Title
FOOD SECURITY IN THE BARRIE AREA
Ms. Noami Wachowiak, Public Health Nurse of the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and Mr. Erich Jacoby-Hawkins of Living Green provided a presentation regarding Food Security in the Barrie Area. Mr. Hawkins explained what FruitShare Barrie is and described how the program is shared by the tree owner, volunteers and the Food Bank. He noted that Transition Barrie, Living Green the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and Resilience Collaborative Simcoe County are part of the Steering Committee. He reviewed the purpose of the program and its benefits to the community noting that the program enhances the well-being of the community, improves urban ecology improves physical activity and improves food access for the community. Ms. Wachowiak highlighted how the movement has grown and outlined the blossoming ideas coming from the program to promote momentum in the community. She reviewed the involvement from the various levels of government in support of the program. She described how the FruitShare program fits in with current City projects.
In conclusion, Ms. Wachowiak suggested how the City of Barrie could support the program and stated that she feels the City has a role in enabling the community to feed itself.
The Committee members asked several questions related to the information provided and received responses.