Through my involvement with Greens and Transition Towns I’ve learned a lot about the importance of building local resiliency and local capacity.

Capacity, to me, is the ability of our community to meet local needs. Do we have enough food, power generation, waste handling, water, services, etc. to take care of our citizens?

Resiliency is our ability to bounce back after sudden changes. If, for example, there was an oil shock and the transport trucks stopped rolling for a week, would we have the capacity (there’s that word again) to adapt quickly to the change and ensure that everyone was taken care of? Furthermore, how would we ensure that no one slipped through the cracks? We need systems in place and a strong community to truly claim resiliency.

This weekend I was privileged to attend a workshop by Joan Stonehocker from the York Region Food Network at Markham’s Sustain-a-licious Food Fair and her division of activities into Emergency, Capacity-Building, and System Change really resonated with me. Especially as we move into the Holiday season, and everyone is asking for donations of non-perishable items, I’m struck by the importance of building capacity in our social services.

Make no mistake, food banks and shelters are meant to provide Emergency services and they are vitally important to the communities in which they function. However, they are not meant to be a long-term solution to the problems that they address. They are a bandage. I think our society has made a tragic error by equating food donations with caring for those in need. Much more attention is needed if we intend to reduce or eliminate poverty.

Money, of course, is a huge factor in this equation. Social assistance, as you can calculate at Do the Math, is woefully inadequate to enable those in need to live with dignity. It is a value cornerstone of the Greens to change income tax and social assistance levels so that everyone can meet their basic needs.

But it is about more than money. Capacity building includes abundant, reliable and accessible community kitchens, gleaning, community gardens, year-round farmer’s markets and culturally appropriate food provision. Why do we not have these in Newmarket and Aurora? Why have these services not been made a priority by our Regional and Municipal Councils?

System change happens when we successfully advocate for policy changes. Every municipality must create a Sustainability Report to qualify for Gas Tax funding. Markham’s ‘Greenprint’ is available here and it is excellent. It creates a vision of a localized and resilient community with ample local food production and service provision to ensure that all of its residents are cared for.

Aurora’s is here and Newmarket’s is here. Just kidding! Apparently we don’t have them yet. I have calls in to both Towns to see what the progress is for the reports, if any, and am waiting to hear back. I’ll update you as I find out more.

So, please, drop off your food donations, they are urgently needed. But take one step further and find out about capacity building in your town and how you can help.

I am so impressed by Liz McLellan’s efforts to build a community of yard-sharers and her website Hyperlocavore. The general idea is that if a locavore focuses on food grown within 100 miles than a hyperlocavore focuses on food grown with 100 yards. I just had to make sure I preserved this link where I could find it.

It is a great initiative and I totally think we should get something like this going in Newmarket and Aurora. Maybe through the York Region Food Network (YRFN) who already takes care of the food bank and community gardens. Or we could, y’know, just do it up grassroots-style.

I’ll be having my groundbreaking garden-planting party sometime in May. Join my Facebook page if you’d like an invite. Until then, stay warm and dream of fresh, local produce with these yummy titles:
The Edible Garden
Food Inc.
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
Gaia’s Garden: A Guide To Home-Scale Permaculture
Locavore
Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly
The Locavore Way: Discover and Enjoy the Pleasures of Locally Grown Food