Food enthusiasts and those who want to meet others with a passion for strengthening local food systems in the qathet region can attend an event next month at Vancouver Island University tiwšɛmawtxw campus. Community changemaker Kate Sutherland said the Food Systems Unconference is an interactive gathering aimed at mobilizing the skills, resources and passion in the community to shape a sustainable and equitable food future. The term “unconference” is meant to emphasize that the gathering does include planned workshops or obligatory goals like a traditional conference.
“An unconference is a dynamic event designed to ignite conversations and collaborations that will strengthen our local food systems,” stated Sutherland, in a media release. "The agenda is co-created by participants and encourages active participation, collaboration and the sharing of diverse perspectives and expertise." In an email to the Peak , Sutherland stated that strengthening food systems has multiple dimensions including: production, processing, distribution, consumption, access, food literacy, cultural appropriateness and climate resilience.
Sutherland posed the phrase and question: How might we grow more food here or overcome the barriers to growing more food here? "How might we process more food here, improve food distribution here and increase the circularity of food systems?" she asked. "For example, finding ways to reduce food waste or ways to recover food waste, and keeping our compostab.