Saint-André-Avellin, Quebec – The Government of Canada is committed to helping communities invest in infrastructure that will improve their food security and increase access to healthy, nutritious and ideally local foods for families in need.
The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Seniors and Member of Parliament for Argenteuil–La Petite-Nation, Stéphane Lauzon, toured the Alliance Alimentaire Papineau and announced an investment of up to $70,409 to help the organization expand its community food programs.
This funding will help the Alliance purchase a cargo van and food processing equipment. The investment supports the Alliance's gleaning program, in which the community harvests from local producers and shares food between participants. The project will also support the purchase of gardening equipment and plants to establish a community garden.
This investment was made through the Local Food Infrastructure Fund. On July 9, 2021, Minister Bibeau announced a top-up of $10 million for the Fund. This additional top-up is part of the Government of Canada's commitment to provide continued support to emergency hunger relief organizations, which have faced significant challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as higher demands and fewer resources. With this additional funding to address pandemic-related food security pressures, the Fund is supporting $23 million in projects in 2021-22.
Since it first launched in August 2019, the Fund has committed $27 million to support over 625 vital food security projects across Canada, such as: community gardens and kitchens; refrigerated trucks and storage units for donated food; greenhouses in remote and northern communities; and more.
Source : Government of Canada