by weaver | Jan 14, 2023 | Context
A living wage is the hourly wage a worker needs to earn to cover their basic expenses and participate in their community. The living wage is not the same as the provincially mandated minimum wage which is $15.50 per hour for adults. The living wage for the North is...
by weaver | Jan 14, 2023 | Context
The Market Basket Measure (MBM) of low income develops thresholds of poverty based upon the cost of a basket of food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and other items for individuals and families representing a modest, basic standard of living. A family with...
by weaver | Jan 14, 2023 | Context
Presently, the Canadian government does not have a standard definition of poverty, instead offering a variety of measures based on income-related terms including the low-income measure, the market basket measure, and the living wage.
by weaver | Jun 13, 2022 | Context
AlfalfaApplesAsparagusBarleyBeefBeetsBlueberriesBroccoliCabbageCanolaCarrotsCauliflowerCorn CucumbersGarlicGreen beansGreen peasHerbsKaleLambLeeksLettuceOatsOnionsPearsPeppers PorkPotatoesPumpkinsRaspberriesRutabagasSnap peasSoybeansSquash and...
by weaver | May 26, 2022 | Context
The Report Card is broken into seven chapters that reflect the seven pillars of the Thunder Bay + Area Food Strategy. In each chapter you’ll find an introductory section to provide some context for the indicators, along with the indicators themselves, some...
by weaver | May 26, 2022 | Context
Each piece of information measured in this Report Card is called an indicator. Indicators in this Report Card have been chosen for each of the seven pillars of the Thunder Bay + Area Food Strategy so that we can measure progress or change on issues over time, ranging...
by weaver | May 26, 2022 | Context
Food systems include the economic, environmental and social factors involved in food production, distribution, processing, retail, consumption, and waste or repurposing. The People’s Food Policy is the first Canadian policy to be advanced based on food sovereignty...
by weaver | May 25, 2022 | Context
Food sovereignty is an approach to understanding the diverse relationships that bring food from the fields, waters, and forests to our plates. La Via Campesina, the world’s largest global peasant movement, defines food sovereignty as “the right of peoples to...
by weaver | May 25, 2022 | Context
Building Strong Community Food Systems Food is intimately tied to our health as individuals and plays a major role in the well-being of our communities, economies, and environments. While food is a critical component of healthy and sustainable communities,...
by weaver | May 25, 2022 | Context
In 2015, the Thunder Bay + Area Food Strategy created the Community Food System Report Card that established a snapshot of the challenges and opportunities within the regional food system. Beyond compiling a wealth of data, the initial Report Card also served to...
by weaver | May 17, 2022 | 2022 Report, Context
Most of our food grows on farms in rural areas, yet food production can be a thriving part of urban environments as well. Historically, gardens were a prominent feature within cities, with many people relying on gardens to grow some of their own food. Changing urban...
by weaver | May 17, 2022 | Context
Fruits, vegetables, and other foods are important for the healthy physical and mental development of children and youth, yet they are disproportionately affected by food insecurity and consume high levels of highly processed food. As a result, they are developing...
by weaver | May 12, 2022 | Context
A significant conceptual change to the main statistical unit used by Statistics Canada’s Agriculture Statistics Program was introduced for the 2021 Census of Agriculture: a “farm” or an “agricultural holding” (i.e., the census farm) now refers to a unit that produces...
by weaver | May 12, 2022 | Context
Agriculture is an important part of our food system. Crops and livestock provide most of our calories and proteins while agriculture and related industries play a crucial role in the life of our economy. Nationally, the food and farming sector accounts for 8% of the...
by weaver | May 12, 2022 | Context
Local food is difficult to define. Oftentimes institutions talk about local as meaning food grown in Ontario. Other times the term “local” is used to talk about food from Northwestern Ontario or food from around Thunder Bay. The Thunder Bay + Area Food Strategy does...
by weaver | May 12, 2022 | Context
Due to the emergence of centralized distributors, the loss of local food infrastructure, and the dominance of corporate food service companies, food is now sourced from all over the world. This means that within the Thunder Bay Area, the rest of Ontario, and much of...
by weaver | May 12, 2022 | Context
Production: the processes of growing, raising, and harvesting food. Processing: the transformation of raw ingredients into food, or food into other food. Storage: foods are stored at different points along the value chain, from on farm, to distribution warehouses, to...
by weaver | May 12, 2022 | Context
Developing an equitable and sustainable food system depends on strong and supportive infrastructure. Food storage, processing, and distribution services are integral parts of the infrastructure that move food from the farm, forest and watershed to our plates. Only 70...
by weaver | May 11, 2022 | Context
Beaked Hazel Bear Birch Blueberries Bunchberries Camomile Cattails Chokecherries Clover Daisy Dandelion Deer Fiddleheads Fireweed Goldenrod Grouse Highbush Cranberries Horseradish Horsetail Juniper Lake Cisco (also known as Lake Herring) Lake Salmon Lake Trout Lake...
by weaver | May 11, 2022 | Context
In First Nation cultures, the medicine wheel symbolizes the interconnection of all life, the various cycles of nature, and how life represents a circular journey. The four sacred medicines within this tradition are sweetgrass, tobacco, cedar, and sage. These medicines...
by weaver | May 11, 2022 | Context
Personal harvesting is any harvesting activity primarily intended to benefit individuals or households for sustenance. Personal harvesting can include economic activity provided it is limited to the household level (e.g., household food economy, food sharing, etc.)....
by weaver | May 10, 2022 | Context
Forest and freshwater foods — such as blueberries, mushrooms, tea, wild rice, fiddleheads, medicinal plants, wild fish and game — have been integral to the Northwestern Ontario food system for thousands of years. The activities involved in procuring forest and...
by weaver | May 3, 2022 | Context
Each year the Thunder Bay District Health Unit conducts the Nutritious Food Basket (NFB) survey, as mandated by the Ontario Public Health Standards. The survey is done in 6 grocery stores (5 in the city and one in the District) to price 67 food items to determine the...
by weaver | May 3, 2022 | Context
1 in 7 households in the Thunder Bay District are food insecure and not able to access healthy food. on average, 8,392 households received social assistance each month in Thunder Bay in 2020. 52% of Canadian households that are food insecure have income from...
by weaver | May 3, 2022 | Context
Median after-tax income means that you take the middle income and look at what that income would be after-tax. For instance, if you looked at incomes (before tax) ranging from $20,000, $35,000, $40,000, $45,000 and $50,000, the median would be $40,000. The median...
