LUSH Valley announced on Sept. 4 that they will work with Discovery Consulting, in partnership with the Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD) for a year-long consultation effort to identify food flows and food storage capacity on North Vancouver Island. 

This study will encompass the CVRD, Strathcona Regional District and the Regional District of Mount Waddington. The consultation intends to strengthen emergency response in the region by finding a data gap around food flows and food storage.

鈥淭here is a glaring gap across our region with respect to food flows and food storage capacity. As a region we are prone to seismic, flood, and fire events, and, being located on an island, we are especially vulnerable to emergency events that impact the flow of goods. Understanding how food flows in our region, including local production and what storage capacity already exists, is expected to enhance our region鈥檚 preparedness and resiliency when the next emergency event occurs鈥� says Maurita Prato, Executive Director of LUSH Valley.

The team will work with First Nations, municipal and provincial governments, industry organizations and the community to understand the data gap. 

鈥淒uring the COVID-19 pandemic we saw how vulnerable our region鈥檚 food system was to disruption. LUSH and other agencies saw an uptick in people using our emergency support services. With the Comox Valley Food Policy Council we started examining food supply and with that group, we have been advocating to the province to support more food security information gathering and support particularly to address food security in emergency situations. In the last few years we have seen increased climate events, such as forest fires in communities west of Qualicum Beach, with food flows completely stalled by the Cameron Lake forest fire in 2022. We are not immune here in the Comox Valley or North Vancouver Island to emergency events affecting transportation routes鈥� says Prato. 

Funding was received by the CVRD through the Invest in Agriculture Foundation of B.C.鈥檚 Food Security and Emergency Preparedness Fund. The project would not be possible without this funding. 

For updates on the project, visiting the LUSH valley website: lushvalley.org/resources/projects/