_pro-d/ 

Upcoming Outdoor Learning Events:

https://www.c2c-bc.org/upcoming-events-1

There are many more events if you go to their website! :) 

In gratitude,
Roanne

[roannewhitticase]

I have had a valuable additional opportunity come my way to share regarding the federal governments Building a pan-Canadian school food policy survey.

The Coalition for Healthy School Food is hosting an upcoming public workshop for those who are passionate about school food to come together to complete the government’s questionnaire on school food policy. Details below:

Our “Amplifying Our Voices” Workshop will be held on Monday December 12, 2022 between noon and 1pm EST (9:00am PST) via ZOOM. Register here.

We’re holding this event because people have been reaching out to us with questions about filling out the government’s Consultation Questionnaire, which is due on December 16th. (See the link to the questionnaire here).

Our interactive workshop will allow people to complete the form during the session or to complete it by their organization at a later time.

Please note - Many of the questions may seem difficult to answer given that they involve prioritization among important elements of a program. The Coalition is encouraging people to complete the form using our 8 Guiding Principles, your own lived experience and your organization’s views on school food programs. We will not be advocating for you to fill out the survey in a specific way but we will be sharing reflections and ways that you can fill out the survey to have your full perspectives heard.

Gustave Le, the Coalition’s Communication Coordinator will also be available online on Wednesday December 14 for additional support in completing the survey or answering any questions about the survey via email, phone or ZOOM. Let Gustave know if you want to book a time with him gus...@foodsecurecanada.org. 

We have also been told that if you have additional comments to make that you have not been able to share in the survey, you can send these comments to EDSC.ALIMENTATION_SCO...@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca

Thank you and we look forward to connecting to make sure that everyone’s voices are fully heard.