THE RURBAN FRINGE

What are Sustainable Food Systems?

According to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), sustainable food systems are collaborative networks that integrate the production, processing, distribution and consumption of food and waste management. 
They aim to enhance the environmental, economic and social health of a community.
Last year, FCM conducted a survey to find out whether such systems were important to Canadian municipalities.  [...]

Access to Fresh Food Worsening

As many small communities already know, rural grocery stores are closing.  Those that do manage to maintain a grocery business in their community, often have to approach the venture with a resourceful eye in order to make it sustainable.
What may be surprising, however, is that larger communities – rurban, suburban, cities - are facing the same problem.  [...]

Using Social Media to Build Community Food Security

I’ve only recently discovered the bits & bytes website, an online food security resource database.  Developed with financial support from the BC Community Food Action Initiative and the Government of Canada’s Social Development Partnerships Program, the site strives to be a living, ever-growing cornucopia of freely-accessible, community food security information and resources.
The database hosts a range [...]

To Beef or Not to Beef …

June is fast approaching, marking the one-year anniversary of Sir Paul McCartney’s bounce onto the Meatless Monday bandwagon.  And while it’s not a campaign against cruelty to animals, per se, it is a campaign against animal agriculture … and one that I simply cannot and will not support.
Read more about my beef at FarmOn.com.
As always, [...]

The Rurban Fringe ‘Eat Local’ Challenge: Summary

Wow.  It’s been 8 weeks since the close of my ‘eat local’ challenge … plenty of time to digest (heh, heh – no pun intended) what it meant for me, personally, to become involved in the debate.
I’ve learned … it is a debate. 
Eating local is a privilege.
I took for granted the opportunity I had to choose [...]