1. Jim Smith, Food Purchasing, PDSB Soni Craik, Acting Executive Director, EcoSource Sima Patel, EcoSource Youth and Local Food Coordinator

2. Setting the Stage  EcoSource’s Youth and Local Food (YLF) Program  How does YLF Program complement and support Environmental Education  YLF Program takes a multi-pronged approach to education for sustainability

3. Prong One: Complying with New Policies  PDSB Environmental Policy, approved April 2009  Acting Today, Shaping Tomorrow, 2009  School Food & Beverage Policy, 2010

4. Prong Two: Importance of Education Youth and Local Food (YLF) Program:  Classroom workshops  Farm trips  Sourcing local sustainable food  Culinary arts program  Teacher education

5. Prong 3: Board-wide Food Procurement Contracts  Importance of choice for students  New RFP Proposals  Introduce LFP

6. What is Local Food Plus? We are an award-winning non-profit organization that nurtures regional food economies by:  Certifying Ontario farmers and processors for local sustainable food production and  Helping them connect with buyers of all types and sizes, including institutional buyers

7. Why Local Sustainable Food?  Water pollution  Soil degradation  Loss of biodiversity  Climate change  Urban sprawl

8. LFP Certification Standards LFP Certified Farmers and Processors:  Employ sustainable production systems  Provide healthy and humane care for livestock  Provide safe and fair working conditions  Protect and enhance wildlife and biodiversity  Reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases

9. Past Experience with Institutional Partners The University of Toronto The Town of Markham

10. What Does It Cost? The estimated increased cost in food is 1%, based on a 10% local sustainable food buy. Various options exist to offset this increased cost:  Non-traditional use of revenue streams designated to achieve the school board’s sustainability goals  Consumer absorption  School Board and consumer-shared absorption

11. LFP Supports Local Sustainable Food Policies By:  Language for Requests for Proposals (RFPs)  Support in setting appropriate targets  Independent verification for local sustainable food YEAR OVER YEAR MEASURABLE RESULTS BASED ON TARGET- SETTING

12. Moving Forward  Each School Board will have their own unique way of implementing a local sustainable food policy.  There are networks of support for schools to transition  RFP for PDSB Contract released Summer 2010

13. EcoSourceLocal Food Plus (LFP) Soni CraikLori Stahlbrand Acting EDPresident scraik@ecosource.calori@localfoodplus.ca Sima PatelErin Shapero Youth and Local Food Institutional Relations spatel@ecosource.caerin@localfoodplus.ca