Fellow Canadians, have you eaten today?
If you did -- and even, or especially, if you didn't for lack of physical or economic access to food -- you should know that behind closed doors sits a group of industry leaders claiming to be non-partisan, objective, independent and representative. They are hammering out a national food strategy for Canada.
Last week, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) released its annual Alternative Federal Budget (AFB), which contains a number of recommendations around food and nutrition programs. The government's federal budget will be released late this week, and we'll have full coverage including reaction from the CCPA and other civil society organizations.
Following the mission he conducted May 6-16, 2012, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter, presented his country report on Canada to the United Nations' Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday.
The report contains the findings and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food in a clear, digestible 21-page document, which the civil society organization Food Secure Canada hopes will catalyze Canadian society and affect policy at all levels of government.
"Canada has long been seen as a land of plenty. Yet today one in ten families with a child under six is unable to meet their daily food needs. These rates of food insecurity are unacceptable, and it is time for Canada to adopt a national right to food strategy." - Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food.
Yesterday Olivier De Schutter concluded his first official visit to Canada as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, a whirlwind fact-finding mission and tour across the country conducted on the invitation of the Canadian Government.