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To: Vancouver City Council

Commit Vancouver to being a Good Food City

As one of the C40 cities, the City of Vancouver must pledge to become a "Good Food City" and follow through by putting measures in place to reduce meat consumption and food waste while increasing the availability of plant-based options.

At the conclusion of the 2019 C40 summit in Copenhagen, more than a dozen C40 cities released a declaration committing their cities to adopt scientific recommendations to support better food choices. Canada's most populous city (Toronto) signed on to the declaration, but Vancouver was conspicuously absent.

Why is this important?

On January 16th, 2019, Vancouver City Council voted unanimously to declare a Climate Emergency and embrace available tools to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

On April 29th, 2019, Vancouver City Council approved the Climate Emergency Response report which describes several Big Moves, but omits action on food systems because "staff do not have a clear enough picture of how much [food-related emissions] can be reduced or what the most appropriate roles are for the City to articulate a meaningful Big Move for food consumption. Staff will continue to monitor and pursue this opportunity as these plans are reviewed and updated."

Global food systems change is a necessary measure (though not sufficient on its own) in order to reach our targets for reducing emissions and global heating. [1] "Research shows that, without substantial changes, greenhouse gas emissions from the food sector will increase by 38% by 2050." [2]

Vancouver still has a chance to sign on to this pledge and become a Good Food City, in line with Vancouver's goal to be the greenest city in the world, and show leadership among the global C40 cities.

[1] "Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits", 2018. Nature. DOI:10.1038/s41586-018-0594-0 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0594-0
[2] https://www.c40.org/other/good-food-cities

Updates

2019-10-18 02:52:23 -0400

50 signatures reached

2019-10-16 17:36:57 -0400

25 signatures reached

2019-10-16 13:49:51 -0400

10 signatures reached