<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=iso-8859-1"><base href="x-msg://78/"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Greg,<div><br></div><div>Sounds like a good idea and I am in favour of supporting and endorsing a Food Charter to Regional Council.</div><div><br></div><div>Keep moving forward in my opinion.</div><div><br></div><div>Cheers,</div><div>Kevin.</div><div><br><div>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">----------------------------</font></p>
</div>
<br><div><div>On 2013-03-26, at 10:22 AM, "Gregory C. Michalenko" <<a href="mailto:gcmichalenko@uwaterloo.ca">gcmichalenko@uwaterloo.ca</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div fpstyle="1" ocsi="0" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; "><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt; ">Dear GREN Executive members,<div><br></div><div>I would like to send out this email to paid-up GREN members to seek approval for officially endorsing a very worthy Regional initiative. Please let me know if you approve. Theo - if we have consensus to back this, please let me know if you think this should go through you, or whether I should just email it to GREN members. If the latter, please let me know the email address for the Members. Unfortunately, I only have the address for executive members and the general mail-out which goes to non-members as well.</div><div><br></div><div>- Greg<br><div><br></div><div>_________________________________________________________</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "></span>DRAFT EMAIL TO GREN MEMBERS</div><div>Dear GREN Members,<div><br></div><div>The Waterloo Food System Round Table is a hard-working and effective group that has representation from the range of interests in our Region that are interested in promoting healthy food, local food production, bolstering the local food economy and equity issues to ensure that access to food and improved food quality are available to all residents of the Region. One of its current initiatives is to get the Waterloo Region Council to adopt a "Food Charter" as a sort of constitutional document to guide municipal policies and programs that relate to food. A number of Canadian municipalities already have food charters.</div><div><br></div><div>The promoters of the Charter are eager to get endorsement from as many organizations as possible. I think GREN should go on record as a sponsor. What do you think? Unfortunately, it will be presented to Regional Council on April 9 and our next GREN meeting is not until April 11.</div><div><br></div><div>Please take a look at the information below and let me know is you think GREN should support it or not, and if you think it would be appropriate to consider positive response from you by email or phone to be sufficient to constitute official endorsement from GREN.</div><div><br></div><div>In addition, if you wish to endorse it individually or know of other organizations that might be sympathetic to endorsing it, please either contact the Charter group directly, or let me know who you think I should contact.</div><div><br></div><div>- Greg Michalenko</div><div><br><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; "><hr tabindex="-1"><div id="divRpF437987" style="direction: ltr; "><br></div><div id="divRpF437987" style="direction: ltr; "><br></div><div id="divRpF437987" style="direction: ltr; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "></span>Proposed Food Charter</div><div></div><div><div><blockquote type="cite"><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">Please encourage your friends and contacts to help us grow the list of endorsements for this new charter!</span></blockquote><br><blockquote type="cite"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; ">It will be presented on our behalf to Regional Council on April 9</span><sup style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">th</sup> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; ">(at 1pm in the Council Chambers at 150 Frederick: please join us if you can!). See the Charter and our list of endorsements at </span><a href="http://www.wrfoodsystem.ca/blog/2013/03/01/endorse-the-waterloo-region-food-charter" target="_blank" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; color: purple; ">http://www.wrfoodsystem.ca/blog/2013/03/01/endorse-the-waterloo-region-food-charter</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; ">. Please also plan to join us for the public launch of our Food Charter at the</span> <a href="http://www.wrfoodsystem.ca/events/taste-of-woolwich/#event" target="_blank" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; color: purple; ">Taste of Woolwich</a> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; ">event on Monday, April 15, at 5pm in Breslau.</span></blockquote></div><br><div><h2 class="blog-heading">Endorse the Waterloo Region Food Charter</h2><div class="blog-post-header"><p>Mar 01, 2013 01:00 PM</p><p>Posted by<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.wrfoodsystem.ca/index.php?p=view_profile&member_id=173" target="_blank">Jason Vistoli</a></p></div><div class="blog-post-summary"><img class="blog-post-image" src="http://www.wrfoodsystem.ca/image/1418/photo.png?w=200&h=90" alt=""><p>The<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.wrfoodsystem.ca/files/www/Waterloo_Region_Food_Charter.pdf" target="_blank">Waterloo Region Food Charter</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is now complete!</p><p>Make this document a permanent part of Waterloo Region's food policy!</p><p>Please consider endorsing the Waterloo Region Food Charter. By signing your name or lending the support of your organization, you can aid the document's acceptance by Regional Council when we present the Food Charter on April 9th, 2013.</p><p>The final draft was crafted after consulting with our community through an online survey, reviewing all the contributions, and painstakingly re-drafting the document to incorporate the survey responses.</p><p><span style="text-decoration: underline; ">Endorsing the Waterloo Region Food Charter is simple</span>:</p><ul><li><strong>If you are already familiar with the charter process</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and wish to endorse this document, please review the updated<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.wrfoodsystem.ca/files/www/Waterloo_Region_Food_Charter.pdf" target="_blank">Food Charter</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and follow the steps below by April 1st, 2013. We would like the voice of all eaters, community members and organizations regardelss of your position in the food system.</li><li><strong>If you are new to the Waterloo Region Food Charter</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and require more information before considering endorsement, please see the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.wrfoodsystem.ca/files/www/Waterloo_Region_Food_Charter_Backgrounder.pdf" target="_blank">Food Charter Backgrounder</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and our<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.wrfoodsystem.ca/blog/2013/01/07/region-of-waterloo-food-charter-we-need-your-input" target="_blank">Food Charter Survey blog post</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>to understand how this document can work for you. Then, review the updated<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.wrfoodsystem.ca/files/www/Waterloo_Region_Food_Charter.pdf" target="_blank">Food Charter</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and if you agree with the document please follow the steps below by April 1st, 2013.</li><li><strong>If you agree with the document as it stands, and wish to endorse the Waterloo Region Food Charter</strong>, please send an email to<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:foodcharter@wrfoodsystem.ca" target="_blank">foodcharter@wrfoodsystem.ca</a> by April 1st, 2013 with the following information:<ul><li><span style="font-size: 14px; ">your name and an explanation of the work you do in the food system, its okay to say eater or communty member, and whether or not you consent to making this information public</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14px; ">if you are representing an organization/business please include the organization's name, and if possible send us the logo and indicate if you consent to making this information public </span></li></ul></li></ul><p><span style="text-decoration: underline; "><strong>Example of personal endorsement:</strong></span></p><p>My name is _______, and I endorse this Charter. My involvement with the food system is centered around alternative food production methods with the Community Garden Council. I consent to making this information public.</p><p style="padding-left: 60px; "><span style="text-decoration: underline; "><strong>Example of organizational endorsement:</strong></span></p><p style="padding-left: 60px; ">I am ______, and I work for a local food restaurant here in Cambridge. Our organization fully endorses this Food Charter, I have attached our logo and consent to making this information public.</p><p>We would appreciate it very much if you would seek formal endorsement of the Charter by your organization.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><img src="http://www.wrfoodsystem.ca/files/www/Food_Charter_word_cloud_resized_rs200x229.jpg" alt="Food Charter word cloud" height="229" width="200" style="margin: 1px; float: left; ">Please consider bringing the Food Charter to your Board of Directors, Executive Director, company owner or whatever process your organization uses to make important decisions. We feel that our request for Regional Council to endorse the Food Charter will carry more weight if we can demonstrate that organizations and individuals have already endorsed the Charter.</p><p>Thank you very much for your well thought responses to the survey. Please join us at the Taste of Woolwich Festival on April 15th for the Food Charter unveiling.</p><p>Drafting Team: Ellen Dejardins, Steffanie Scott, Paula Byrk, Jason Vistoli and Michelle Metzger</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>Executive mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Executive@gren.ca">Executive@gren.ca</a><br><a href="http://mail.gren.ca/mailman/listinfo/executive_gren.ca">http://mail.gren.ca/mailman/listinfo/executive_gren.ca</a><br></div></blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>