PROJECTS
2024: Mapping Food Flows, Points of Failure and Storage Capacity on Northern Vancouver Island
LUSH Valley and Discovery Consulting, in partnership with the Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD), is undergoing a year-long consultation effort to identify food flows and food storage capacity on North Vancouver Island. Encompassing the CVRD, Strathcona Regional District, and Regional District of Mount Waddington, the project intends to strengthen emergency response in the region by clarifying a data gap around food flows and food storage.
“There is a glaring gap across our region with respect to food flows and food storage capacity. As a region we are prone to seismic, flood, and fire events, and, being located on an island, we are especially vulnerable to emergency events that impact the flow of goods. Understanding how food flows in our region, including local production and what storage capacity already exists, is expected to enhance our region’s preparedness and resiliency when the next emergency event occurs” says Maurita Prato, Executive Director of LUSH Valley.
General objectives of the project team’s approach to consultation is to:
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Raise awareness about the process and opportunities for involvement;
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Provide information about the purpose of this project, how it relates to the emergency response, how their input will be used to inform the end deliverables, and why it is important to participate; and
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Obtain input from a targeted range of stakeholders to ensure the necessary data is collected.
The project team will reach out to specific stakeholders in the community involved with the production, processing, storage, and transportation of food. This may include First Nation communities, municipal and provincial staff, agricultural institutions, non-profit organizations, and industry representatives.
Most engagement will be done one-on-one or in small stakeholder groups. Key dates include:
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Targeted interviews with key stakeholders September 2024 – January 2025
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Group interviews with larger organizations September – January 2025
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Ministry interviews September 2024 – January 2025
View the project primer here.
FOOD FLOWS MAPPING PROJECT IN THE NEWS:
The CVRD received funding through the Invest in Agriculture Foundation (IAF) of BC’s Food Security and Emergency Preparedness Fund to support this project. Without this funding, the task of digging deep into such a collaborative project across several regions would not have been possible.
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
