The Hat Food Movement is a caring, compassionate, community-based group serving Medicine Hat and area focused on promoting and supporting sustainable food resources for our community.
This is achieved through:
Connecting people to food. Advocating for sustainability. Educating people on food issues and alternatives. Supporting others with community resources. Developing skills to promote food security.
What projects focused around food security do you want to see established in the community? How can we partner with local businesses and organizations to strengthen food security initiatives in our community? Whether you are a citizen or representing an organization or business we want to hear from you!
Share the Harvest Gleaning Program
Over the last few years, we have had some interest in having a gleaning program in Medicine Hat.
Gleaning is a tradition spoken of in ancient religious texts of gathering a group to harvest produce that's left in the field for various reasons. It is a term that has come back into use as people want to prevent food waste by harvesting fruit from trees and bushes that may otherwise go to waste. This commonly happens when a homeowner has an abundance of crop that they don't have the physical ability or the time to harvest and they would like to see it go to good use. Many communities in Canada have founded organizations to assemble volunteers to pick these "leftovers". The volunteers either split the pickings among themselves or divide them among the homeowner, food banks and the volunteers.
We have found a free program online which allows property owners to list their fruit and allows those who wish to glean to find those locations.
In order for this to be successful, we would ask that you sign up on this free website and encourage those you know with fruit to pick to register their trees and bushes. If they are not computer savvy, perhaps you could assist them with listing their trees.
Our hope is that the use of this website will connect those in the community who wish to prevent food waste with people who are interested in using and preserving local food.
Food Waste Diversion in Medicine Hat
In the Fall of 2019, CFCA and Resilient. SEA were asked by a group of Medicine Hat residents to find out about food waste diversion in Medicine Hat. Alison Van Dyke, Food Security Coordinator with CFCA, investigated and gathered information on food waste diversion at local grocery stores and wholesale food suppliers. Genevieve Mathieu, from Resilient SEA presented on Canadian food waste statistics. There were also 4 other local experts which spoke on a variety of topics related to food waste.
2014 - 2015: A growing number of people in Medicine Hat were interested in keeping backyard hens as a way to produce their own eggs, compost kitchen and yard waste, and maintain a weed-free yard. City staff and local advocacy group, CLUCK Medicine Hat, conducted research on urban chicken programs in other communities and presented these findings to the Development & Infrastructure Committee and City Council. A bylaw to propose a pilot urban chicken program was presented but was defeated. Change the land use by-law to allow backyard chickens Petition
2022: The subject was raised again at City Council in September 2022 where a motion was made to direct City staff to investigate this option. The motion was defeated.
Food Systems Mapping Project - Community Foundation of Southeastern Alberta
A partnership between Loblaws and Community Foundations Canada focused on supporting community foundation leadership in creating more healthy and resilient communities in the area of food systems through a food systems enhancement project.
Food systems encompass “all stages, process and activities from food production all the way to consumption, and eventually disposal of food products” (Source: Sustainable Cities Institute).
In consultation with a number of agencies and the literature review of food security issues in Medicine Hat, CFSEA embarked on a Food Systems Mapping Project that would assist all organizations work more collaboratively and provide information of where and how to allocate their resources to best meet the needs of our community’s most vulnerable citizens.
The Food Map below encompasses Medicine Hat, Redcliff and Dunmore. Users can select any or all of the icons in the legend to find the location and nature of food related services and other relevant information such as public transportation routes.
