On Monday September 13th, the Banff Town Council discussed and unanimously agreed to sign the Food Charter at their meeting. We are so pleased that the Town of Banff has taken this important step towards developing an improved food system for the Bow Valley.

The BVFA first began working on the Food Charter in early 2018. Central to its creation was a series of community conversations and workshops. These community consultations occurred over a year and a half with community members from Lake Louise, Banff, Canmore, the Municipal District of Bighorn, and the Îyârhe Nakoda Nation. The mission with this Charter is for it to provide policy guidance for elected officials across the Bow Valley.

We are grateful to many different organizations who wrote letters of support such as the Bow Valley Immigration Partnership, Bow Valley Climate Action, the Whyte Museum, Settlement Services, the Nancy and Wim Pauw Foundation, and the YWCA.

Having the Town of Banff sign is significant because it makes space for conversations about food. We now look forward to working closely with the council to implement the values of the Bow Valley Food Charter.

If you would like to learn more about the Food Charter, click here.

Town of Banff signs Food Charter

Sep 13, 2021

Food Charter

Dec 28, 2020

We have been challenging the status quo belief that access to affordable, healthy food will always be limited in the Bow Valley. One of the most important ways we have been advocating for this has been through our work on the Food Charter. In March 2020, our Food Charter work was put on pause as we quickly adapted to ensuring the most vulnerable had access to food supports as COVID-19 impacted so many individuals/families in the Bow Valley.  

The pandemic has highlighted the incredible importance of having a framework such as our Food Charter in place to be able to continue to provide essential services during times of crisis. Moving into 2021, we are confident that we will continue to be able to work on our Food Charter, speaking with one voice to change policies across the Bow Valley and increasing the number of people, businesses, organizations and municipalities who will adopt our Food Charter as a call for action. If you are interested in learning more about our Food Charter, click here.