Ontario green to promote local food

A “local food coordinator” will join the university’s food services department thanks to a $40,000 grant announced yesterday by Ontario cabinet minister John Milloy during a visit to campus.

As a result, “Waterloo students and staff will now be able to enjoy more locally grown food,” according to a news release from the provincial ministry of agriculture, food and rural affairs. It says the new staff member, Annette Carroll, will work “to incorporate more local food into menus and build stronger relationships with distributors and suppliers”.

“We are happy to be able to provide our students and staff with more Ontario food,” said the director of food services, Lee Elkas. “This grant will help us to connect with the distributors and suppliers of local food to help us offer more local food to staff and students.” (Left: Ontario kohlrabi at the farm market operated by food services with support from student volunteers.)

The money comes from a “Promoting Ontario Food” fund that’s part of the government’s Greenbelt program. “With support from the province,” says yesterday’s news release, “the Greenbelt Fund is helping to increase the amount of Ontario food served in daycares, schools, universities and colleges, hospitals and long-term care facilities through the Broader Public Sector Investment Fund: Promoting Ontario Food.

“This program will help connect farmers, food service providers, operators and buyers to increase the use of local food and change procurement practices. This collaborative effort will help create a wave of change across the province.”

Said Milloy: “We're helping the University of Waterloo source more Ontario food from local growers and farmers, which will help our economy. This project will also provide more local, healthy and nutritious food to Waterloo Region's public institutions, which will benefit the community.”

Waterloo’s grant was one of 15 announced yesterday in a second round of projects being supported by the fund. Other grants included one aimed at promoting local food at 99 institutions in Guelph and Wellington County, including the University of Guelph; one to help George Brown College incorporate more Ontario food in the teaching kitchens at its Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts; and one to help; a dairy farmers’ nutrition centre install vending machines in 40 Ontario middle schools.

“With this grant,” said yesterday’s release, “the University of Waterloo is working to grow the amount of local food available to students and staff. From new local food menu options to a weekly farmers' market, the chefs and management of food services are helping to offer more Ontario food.

“From small and large farm operations to food distributors, the local food movement is spreading along the food value chain. With a total of 27 projects approved to date, we are beginning to see the results.”

It quoted the food and agriculture minster, Carol Mitchell: "When we buy Ontario, everyone wins. It's good for our economy, our farmers and the environment. Through this program, we are increasing the amount of local food in the kitchens of our hospitals, schools, daycares and other public institutions, providing our patients and families with fresh, local Ontario food.”

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Faculty members on a year's sabbatical

Here’s another list of Waterloo faculty members who are currently on sabbatical leave. The plans quoted are taken from documents submitted to the university’s board of governors, which has to approve all sabbaticals. All these leaves are for twelve months that began July 1, 2011.

Sherry Dupuis, recreation and leisure studies: “This one-year sabbatical will be focused primarily (75%) on the CURA research being conducted in three different research settings. The remainder of time will be spent developing a new research based drama focused on relationships in dementia care with playwright Julie Gray and researchers Gail Mitchell, Christine Jonas-Simpson and Pia Kontas.”

Eric Helleiner, political science: “I will be working on two research projects. The first analyzes the political economy of the global financial crisis of 2007-09, with a special focus on post-crisis initiatives to regulate global derivatives markets. The second examines North-South financial relations during the Bretton Woods era in order to better understand the origins of the post 1945 international financial order.”

Michael MacDonald, English: “My sabbatical will be devoted to editing the Oxford Handbook of Rhetorical Studies, which involves editing sixty-one chapters and writing an introduction, glossary, and timeline of the history of rhetoric. In addition, I will be writing a chapter on Shakespeare and rhetoric for the Blackwell Companion to English Literature (Volume 2); finishing an essay on rhetoric and information warfare for the Quarterly Journal of Speech; and using my UW 4A Award to write a SSHRC application on the work of Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan.”

Alicja Muszynski, sociology and legal studies: “Of several ongoing book projects, I plan to complete a draft of a manuscript on women and immigration, tracing developments from the 1950s to 2010 with a focus on Canadian immigrants and refugees in Waterloo Region. Over the past few years I have been researching immigrants and refugees settling in this region from various of the African countries. I also plan to produce several journal articles.”

Christopher Small, statistics and actuarial science: “”Leave to be held at the University of Waterloo to pursue work on a book entitled Three Hundred Challenges in Elementary Probability.”

Bryan Smale, recreation and leisure studies: “As the new Director of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing, a national initiative coming to UW beginning January 1, 2011, I will be responsible for planning and developing its administration, research program, and expansion. My remaining time will be devoted to completing several active research projects, as well as continuing my responsibilities as President of CALS and Editor of Leisure/Loisir.”

CAR

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