26. Vancouver Park Board – Local Food Action Plan Update Support

Organization Information

Organization Name

Vancouver Park Board & City Studio

Mission and Vision of Organization

The Park Board's mission is to provide, preserve, and advocate for parks and recreation services to benefit all people, communities, and the environment.

Guiding Principles + Values

To date, the LFAP has guided the Park Board’s work to support a just and sustainable food system. In the time since its approval in 2013, the local food landscape and the Park Board’s understanding of partners, priorities, trends and needs have evolved. The need to update the LFAP such that it reflects the current food landscape and future needs is demonstrated by: • the expansion of food assets across the Park Board system in all three areas of land, facilities and programs; • the adopted policies listed above, in particular VanPlay, specifically its Equity Seeking Initiative Zones; • a desire to build resilience for local food systems and reflect support for decolonizing the local food system, indigenous food sovereignty, and ongoing food work in underrepresented communities; • a goal to weave together ecological networks / functions and local food landscapes; • a recently declared climate emergency in the City of Vancouver, reinforcing the need to limit carbon emissions from food; • experience and feedback received since 2013 such as garden expressions of interest, garden society waiting lists, and the recommendations on barriers and opportunities re Park Board food assets and services provided in Vancouver Community Leaders on the Role of Food in Cultural Inclusion and Engagement and; • gaps and opportunities continuing to be identified as a result of the COVID pandemic. To keep pace with current food system issues, City staff have engaged with stakeholders and renewed a Food Strategy Action Plan for 2017-2020 (Appendix 12) to integrate new focus areas (food access, diversity of voices and inclusion, and food system resilience) and the corresponding actions the City is taking. Park Board managed assets and services also have a role to play in this.

Contact Information

• Primary Contact Person(s): Rebecca Till & Kelly Gardener
• Email: [[1]] kelly@citystudiovancouver.com
• Phone: N/A  
• Address: 2099 Beach Ave
• Website: https://vancouver.ca/your-government/vancouver-board-of-parks-and-recreation.aspx

Preferred Method of Contact

• Best method(s) to contact: Email
• Best day(s) to contact:Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays
• Best time(s) to contact: Mornings

Preferred Platform(s) for Remote Collaboration

• Email, Google Meet, Phone, Zoom
• I don't believe so

Project Description

Context: What challenge or issue does the project aim to address?

1.0 Introduction The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation (“Park Board”) is seeking a consultant team to develop an update to the 2013 Local Food Action Plan (“LFAP”). This update will guide the Park Board’s food-related initiatives for a 5 year term (2021-2025) and will instruct how Park Board-managed assets and services can support multiple Park Board and City of Vancouver (“City”), goals related to local food, and reflect changes in key issues, policy, priorities, and trends since 2013. The original LFAP was adopted by the Park Board in 2013 and informed the enhancement of the local food landscape, guided by 5 goals and 55 actions. Many of the 55 actions detailed in the LFAP were achieved in the 5-year timeframe of the LFAP and have resulted in a more robust local food landscape in Vancouver. Since 2013, relevant Park Board plans and strategies (described below) have been adopted that will help to guide the Park Board’s continued support of local food through this Plan update for 2021-2025. The 2013 Vancouver Food Strategy, a complementary strategy developed by the City, defined food assets as “resources, facilities, services or spaces that are available to residents of the City, either at the city-wide or neighbourhood scale, and which are used to support the City’s food system. Alongside physical food assets are human capacity or social food assets.” Local food is defined as food that is produced within a short distance from where it is consumed; it is often associated with local, social and economic support networks that strengthen communities. Local food is important not only for sustenance, but as a vehicle for connecting communities to one another, to healthy food and to opportunities to develop skills and relationships to one another and the land. Food plays an integral role in helping achieve social, recreational, environmental, economic and health goals for the city. It intersects multiple fields to enable synergies between various goals and actions taken at the individual, community and municipal level. 2.0 Background The Park Board stewards more than 240 public parks (roughly 1,160 hectares of land) in Vancouver, as well as 55 recreation facilities rich in food assets that strengthen neighbourhood food networks across the city (Appendix 12). The Park Board has a mandate to support active and healthy communities. The 2013 LFAP (Appendix 12) challenged traditional views that the Park Board can only achieve this mandate through a form of recreation and access to nature. It acknowledges that creating healthy, active and connected communities requires a broader perspective and that food is central to our health, well-being and sense of community. Following are more details on the 2013 LFAP: • It was developed by a Task Force designed to increase support for physical and social food assets • The Task Force comprised members from the Vancouver Food Policy Council, the Vancouver School Board, Neighbourhood Food Networks, food-focused non-profit organizations, and Park Board and City staff. • The Task Force was supported by the land, facilities and programs working groups, and included more than 35 representatives from a range of non-profits, other public sector organizations, and Park Board and City staff from several departments. Food-related work conducted by the Park Board and its partners is integral to the health of communities in the Parks and Recreation system. Over the course of seven years, the Park Board and partners have set the stage for a renewed outlook on local food: • 2013: Local Food Action Plan and Vancouver Food Strategy • 2015: Park Board Urban Agricultural Policy and Greenest City 2020 Action Plan Part Two (goals and 2020 targets for local food) • 2016: Biodiversity Strategy (enhancement of essential pollinator habitat, etc.); Opportunities for Community Kitchen Facilities in City Affiliated Organizations (for internal use); and TRC Calls to Action • 2017: Parks Control By-law (foraging practices); Truth-Telling: Indigenous Perspectives on Working with Municipal Governments; Vancouver Food Strategy Progress Report and Action Plan; and Putting Your Kitchen to Work • 2018: Reconciliation Mission, Vision and Values; Exploring Park Board’s Colonial Roots; Park Board Concession Strategy and Implementation Plan; City-affiliated facility kitchens design guidelines; and Vancouver Community Leaders on the Role of Food in Cultural Inclusion and Engagement • 2019: VanPlay’s Report 3 Strategic Big Moves and Report 4 The Playbook, Implementation Plan; and Field House Activation Program Guidelines 2019-2021. 2.1 LFAP Update Rationale To date, the LFAP has guided the Park Board’s work to support a just and sustainable food system. In the time since its approval in 2013, the local food landscape and the Park Board’s understanding of partners, priorities, trends and needs have evolved. The need to update the LFAP such that it reflects the current food landscape and future needs is demonstrated by: • the expansion of food assets across the Park Board system in all three areas of land, facilities and programs; • the adopted policies listed above, in particular VanPlay, specifically its Equity Seeking Initiative Zones; • a desire to build resilience for local food systems and reflect support for decolonizing the local food system, indigenous food sovereignty, and ongoing food work in underrepresented communities; • a goal to weave together ecological networks / functions and local food landscapes; • a recently declared climate emergency in the City of Vancouver, reinforcing the need to limit carbon emissions from food; • experience and feedback received since 2013 such as garden expressions of interest, garden society waiting lists, and the recommendations on barriers and opportunities re Park Board food assets and services provided in Vancouver Community Leaders on the Role of Food in Cultural Inclusion and Engagement and; • gaps and opportunities continuing to be identified as a result of the COVID pandemic. To keep pace with current food system issues, City staff have engaged with stakeholders and renewed a Food Strategy Action Plan for 2017-2020 (Appendix 12) to integrate new focus areas (food access, diversity of voices and inclusion, and food system resilience) and the corresponding actions the City is taking. Park Board managed assets and services also have a role to play in this.

Main Project Activities

- Supporting the Project Manager and the consulting team to document the public engagement sessions

Expected Project Deliverable(s)

Still TBD

Intended Project Outcome

The team works towards decolonizing the engagement process in order to ensure feedback from underserved communities is highly prioritized.

Student Assets and Skills (preferred or required)

• • An understanding how to carry out projects with a thoughtful and sensitive approach to equity • An understanding of both the socio-economic and cultural complexity of urban food systems • An understanding of decolonization principles • Some knowledge of Vancouver’s food systems • Any knowledge of on-line engagement platforms

Student Assets and Skills (to be developed through the project)

• • Experience in system-wide food planning and policy development in an urban context specific to urban agriculture, food-based programming, and public facilities in cities of similar size and complexity to Vancouver • Experience with conducting long-range action planning, including timelines and resources; • Experience with convening varying and divergent interests to a supportable conclusion; • Experience with carrying out projects with a thoughtful and sensitive approach to equity • Experience delivering creative, collaborative, and equalizing engagement strategies • Experience applying decolonization principles • Experience working with municipal-level government

Are there any mandatory attendance dates (e.g. special event)?

• Nov. 12 - zoom meeting. Other dates still TBD.

Is a criminal record search (CRS) required?

No

If a criminal record search is required, when should the process be initiated?  

Preferred Days of Week and Hours

Wed/Thurs/Fri

Related Community Service Opportunities for Students

Still TBD

Required Reading

Project/Partner Orientation Materials

Students should review these materials prior to the first partner meeting:

• Update Scope of Work Pg. 5-12: Pg. 5-12: https://bids.vancouver.ca/bidopp/RFP/documents/PS20200466RFP-LFAPFinal-June19.pdf The LFAP that is being updated: https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/Local-food-action-pl

Additional Project/Partner Orientation Materials

The following will be provided at the first community partner meeting:

• Not that I can think of now