[interdoc-y2k 292] Food Supply Chain and Year 2000; two other events!

[Terry Cottam <di238@freenet.carleton.ca>]

The Food Supply Chain and the Year 2000 problem
===============================================

What: a one-day forum
When: Sat 10 April, 9am to 5pm (detailed program to follow) 
Where: University of Ottawa, Lamoureux Building, Room 122, the
Auditorium (map will be provided)
Price: FREE, donations appreciated. We want this a wide-open event
(please register in advance)

Also! (same place, details to be confirmed)
Fri 9 April, evening, watch Resilient Communities teleconference video
from 8 April
Sun 11 April, full day, followup activities on food and community
preparedness (we have free access to a small auditorium and four
classrooms)

Why this forum?
---------------
Food transported from other countries, even other provinces, is
already environmentally unsustainable. Soon it may become scarce and
expensive, due to the year 2000 computer problem (y2k). There is risk
of hunger and economic dislocation triggered by y2k, climate change,
global economic problems and fuel shortages. Food production and
transport could be profoundly affected if fuel becomes scarce and
expensive. According to Lawrence K. Gershwin, a U.S. National
Intelligence Officer, "the [oil] industry is fraught with potential
Y2K problems... We are [also] concerned about the shipping of oil
products, because ocean shipping and foreign ports have both been
flagged as among the least prepared sectors."

What can we do?
---------------
We need to strengthen the food supply chain in the Ottawa Valley,
bring the food producer and consumer closer together, localize food
production and distribution, and ensure successful future plantings,
harvests, processing, bulk storage and delivery of food under rapidly
changing and challenging living conditions.

How can we do this?
-------------------
We can propose a food taskforce, and agree upon a public statement on
what first steps Ottawa Valley residents should take in 1999. To get
this change started right away, we could encourage:

- more urban food gardening this spring
- planting more food throughout the Valley 
- institutions buying locally produced and processed foods
- planting and stocking up on non-hybrid seeds which breed true year
after year
- creating Regional and Neighbourhood Preparedness Groups to support
these steps
- individuals, families and food banks stocking up NOW while prices
are low, "stressing the system" into producing more food, to reduce
the chance of shortages as more and more people decide to stock up.

Who should come?
----------------
We are looking for participants from all over the Ottawa Valley and
beyond: 
- farmers and community garden groups
- public institutions such as governments, hospitals and schools
- food bank, social service, food advocacy and other public interest
workers
- community associations and y2k preparedness activists
- food distributors/wholesalers and food buying groups
- grocers and restauranteurs

Join us in making this Forum a success. Please see
http://y2k.inode.org/p-bioreg.htm for a Supporting Statement, updates
on this Forum, other citizens groups engaged in sustainable food
production, and an Official Statement on y2k endorsed by attendees of
the 19th Annual Ecological Farming Conference: "Y2K and the Food
Supply: A Message from Concerned American farmers."

Please register in advance, space limited! 
Let us know if you're in Ottawa area and can volunteer! 
Thanks to OPIRG-Ottawa for invaluable assistance.
For more information contact: 

Terry Cottam, President
Y2K Regional Preparedness Group (a citizens group)
y2k-ottawa@inode.org, (613) 236-6433
1004-218 MacLaren St.
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 0L7
CANADA

Visit the Ottawa-Carleton Community Preparedness website 
http://y2k.inode.org (a project of OPIRG-Carleton and OPIRG-Ottawa)
Join email lists for discussion, news and events. See:
http://y2k.inode.org/discuss.htm for archives and subscribe info

Related links:

Notable/Quotable on Agriculture and Food:
   http://www.provide.net/~aelewis/y2ko/y2ko_030.htm
Agriculture and Food -- You Are What You Compute
   http://www.provide.net/~aelewis/y2ko/y2ko_425.htm