Local Food Hubs
Local Food Hub buildings have the potential to become our most ideal and sustainable community centres. They, essentially, tie a community together.
Everybody eats. We all connect with each other through food and food plays a significant part in culture. Without our culture, we would have no identitiy. Not only would we not be living, but our creativity, individualism and uniqueness would not exist.
Unfortunately, now in 2013 we live in a fast food, ultra-packaged and ultra-processed food society. Our foods contain 20 ingredients on the food label that we cannot pronounce. Agriculture contributes the largest percentage to CO2 emissions. With factory-style producing, processing, packaging and transportation, our food is losing its nutritional value, taste, monetary value and most importantly, its integrity.
Local food hubs are key to reconnect citizens with their local produce and establish that key citizen-farmer relationship, not to mention strengthen community culture over food. At local food hubs, farmers would simply cell their produce - meats, dairy, fresh fruits and vegetables and grains. This is similar to a large scale farmers market, but one that would be available every day at your service.
The food hub would also provide free meals to those in poverty. Poverty-stricken individuals will value yummy, healthy, local meals. Additionally, cooking classes at the local food hub would allow the individuals to gain cooking skills themselves.
The local food hub model is essential for holistically bringing individuals out of poverty. After providing them with food services and teaching them how to cook for themselves, psychological services, counselling services and employment services would be available for these individuals to help jump start their career in the real world. They would get an introduction to finances and career finding and be given the tools they need to help them find a job, which would then slowly pull them out of poverty and lead them to self-sufficiency.
And in turn, once the individual has found a stable job and comfortable lifestyle, they would contribute back to the local food hub by volunteerism.
Sustainability. That's the goal.
In Sarnia, Ontario, a partnership of a local food organization, employment service organization and food bank is eager about the idea of establishing a local food hub. Unfortunately, finances may inhibit this project from coming to life. I hope that Smart City can encourage the establishment of local food hubs in not only my city, but start a chain reaction around the country.
Naima Raza
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Ontario