CK Food Strategy Consultation

Consultation has concluded

Food connects us and influences the health, culture, environment, and economy of our people and communities. We are excited to announce that a survey is now live for people to provide feedback on the future direction of our local food system. This survey is open to everyone - whether you grow, prepare, distribute, serve or eat food- we would like to hear from you!

Chatham-Kent Public Health staff have collaborated with community experts and leaders in the food system to develop a draft strategy. This survey is an opportunity for anyone who has not been directly involved in the development of the food strategy to provide feedback.

What is a Food System?

A food system is an interconnected web of activities, resources, and people involved in keeping us healthy and nourished. It is a reflection of social, cultural, political, economic, health, and environmental conditions, and is affected by decisions at the household, local, regional, national, and global levels (San Diego Food Vision 2030).

What is a Food Strategy?

The CK Food Strategy is a multi-year plan that integrates the actions that are underway and identifies future actions that work to strengthen the local food system. We plan to build on policies and programs that already exist, address gaps, and find new opportunities as we move forward. The strategy will be reflection of local input and leans on research and experiences from other communities who have already completed similar work.

Why does this work matter?

Food is a basic human need. Regardless of skin colour, age, education, religion, occupation, gender, employment, we all need food to live. And we all need healthy food to be healthy. Despite improvements in the food system, inequities exist and not all us have the same access to healthy food.

Food systems are complex and change depending on where you live. In general, modernization of the local, regional and global food system have focused on food quantity, safety, variety and affordability of food. Food systems also have significant contribution to economic activities and employment. Despite this progress, many challenges still exist. For example, current practices do not prioritize keeping foods local, farming has focused on increasing the amount of crops produced to meet contract demands, neighbourhoods have inequitable access to healthy foods, some food system practices contribute to the degradation of the environment, people are disconnected from their food source and billions of food waste ends up in landfill.

Chatham-Kent has strong roots in agriculture, alongside increasing public interest in the quality, healthfulness, and culture of locally sourced food. From our research and consultation to date, there is no question that our current path is unsustainable and transformations must take root at the community level. We believe that the CK Food Strategy can be a powerful tool carry out the activities that will transform our communities local food system and provide significant opportunities to elevate the health, economy, environment and culture for all.

To learn more about the background on the CK Food System, you can review the following documents found here at https://letstalkfood-ck.com/ck-food-strategy-resources/ :

  • CK Current Food State Document
  • CK Food Strategy FAQ’s
  • CK Food Strategy Communication Resource
  • Strengths, Challenges and Future Opportunities in CK
  • CK Food Strategy Poster
  • Watch our video on the CK Food Strategy

The survey will be available from Wednesday October 21st to November 18th and as a thank-you for completing the survey you can be entered into a draw for 1 of 3 $100 grocery gift cards.


Survey Link: https://chkmkt.com/ckfoodstrategy

Food connects us and influences the health, culture, environment, and economy of our people and communities. We are excited to announce that a survey is now live for people to provide feedback on the future direction of our local food system. This survey is open to everyone - whether you grow, prepare, distribute, serve or eat food- we would like to hear from you!

Chatham-Kent Public Health staff have collaborated with community experts and leaders in the food system to develop a draft strategy. This survey is an opportunity for anyone who has not been directly involved in the development of the food strategy to provide feedback.

What is a Food System?

A food system is an interconnected web of activities, resources, and people involved in keeping us healthy and nourished. It is a reflection of social, cultural, political, economic, health, and environmental conditions, and is affected by decisions at the household, local, regional, national, and global levels (San Diego Food Vision 2030).

What is a Food Strategy?

The CK Food Strategy is a multi-year plan that integrates the actions that are underway and identifies future actions that work to strengthen the local food system. We plan to build on policies and programs that already exist, address gaps, and find new opportunities as we move forward. The strategy will be reflection of local input and leans on research and experiences from other communities who have already completed similar work.

Why does this work matter?

Food is a basic human need. Regardless of skin colour, age, education, religion, occupation, gender, employment, we all need food to live. And we all need healthy food to be healthy. Despite improvements in the food system, inequities exist and not all us have the same access to healthy food.

Food systems are complex and change depending on where you live. In general, modernization of the local, regional and global food system have focused on food quantity, safety, variety and affordability of food. Food systems also have significant contribution to economic activities and employment. Despite this progress, many challenges still exist. For example, current practices do not prioritize keeping foods local, farming has focused on increasing the amount of crops produced to meet contract demands, neighbourhoods have inequitable access to healthy foods, some food system practices contribute to the degradation of the environment, people are disconnected from their food source and billions of food waste ends up in landfill.

Chatham-Kent has strong roots in agriculture, alongside increasing public interest in the quality, healthfulness, and culture of locally sourced food. From our research and consultation to date, there is no question that our current path is unsustainable and transformations must take root at the community level. We believe that the CK Food Strategy can be a powerful tool carry out the activities that will transform our communities local food system and provide significant opportunities to elevate the health, economy, environment and culture for all.

To learn more about the background on the CK Food System, you can review the following documents found here at https://letstalkfood-ck.com/ck-food-strategy-resources/ :

  • CK Current Food State Document
  • CK Food Strategy FAQ’s
  • CK Food Strategy Communication Resource
  • Strengths, Challenges and Future Opportunities in CK
  • CK Food Strategy Poster
  • Watch our video on the CK Food Strategy

The survey will be available from Wednesday October 21st to November 18th and as a thank-you for completing the survey you can be entered into a draw for 1 of 3 $100 grocery gift cards.


Survey Link: https://chkmkt.com/ckfoodstrategy