Executive Summary

Galiano Island is a small rural community, home to about 1100 residents. Its population is mostly made up of seniors, but recently there has been an influx of young families. The Galiano Food Program provides this community with events and services to improve food security and foster agricultural interest. Our group collaborated with the Food Program to create an accessible and comprehensive index of Galiano Island’s agricultural products. To do so, we gathered and utilized information on local food production, which will also serve as a guide for the effective implementation of future initiatives by the Food Program. However, we were unable to find any existing research on either the agricultural history of Galiano Island, or on the current state of its food system. As a result, we were forced to rely solely on the information garnered from personal interviews to devise the index.

These interviews were scheduled beforehand to maximize our limited time on the Island. The questions posed to farmers focused on the types of produce they grow and which seasons they are available for consumption. Similarly, the questions posed to food business owners were in regards to which ingredients they were able to source locally, and how often throughout the year they were able to do so. The results from the interviews were then organized by season and by either producer or distributor into a flyer, which listed the available locally grown produce during those months. Our group strove to conduct all of the interviews in person, however this was impossible due to time constraints and scheduling conflicts. Thus, some businesses and producers were interviewed by email or phone at a different time.  

Future research and compilation of agricultural data, both qualitative as well as quantitative, would be advantageous for the community.  It would allow changes and improvement to be tracked, as a measurement of success for different programs. One suggestion for the local food program would be to continue to expand on the index in the future, as more small-scale producers arise or different agricultural products become available on the island. By providing up-to-date information on the local producers, the Galiano Food Program will facilitate the growth of a customer-base for the community’s small food businesses. A growth in local demand may result in increased agricultural production from current and future farms, which would improve the island’s food security as a whole.

Moment of Significance

As we complete both this semester and our project, it is important to reflect on moments of significance that influenced our group throughout the process. Many of the moments that had the greatest impact on our group occurred during our weekend working with the community. Actually being there and working with community members on this effort was far more engaging than any previous work we had done in preparation. One of the most enlightening experiences took place on our first night on the island at the town’s hall, where we helped cook and share a nutritious meal with some of the local residents. Taking part in this event allowed us to engage with the people we would be helping, and gave us a better understanding and appreciation of the community we were working with.

Another moment of significance was the bonfire that our community partner invited us to on Halloween night. Though the event was not focused on the food system or food security on the island, this opportunity allowed us to understand more about the community. Engaging with the island’s families and residents at a local celebration gave us a greater insight into who the audience for our index was, and how we could best develop it to fit their needs.

If we were given the opportunity to do this again, we would have tried to find a way to take two trips to the island for research and information gathering. This is largely due to the fact that not all contacts and providers had sufficient time to meet with us or had altered schedules. Even though email and phone interviews proved to be more direct for information gathering, it would likely have been more appropriate to keep our information gathering methods consistent to eliminate potential biases. That being said, with the time and resources we had available to us, we feel that we made the best of our opportunities and are providing a useful flyer for the residents to inform themselves with.

Weekly Objectives and Achievements

This past weekend, our group visited Galiano Island to see firsthand the different aspects of the community’s food system, and gather more information to develop our local food index of the island. We accomplished our goals of visiting the various farms, stores, and restaurants that we had contacted beforehand to interview in person. Additionally, we completed the community service portion of our project by volunteering at Supper’s Ready and the island’s garlic Co-op. Supper’s Ready is a community dinner hosted at the Town Hall, where we helped with the dinner preparation as well as clean-up. Later on during our stay, we visited the garlic Co-op where we assisted in the garlic production process by shoveling manure for fertilizer and raking leaves for mulch.

This week, we plan to continue collecting information about more of Galiano’s local producers, as some farm and restaurant owners were unable to meet up with us, and we will begin to compile our index based on their responses. We were unable to meet with every producer on the island due to time constraints and scheduling issues. Due to this reason, the remainder of the interviews will be conducted via telephone or email. As soon as we have completed the lasts of these interviews, we will be able to begin creating our final report and presentation. Seeing as how the semester is quickly coming to an end, we hope to begin making headway with the final products of our research this week, in order to ensure the end result is accurate and thorough.

Moment of Significant Change

Some of the most significant moments of change that affected our group were the weather forecast and the re-scheduled list of events that our community partner sent us not long before we had planned to arrive on the island. We were worried about how we would manage to finish the main task of this project with a changed schedule, but were more prepared to take on the uncertainties that were to come our way once we started. Most of our group’s graphs of excitement about the project took a major dip after the five-day weather forecast was posted on our LFS 350 group Facebook page. The weather did appear a little gloomy and last minute scheduling issues definitely presented a struggle for coordinating the remainder of every other objective.

For a couple of us who had been tasked with setting up interviews and making the itinerary for the island, the large change of plans occurred when our community partner emailed us her list of things to do over the three days that we would be there. It became a little stressful as it seemed like all the calls made and the time used to set the interviews up went down the drain. Despite these challenges, we were able to explore Galiano and learn about other aspects of community that we would otherwise not have had a chance to if our plans did not change. We were welcomed with such warmth that only a true community could have given us. We learned a lot more about smaller communities, and realized that even though it is a small island with a little over a thousand residents, the community was very tight-knit, and the fact that everyone knows each other felt very heartwarming and different from city life.

Levels of excitement nonetheless crept back up on most people’s graphs as we got closer to our trip. Excitement over the ferry ride and having a weekend away from the mainland brought up the morale of most group members. In the end, the weather report proved to be unreliable as we had great weather, aside from a downpour the day we were outside shovelling manure and raking leaves. In comparison to what we’d thought we were in for, it still qualified as relatively good weather, so even if the bad weather made us feel uncertain about making the most of this trip, going with the flow made it better.

Purple: Angela
Pink: Alexis
Red: Ashraf
Green: April
Brown: Nic
Light Blue: Sarah

Before our visit, while working on this project on the Mainland, a few of us expected Galiano to be very deserted, while some thought of it to resemble Victoria, BC with many small buildings. Obviously, it was very interesting to see what the Island was like in actual fact. It was a mixture of the two expected versions. It had a few small buildings here and there, restaurants and shops, but at the same time majority of the scenery was forest trees.

The weather was an unavoidable drawback, and we planned accordingly – packing warm clothes, boots and raingear. Although we were expecting heavier rain, the rain we did experience did not dampen our mood as we originally predicted on the graph above. Similarly, we thought that the re-scheduling of the weekend would decrease our productivity on the island, but we all agreed in the end that it was for the better. Instead of arranging a steeple-chase of interviews, one after the other and rushing around the island just trying to fit everything in, we were welcomed into the island lifestyle, and got a taste of the community and the lives of the people who have chosen to call Galiano home. Indeed, we finished with a lot of excitement and a great experience (as shown in the graph)! Our community partner, Jane, knew almost all of the farmers and restaurant managers we visited by name, and had close connections with people involved in all kinds of community projects on the island. She showed us the lands that the Island Trust has protected, and had us prepare meals for seniors with the Galiano Food Program initiative called Supper’s Ready that took off a few years ago. As previously mentioned, we also shovelled manure and raked leaves for the garlic co-op in order to help make their compost and rejuvenate their soils for next year.

All in all, following Jane’s programme, despite it being significantly different to what we had imagined, it was a much more fulfilling and enriching experience. Not only did we meet and learn a lot about agricultural knowledge, but we also appreciated how the residents of Galiano build a community.

Strategy for Successful Project Completion

Our strategy for a successful project completion is to compile and clarify notes from in person, phone and email interviews. We will validate the information by cross-referencing each group member’s different set of notes to ensure that we publish the correct facts. Afterwards, we will decide on the formatting of our flyer. Currently we are considering splitting the availability of products into seasons, as well as plotting the locations of all vendors on a map for a visual representation. This will allow consumers to have the necessary information in one spot instead of looking up the address of each farm, restaurant, or grocery store to see how close it is to their residence. From there it is simply a matter of creating the index in a manner that is easy to read and use, aesthetically pleasing, and economically feasible, since the flyers will need to be printed and distributed, and will be relevant for years to come.

Some factors that we will be considering are the choice of font and font size, the choice of map style, how large the final flyer will be, and what products sold by each individual will be included on the index, since some people mentioned that they plan on discontinuing certain current products in the future. Along the way we will be conferring with the Galiano Food Program for their feedback on how the flyer is coming along and utilize their suggestions, as they represent the community in which our flyer serves and thus listening to the needs of the community will ensure the success of our project.

Weekly objectives and achievements, upcoming objectives

Our objectives this week have been to schedule interviews with as many of the producers and people involved in food production on Galiano Island as possible during our visit next weekend. To do this efficiently, we created a list of contacts to organize them into categories, including food trucks, restaurants, farms, value-added goods and grocery stores. These were then delegated for calling to increase the maximum coverage and to prevent overlap, and increase efficiency. We created a Google Calendar to organize the interview time, which gives a clear visual of our schedule, thus allowing us to account for travel time in between interviews.

So far we have made good progress getting in touch with our list of contacts, however there have been several who are unsure of their upcoming plans, or may not be on Galiano Island during the weekend that we will be visiting. This means we will have to be flexible, which affects the efficiency of our routes as we cannot visit all the vendors in the same area in the same time frame. As in the podcast we listened to this week, sometimes even the best laid plans do not work out as you have intended, so hopefully our scheduling comes to fruition. Unlike the geese, however, we do not believe that complete freedom is a wise option for us because we only have one opportunity to complete our objectives. We aim to fill up our time on the island with as many in-person interviews as the time allows, and the only way to do so is to plan in advance and form a tight schedule.  

Another unplanned change we made was to email some of the producers and proprietors in addition to calling. We had thought that contacting people by phone was more personal, as well as more direct in that we can obtain an immediate answer. However, not all of our contacts were able to be reached by phone and it was difficult to explain the extent of our project over the phone, an email was both informative and allowed the recipient to respond at their convenience.

Additionally, we realized that it would be advantageous to make our schedule based on not only time, but geographical location as well. In the midst of the complicated process of mapping out the locations of all of our contacts, we stumbled across a map provided by the Galiano Island Tourism website that already had this information.  This simplified the process, and enabled us to quickly plan several stops within the same vicinity.

Some issues that arose, which slowed the planning process is that some producers do not live on Galiano Island, and thus may not be available on the weekend that we are visiting. A remedy for this is to set up a phone or email interview to be conducted following our stay. The other is that not everyone is available in a sequential order based on our map and schedule.  Again, this is reminiscent of the foie-gras geese: despite Dan’s every effort to achieve a perfect world for his geese in which they would have a happy life and produce delicious, cruelty-free foie gras, it did not have the expected results. We are, of course, hoping that our trip will be more productive, but it is true that life has all kinds of funny twists, turns and curve balls, and we need to be prepared for both the predictable and the completely unforeseen.  

Our upcoming objectives are possibly the most relevant and important ones in our project. Next weekend we will be heading to Galiano Island to conduct our interviews, and the information we gain from these interviews will form the basis of the index of agricultural products. Our objectives on Galiano Island are to conduct the scheduled interviews, aid the Galiano Food Program in events happening during that weekend, and to weed the community garden. In order to achieve these objectives, the most important strategy is time management. We will need to strictly follow the schedule we have created beforehand, which may mean limited time to sightsee on the island. Another upcoming objective is to add to our preliminary list of interview questions and finalize which questions will be used in the interviews conducted at the island. We can achieve this by discussing them with our TA to ensure they are appropriate and obtain feedback for improvement. We will also assign the roles of interviewers or note takers for each group member for every consensual interview.

Significance

As our project develops and our trip to the island comes closer at hand, we have begun to face new challenges in coordinating amongst ourselves in regards to preparing for the trip. A problem occurred this past week, when it came time to book our accommodations and ferry tickets. Confusion began to surface over where we were staying, what our budget was, and who would be purchasing which items. Although we were aware that we would be reimbursed for the majority of our expenses, we knew that it was important to keep track of who was reserving what, in order to prevent double-booking and to ensure that all of our receipts could be easily accessed. Giving each member of the group one specific job or part to keep track of helped us stay as organized as possible for counting funds used; for example, Nic is taking care of all the fuel costs for the van as it is simpler than everyone splitting those costs and then reimbursing each individual contribution.

This problem was confusing for everyone, especially as many of us were uncertain about our personal financial limits that we could contribute at the moment, knowing that it could take some time before we were fully reimbursed. And while it may seem trivial, it caused us to see that the broader issue at hand is being able to be flexible and understanding of individual and group needs. Close organization and close communication within the entire group was important to be certain that everything is complete, and that nothing is done more than once. In order to solve the problem, it was important take a step back and listen to everyone’s opinions and issues with how the problem was initially being addressed. Once everyone was involved in the conversation, everyone got on the same page, and individual tasks were assigned and easily completed.

Working to be more flexible around each other’s budgets and availability to communicate with those helping us to plan our stay, we were able to address the problem so that the burden did not fall on to just one team member’s shoulders alone. Being more understanding of individual and group constraints helped us all to formulate a solution to our problem while still respecting each other and our needs. Upon finally dividing everything up and organizing our list of objectives, we were able to accomplish all of our travel plans on time and made the alterations that we had to, whilst staying organized and maintaining a simplistic approach to our trip planning. Although they were not as extreme as Dan’s in the podcast, they will still be helpful in running this trip smoothly.

References

Barber, D. (2011). Poultry Slam 2011 [Podcast]. Chicago, IL: This American Life.

Objectives

With only two weeks left until we travel to Galiano Island, we have begun to meet the more critical stages of our planning and strategizing process. Since our main method of creating the index is done through interviewing the island producers, it is necessary that we schedule our meetings prior to our arrival to guarantee that we are able to fit in as many in person interviews as possible. This week we will be calling the local farms and producers to introduce ourselves and to inquire about their availability during the weekend of October 30th. We also plan to contact the restaurants on the island with the hopes of learning whether they utilize any local ingredients, and if so, which products they use during each season. Because our time on the island is short, we decided that it would be best to focus on interviewing the actual producers in person, and communicate with the restaurant owners or buyers from here in Vancouver. Also, given that the buyers for many restaurants are not usually available during regularly scheduled operating hours, communication via email or telephone may be the more effective way to reach them.

Other objectives we have accomplished this week included planning our method of transportation, our overnight stay, as well as outlining timelines for various interviews. We have determined the allotted length for each in-person interview, after factoring in the amount of time left in the day and transportation time in between visits.

Grand Central Emporium and Diner (Taken from: http://www.galianoisland.com/serve/member/163/2012-GrandCentral-GIF.gif)

Significance

When we started our project, we were not certain what our community partner specifically wanted in an index. Miscommunication between our group and the project leader(s) led to some confusion within the group about what was to be drafted for the final product. Some previous planning and ideas became irrelevant, such as questions involving food costs. A clear understanding may have been achieved from the beginning if we had the opportunity to meet the community partner for a greater length of time to ask questions in greater detail. Moreover, some aspects that we originally planned to include in our project, such as the incorporation and promotion of local produce and its nutritional value, may be too ambitious to complete.

These were small hiccups in the long run, and was soon remedied once we directly spoke to two representatives from the community to clarify any misconceptions we might have had regarding their goals with this project. Overall, there was no great loss in of time, however, it was a good reminder to establish the true objectives of the project and to stay focused on these objectives. We also realized that every group member also has to be on the same page, so that the group can work and move forward together.

Once we had a clear direction, delegating tasks followed suit, and we were able to arrange the next steps of the project. These next steps involve contacting producers and businesses on the island in order to document what they grow and when they grow it. In order to streamline this process, two group members will be making all of the telephone calls to arrange interviews. This will prevent possible double-booking or calling. Another step in the next part of our plan is to make a map of all the producers whom we have contact information for. A map will allow us to plot out the groupings of businesses and best routes between them in order to maximize our short time on the island, as we have only two days to conduct what could be 20 or more interviews with locals. This is important as we only have one vehicle so only one interview can be conducted simultaneously. This means that efficiency will be of utmost importance when on the island. By locating where the Galiano producers are located, we can improve efficiency by scheduling with producers that are near each other to avoid wasting time by travelling back and forth.

A map of Galiano Island producers’ locations.

Podcast 1

In The Fish Bank podcast, there is a theme of conservation of the local environment to benefit the local people. The disappearance of coral and fish from Bali waters was tragic, but the impact of their disappearance on the local people’s’ livelihoods was profound too. This ties into the importance of our community project, our index will encourage the conservation of local producers that will also benefit the local people. This is because local producers live within the same community they serve. Therefore, they have a very personal investment into the wellbeing of the community, in contrast to companies of the imported food found on the island, who only seek to profit. On the other hand, local producers give back to the community in the form of employment, allowing the money to circulate back within the local economy. In contrast, supporting foreign companies will support the employment of workers outside of the local community, thus if Galiano Island does not have any more local producers, employment opportunities within the community would decrease. The result of Jensi and Nyoman’s fish bank was exactly as they had hoped – more and bigger fish. Similarly, we hope that our index, by supporting local producers, will encourage more people to become local producers, and allow existing producers to increase the scale of their production to eventually sustain the entire island’s population.

Podcast 2

In the podcast Grandma Mahembe’s Farm, there is a theme of encouraging young people to pursue a career in agriculture. Lindiwe recalls when her grandmother told her, “I wish that all my grandchildren will grow up to be farmers, and feed not just their families, but all of Zimbabwe.” Her grandmother was an excellent example for Lindiwe, with her 1 acre plot and her livestock that fed not just her 6 children but the community as well. The Galiano Food Program wishes that in the future, more Galiano Island residents will become farmers and help feed the community. After graduating college, Lindiwe spoke about how she would indulge in fast food because it was affordable and right at her doorstep. This reinforces our belief that people are drawn to certain foods because they are easily accessible, and affordable. Our wish is that residents and visitors of Galiano Island will be able to find accessible foods that will encourage nutrition security. Lindiwe defined nutritional security as having access to foods that are nutritious, as well as affordable and convenient. Therefore, we believe that because local produce fulfills this criteria that they are the best way for Galiano Island to also achieve nutritional security.

Podcast 3

In the Pragmatic Idealist podcast, Sisonke Msimang talks about how it is important to listen to not only words, but to silence as well. She demonstrates this lesson in forms of a story she experienced, about her friend Alice. Alice was a strong, confident woman battling HIV AIDS, however this did not limit her from pursuing her goals of being an activist and creating awareness of the fact that it is not something to look down upon. One of the themes that struck out the most was social acceptance within a certain community, and supporting people in your surroundings regardless of the circumstances. This relates to our community project, as the index created will not only support local producers, but will inform the residents of Galiano Island of local food sources. This in turn provides the residents with a greater selection of nutritious and fresh foods that contribute to food security.

Msimang also talks about how her parents suffered a different type of ‘struggle’ in South Africa in the olden times, and how the new generation has it slightly easier with all the improvements in health, education and much more. This provides hope that in the generations to come ahead, the world will place a greater emphasis on acceptance and community building to achieve food security.

Group 1 is composed of members April, Angela, Ashraf, Alexis, Nic and Sarah. Here is a short introduction by each member:

April: Hi! My name is April and I’m currently a third year student studying Food and Nutritional Sciences under the faculty of Land and Food Systems at UBC. I’m interested in research and development for the evolution of food and food systems, molecular gastronomy and food chemistry.

Angela: Hi, my name is Angela and I am a third year Food, Nutrition and Health student. Academically, I am interested in the relationships micronutrients share, both complementary and incompatible. I believe this has a huge impact in how we approach our diet in the future, as the full extent of how interconnected each aspect of human nutrition is becomes clear. Outside of school, I enjoy starting new hobbies and losing interest in them two weeks later, baking, eating, sleeping, and online retail therapy.

Ashraf: Hi! My name is Ashraf, and I am studying Food Market Analysis here at UBC. I am keen about concepts such as nutrition, food policy development, trade systems and consumer behavior, all of which form the core of food market analysis. I am also interested in synergizing my background in science with knowledge in economics, finance and marketing, which is why I have taken on a minor in Commerce. Overall, the core of food science as well as the core of food resource economics and commerce will provide me with the knowledge on how to relate nutrition and health with the marketing of food, and complex consumption patterns, and hopefully take that knowledge back home to Uganda one day. Outside of school, I love watching TV shows, planning events as President of a club on campus, and eating of course!

Alexis: Hello, my name is Alexis and I am a 3rd year Food Market Analysis student at UBC. I grew up on a small, organic farm in Santa Cruz, California, and it was my experiences working both at home and with the community that inspired me to pursue a degree that focused on agricultural business. I believe a holistic approach to how we produce and consume foods is essential to creating a healthy and sustainable food system. I hope to enter and apply these concepts to the wine industry after finishing my education here. My passions outside of school include wine tasting, studying the art of mixology, hiking, and exploring the beautiful wilderness of British Columbia!   

Nic: Hi my name is Nic. I’m a third year Food & Environment major here at UBC. Growing up in a farm town working on farms as a kid, I’ve always been interested in the way food gets from the farm to your plate. I am interested in the methods of food production used in our society and improving those methods to create a better and more efficient food system. Being a vegetarian, I have come to learn the importance of the farming systems and possible hurdles within them. Getting over these hurdles is what I find myself studying, and I love taking on these challenges.

Sarah:  Hi there, my name is Sarah, and I am in my 3rd year as a GRS student and 5th year overall at UBC.  My major involves choosing a region of the world, a language and a topic.  I have chosen Europe, French and Sustainable Agriculture.  My focus has shifted slightly over the years from the actual production of food to basically the entire food system, “from farm to fork”, as is so commonly said here on the west coast now.  I spent the last school year on exchange in France and the Netherlands and learned a ton both inside and outside of school.  I really looking forward to working on this community project, as I have a keen interest in learning about what types of farms and food production systems work well in our climate and market here in BC, with the goal of one day having my own operation. 

As individuals, we each came from different upbringings and now with varied areas of study. Alexis and Nic grew up on farms, bringing their interest and first person knowledge of agriculture to the table. Nic, as a Food and Environment major, is studying the food system in detail, and thus can see areas needing improvement in Galiano’s Island food system efficiency. Alexis and Ashraf have educational backgrounds rooted in both economics and food, bringing another perspective to the discussion of community food security. On the other hand, April and Angela have educational backgrounds in food science and nutrition respectively, and thus are able to elaborate on community food security’s main tenets, food safety and accessibility to nutritious food. Sarah, as a Global Resource Systems student, can consider the unique geographical aspects of Galiano Island, and understand why certain crops are chosen by farmers. Together we form a diverse group of individuals who share in an interest to learn more about agricultural production, and its role in promoting community food security, as well as an eagerness to use the experiences we have gained from our lives leading up to the present for this cause.

Our goal with this project is to prepare an index of all agricultural products for sale on Galiano Island in collaboration with the Galiano Community Food Program, which will provide the inhabitants of Galiano Island with the resources necessary to plan for low-cost, healthy meals. The Galiano Community Food Program sees about 360 participants, which is a big proportion of Galiano Island’s population of about 1200 (Stats Canada, 2006). They are the leading organization of their kind, with their success encouraging neighbouring communities to follow in their footsteps. Their various programs and events aim to improve food security on Galiano Island, an objective that our group project intends to fulfill. To do this, we will be interviewing the inhabitants of Galiano Island, including farmers, shopkeepers, manufacturers of goods using local produce, and consumers.

Our process is especially relevant to Ernesto Sirolli’s TED Talk, which discussed several methods of how to help a community as an external group. It is essential to listen to their wants, needs, and concerns, rather than believing we know more about their land than the community does. This harbours a feeling of mutual respect for the knowledge and experience both the external group and the community have, resulting in a stronger working relationship, and a more effective outcome. Each community has many things to offer, some that are often overlooked, which is a problem that asset-based community development aims to abolish. Asset-based community development is rooted in using the strengths of each individual, and the inherent assets of each community. It fosters a closer relationship between citizens, as well as to the environment they call home. Ernesto Sirolli described a situation in which a needs-based approach had failed, when aid workers taught Zambians living in a fertile valley how to farm, an area previously lacking any form of agriculture. At the peak of their growth, the fruits of their labour were consumed by hippos, and this was the reason why the local peoples did not farm in such fertile land. If the aid workers had used an asset-based approach and asked the Zambians why they had no agriculture, they would have learned the reason why agriculture was not a feasible means to live for the Zambians.
The rapid deterioration of the resources brought by foreign aid workers in a needs-based approach is a main concern to the community in question. An example of this was given by Ernesto Sirolli (2012): Americans had given the African peoples 2 trillion dollars over the last 50 years, and this had done much more harm than good. According to Mathie and Cunningham (2003), sustainable development, brought by an asset-based approach, allows local citizens to become community leaders, rather than consumers of foreign aid. McCullum et al. (2005) outlines a three-stage model for improving community food security, a model that also uses an asset-based approach. The first stage consists of making sure the client has maximal access to all currently available resources, thus using the assets of the community. In this model, dietitians recommend their clients to purchase locally grown produce, which results in higher profits for local farmers and strengthens the local economy. In the second stage, McCullum et al. (2005) recommends putting new initiatives into place to establish the social infrastructure needed, and by moving “food distribution activities from private to public spaces.” Finally, in the third stage, self-reliance of the community to provide its members with healthy and sustainable food in the long-term is improved through enacting “public policies that integrate different policy fields” (McCullum et al., 2005). All three stages work together to establish long-term sustainability, benefiting not only the present, but that builds upon each of the community’s assets for a brighter future.

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