The Kamloops Food Policy Council is the longest-standing independent food policy council in Canada: pollinating projects, developing partnerships, and contributing to public policy since 1995.

Food in Action

Our current roster of projects includes the:

• Gleaning Abundance Program, which mobilizes community members in urban gleaning, knowledge-sharing, seed-saving, and other food-related activities. This programming connects farmers, gardeners, citizen volunteers, teachers, and all interested in local food security. Each year, the GAP saves thousands of pounds of fruit and vegetables from going to waste by organizing volunteers to harvest produce for fruit-tree owners, gardeners, and farmers who are unable to pick their own or have more than they can use. The produce picked is shared with schools, meals programs, and social service agencies in our community where it benefits some of our most vulnerable and food-insecure citizens. 
• The Butler Urban Farm is our making of a local food commons for Kamloops. We aim to grow as much food as possible in our space, while providing opportunities for learning and engaging with one another. Waste is turned into compost and seeds are added to our growing seed library. Anyone who shows up to our farm looking for free produce never leaves empty handed!
• The Stir, our food hub for the Kamloops region, provides kitchen facility rentals, business mentorship, and community support to help local food entrepreneurs expand their business to reach a wider market than they would otherwise be able to break into. The Stir is a network of shared food hub facilities, support, and resources spread out across Kamloops and the surrounding region that works collaboratively to connect and strengthen our regional food system.
• Food security has been a major endeavour for our organization over the pandemic and through the natural disasters that have plagued our province in 2021. The communal emergencies over the past few years have identified a need for a dedicated capacity to collect and share up-to-date information on emergency food resources. Since the pandemic’s onset, the Kamloops Emergency Free Food Resources Document and Community Meal Calendar have been shared 3 times a year. Helping keep our community updated and fed. These resources are distributed to community organizations and can be found at https://kamloopsfoodpolicycouncil.com/foodsecurity/.
• Influencing food policies through discussions, presentations, and educational opportunities with our network and community-at-large. The KFPC responds to critical issues that impact our food system, like the debates on urban hens and bees, front lawn by-laws, the elimination of pesticides, and industrial development proposals such as the Ajax Mine and the Kinder-Morgan Pipeline. Food policies are the decisions we make individually and together about food — how it’s grown, harvested, prepared, shared and enjoyed.  Good public policy is key to increasing the quality of our food, growing our local food economy, reducing food insecurity, and improving the health of the land.
• Providing community connections and creating partnerships in our city, region, province, and country. The KFPC works collaboratively with food system networks around BC and across Canada and very closely with organizations and grassroots groups in Kamloops. Our network meets monthly to gather, connect, and learn about food in our city.

Support Our Work

The KFPC inspires and establishes programming through a community development approach. Many of the past programs initiated by the KFPC continue to thrive today through our network partners. Your donation will help the KFPC support and develop initiatives in the Kamloops community to create a equitable and resilient local food system.

For more information on our organization, network, or current and past projects, please see our website.