Todmorden, a small village of 15,000 is embarking on an ambitious plan to be self sufficient in food by 2018. The town already has 70 large vegetable gardens, and is digging up lawns to plant more veggies on an ongoing basis. No public space is sacred, the police station, train station, health centre and school are all providing free fruits and vegetables to locals. The local school recently won a £500,000 grant to start a fish farm. The benefits extend beyond the health benefits of fresh fruit and vegetables. Vandalism and crime are on the decline and the local economy is improving.
When governments privatize they do so with the hopes of saving money, but it seems very few privatized endeavors help to balance budgets, in fact governments often wind up paying more. An article in Alternet outlines 5 privatization nightmares. Read more here.
}At the Union of BC Municipalities conference, municipal leaders passed the Blue Communities resolution, "the resolution asks for the federal government to provide funding for public water infrastructure and delivery projects and "unhook" funding for water infrastructure and maintenance projects from public-private partnerships (P3s)." Most BC municipalities have publicly owned water facilities and leaders want to make sure that continues, to be recognized as a "Blue Community, " a municipality "must recognize water as a human right.
Residents of Midway BC are now the owners of their local mill. Originally closed down in 2007, local residents invested a sum of $250,000 to become shareholders and give the mill a "new lease on life". They needed to raise an additional $750,000 by August 31st to meet a mortgage payment deadline. The deadline was met and now the mill is set to reopen this October.
In today's Sun, columnist Stephen Hume concludes that BC Ferries high tariffs are the real cause of passenger decline, not the sinking US economy.
Metro Vancouver's three mattress recycling plants have been busy. Last year the plants accepted 47,000 used mattresses and disassembled them down to their core materials - wool, plastic, cocoanut fibre, wood, and steel. In addition to significantly reducing waste the plants have created 45 local jobs. Read more in the Vancouver Sun.
Residents of tiny Midway BC, population 630, are scrambling to raise funds so they can buy their local mill. The mill shut down in 2008 during the recession, but locals believe they can get it up and running again by this October. The town has borrowed money from an American lender, and so far townspeople themselves have paid back $60,000, If they can raise another$740,000 by August 31st they will own the mill outright. Read more at Global BC.
With support from the Greenbelt Foundation and the Province of Ontario municipalities and public institutions across Ontario are initiating local food policies to encourage local food being served in daycares, schools and hospitals. The Broader Public Sector Investment Fund: Promoting Ontario Food provides funding for connecting local food to communities.
The buy local movement is picking up steam in BC. Local procurement policies are viewed as a way to strengthen communities, both economically and socially. These policies could be undone, however by the negotiated CETA agreement, which seeks to give European companies the equal access to local economies. Despite the severe ramifications for local industries and workforces, BC’s premier has had little to say on the issue. Charley Beresford of the Centre for Civic Governance, find’s Premier Clark’s lack of position on the matter troubling, noting,
The Acandi peoples of Columbia are about to become the first community in Columbia to manage and care for forests through conservation offsets.
