Right to Food and Food Infrastructure
Motion 7 · Standing Committee of Council on City Finance and Services, March 11, 2026
Summary
- Proposed affirming food as a human right under international law, directing staff to inventory city-owned land in food priority zones, piloting at least one publicly owned or community-operated grocery store on city land, and using city tools to protect culturally significant and affordable food retail.
- Motivated in part by the pending sale of Sunrise Market, the only affordable fresh food source in the Downtown Eastside, and data showing food bank visits in Vancouver reached 79,000 in March 2025.
- Speakers from the Vancouver Food Policy Council, South Vancouver Neighbourhood House, Carnegie Housing Project, and Vancouver Neighbourhood Food Networks testified in support, citing gaps in southeast and east Vancouver and the loss of culturally significant food retailers.
- Deputy City Manager confirmed most work in the motion is already underway through the Vancouver Food Strategy and Vancouver Plan; the city-run grocery store concept was identified as the only genuinely new element.
- Councillors opposing noted the city has historically treated food provision as a senior government responsibility, and that a staff report on existing food systems is expected within three months.
- Defeated with Councillors Zhou, Dominato, Klassen, Meiszner, and Mayor Ken Sim opposed.
Vote
Public comments
Read all 10 statements
Transcript
49 segments
Thank you, Chair. Last year, Foodbanks BC released a report that revealed food bank visits across the province have increased 9%. With respect to Vancouver, there were 79,000 visits in March of 2025 alone. This is a pressing issue facing many residents of both the province and the city. Canada is a country that recognizes food as a human right and through the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights signed in 1976. This agreement outlines that we must fulfill the obligation of respecting, oh, sorry, fulfilling and protecting food rights. When taking these into account, it's understandable that action must be taken to affirm and fulfill this right. The idea of a public grocery option is electorally popular as well, with it being a core tentpole policy of New York City. Mayor Zoran Mamdani's election campaign, as well as nominee for mayor, Amanda Burroughs. While the United States is certainly not Canada that much is certain, it remains worth it to explore the following motion, and I hope I have your support on this. Thank you.
Thanks, Counselor. All right, do we have a seconder for this motion? Secondly, by Councillor Maloney, we will now hear from the registered speaker for this motion. Public speakers should state whether they are in support or in opposition of the recommendations and may only speak once. I will also ask speakers if they are residents of Vancouver, if it is not noted on the speakers list. Our first public bodies representative speaker is Jordan Baltitude, the co-chair of Vancouver Food Policy Council. Jordan online.
Yes, can you hear me?
Oh, so Jordan, please just hold one second.
Thank you, Chair. I had a point of parliamentary procedure, which was the ability to ask questions of the mover of the motion and whether I would do that right after it was introduced or after the speakers.
My understanding is right after the speakers. That's what we normally do.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you. Thanks, Councillor. Okay, Jordan, please go ahead.
Can you hear me?
Yes, we can. Please go ahead.
All right. Good morning, Mayor and Council. Thanks for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Jordan Bultitude. I'm speaking as the co-chair of the Vancouver Food Policy Council, and we strongly support Councillor Orr's motion. Under international law, Canada has already legally affirmed the right to food through multiple commitments over half a century ago, including through Article 11 of the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, which explicitly recognizes the right to adequate food and freedom from hunger. These commitments provide a clear, practical framework for governments at all levels to advance equitable food access within their jurisdiction. More than a decade after Council adopted the Vancouver Food Strategy, inequities in food access are more pressing than ever. Food insecurity remains concentrated in lower-income neighbourhoods, particularly in identified food priority zones, such as the Downtown Eastside and Southeast Vancouver, where residents face limited access to full-service grocery stores and greater barriers to affordable food. These important neighborhoods are home to many different communities who disproportionately face structural food insecurity, including Indigenous community members, newcomers, and seniors and people with disabilities who are living on fixed incomes. At the same time, the loss of affordable, culturally significant food retail in Vancouver has shown just how vulnerable food access is, especially for communities who depend on culturally necessary foods for health, dignity, and connection. Neighbors now travel across neighborhoods and sometimes across cities to find foods their families need and can afford, as essential businesses are pushed out of Vancouver's highly concentrated retail market. The strain is felt alongside rising grocery prices, stagnant wages, and inadequate government support, forcing people to rely on informal community networks and overstretched nonprofits just to get by. These networks are powerful, but they should not have to carry systemic failures alone. With meaningful support from Council, we could build a food system that is functional, collaborative, efficient, and sustainable, giving far more families the relief of knowing they are truly cared for by their city. Thanks to the City of Vancouver's thorough equitable access to healthy food retail report, our understanding of where affordable food services are needed is the most comprehensive it has ever been. Taken together, the steps proposed in this motion turn data into action and take an evidence-based, measured approach to advancing food justice in Vancouver that will reach the people that are most impacted. Frankly, this motion fills me with hope during a particularly desolate time. It gives us the opportunity to imagine a more resilient, equitable, and geographically distributed food system aligned with the city's commitments to healthy equity, reconciliation, climate resilience, and inclusive economic development. For these reasons, the Vancouver Food Policy Council respectfully urges Council to support this motion. Thank you for your time and leadership.
Thank you. Speaker number one for the public speaker is Derek O'Keefe.
Good morning and thank you. I'm speaking in support of this motion. The UN Declaration of Human Rights, which was drafted by Canadian John Peter Humphrey, was explicit in naming the right to food. Article 25 states, everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of themselves and their family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care and necessary social services. In a city like ours, an extremely wealthy city, but where the rent for a one-bedroom is $2,500 a month, tens of thousands of households have to choose each month between buying healthy groceries and being able to pay the rent. this motion makes three very basic common sense proposals all within available city powers first up it asks the city to make a list of city-owned land and commercial spaces in food priority zones so as mentioned by the previous speaker there's already a report on equitable access to food retail Page 18 of that report maps in red the food and retail priority zones, and these are areas where income is lower and affordable grocery stores within walking distance are lacking. So the red zones on the map actually cover much of east and south Vancouver. This is very alarming. I encourage all councillors to look closely at that. The second thing the motion asks is to look at piloting at least one publicly owned or community-operated grocery store using city land. It's just one pilot project. Very modest-esque. Zorhan Mamdani, some of you may have heard of, has the highest approval ratings in North America, famously got elected promising one community grocery store for each of New York City's five boroughs. So I'd love to see that point expanded to cover a number of key neighborhoods in Vancouver with this pilot project. And finally, the motion calls on the city to use all available means to stabilize and protect culturally significant and affordable food retail. Again, this is pure common sense. uh... and last year i just remind uh... counselors whether there was some confusion about city food grants uh... that went towards school meal programs a number of counselors uh... stated that this was merely a mix-up or misunderstanding with other levels of government, and they made clear they were committed to universal school meal programs for kids in Vancouver. This motion is really just expanding on that principle. I think we can all agree that there is nothing close to equal opportunity in a city or a society when some kids are going to school on an empty stomach. So I think it's really important for Vancouver to enshrine the right to food in all of its policies, in particular around land use, which is your primary function and power at the municipal level. So please, councillors, let's make this one unanimous. Thank you.
Thank you, Derek. Speaker number two is Chloe Leslie.
Yes, I'm here. Can you hear me?
Yes, we can. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning, councillors. My name is Chloe Leslie. I'm a Vancouver resident and I support this motion. I believe that food is not a luxury and it's not a charity. Instead, it's a human right. Yet across Vancouver, access to healthy, affordable and culturally appropriate food depends far too much on your postal code. In neighborhoods like the downtown east side and, as Jordan mentioned, parts of southeast Vancouver, residents face some of the highest rates of food insecurity in the city while having the fewest full-service grocery stores. We all know this, and the city has known this for years. In 2013, this council adopted the Vancouver Food Strategy and committed to building food-friendly neighborhoods and improving access to healthy, culturally diverse food. That was 13 years ago. This motion is about moving from commitment to implementation. Because right now, the loss of longstanding neighborhood food assets like Sunrise Market shows just how fragile affordable food access has become. I know that we can't solve the entire food system at the municipal level, but I believe we do have tools. We control land, we control zoning, we control leases and public buildings. This motion asks a simple question. Where do we already have the public assets to do better? It also advances work that this council approved in the 2024 Closing the Gap motion to create below-market leases for affordable food retail. I believe that this motion is practical, I believe it's achievable, and it's long overdue. I think a city that believes food is a human right has to build the infrastructure to make that right a reality. Every resident of Vancouver should be able to buy fresh, healthy food in their own neighbourhood without travelling across the city or relying on our emergency charitable food programs to survive. Food dignity should not depend on luck or your postal code. It should be something we plan for. I believe this motion is a step towards that future and I urge Council to support it. Thank you.
Thank you. Speaker number three is Kaber Maiden.
Speaker number three. Okay. Yeah, we got just got speaker number three. Please go ahead. Okay. Good morning. Thank you, sir. Can you hear me? Yeah. Okay.
Thank you. My name is Kabir, and I'm a resident of Vancouver, just around East Van. I'm also the manager of research and organizing for the Carnegie Housing Project, which is a research and advocacy project of the Carnegie Community Centers Association's elected board in the downtown Eastside. I'm calling in to speak in favor of Councillor Orr's motion. As some of you might know, the Sunrise Market on the corner of Gore and Powell has been up for sale for a few months, and it is indeed the only affordable source of fresh food in the neighborhood. We did a little survey at work, which is ongoing, across 15 corner stores, plus the No Frills near Hastings and Clark. all the corner stores which are convenient stores often 24 7 between campbell and columbia from east to west and paul and georgia from north to south they simply buy the milk bread and eggs from stores like no frills and then reselling them at a slightly higher price which with a liter of milk that is sold at no frills for 350 going for as much as six dollars for one liter of milk in these uh convenience stores None of them have fresh food like fruits or vegetables either, and very few of them have bread or peanut butter or dairy-based butter. All the peers and residents in the neighborhood whom I have spoken to have voiced their concerns about this, especially the loss of Sunrise. Many have spoken about how grocery stores in other parts of the city treat them as criminals based on looks rather than their actions. Well, Sunrise doesn't do that, and it is therefore seen as a community space as well, rather than just a place of business or exchange. That is also the beauty of a community-run grocery store, right? It is a part of the community rather than a business that is just passing through it. So I really hope that the City Council passes this motion that Councillor Orr is proposing and directs staff to report back on the possibility of running a pilot that includes either buying sunrises or utilizing city-owned land to run a similar community-run store in the neighborhood. So I really believe that we need food, not cops, in the neighborhood. Thank you.
Thank you. Speaker number four has withdrawn. Speaker number five is Sarah McLeod. Sarah?
Speaker number six, Ian Marcus.
Hello. Yeah, we can hear you.
Thank you. Hello, counsel. I'm pleased to speak today in support of this motion. My name is Ian Marcus, and I am the umbrella coordinator for the Vancouver Neighborhood Food Networks and member of the Vancouver Food Justice Coalition. Close to one in four BC residents report food insecurity, according to StatsCan. Shocking in a country as wealthy as ours. This is not a food distribution or a failure of the individual problem, but rather a result of multifaceted, deeper structural and systemic inequalities. We have seen a 27% cost of food increase since 2020, according to Canada's food price report. Most large food retailers continue to see significant increases to their net revenues and profits, a structural affordability issue embedded in the nature of food retail. For most of us, our food bills are through the roof. The cost of living is simply outpacing our incomes. We have written that it is time for a publicly owned food store where prices are not set by the market, but by an affordability measure where social value is placed on health and well-being, not profit, where food is decommodified or treated as a regulated utility. The potential loss of Sunrise Market that triggered this motion will be a huge loss, not only for the Downtown Eastside residents, but to folks from across the city who travel to Sunrise for cheap deals. For many consumers, especially those with limited budgets, the retail food sector generally has not been too kind. Moreover, the inability to provide affordable retail options is a human rights failure. As this right to food motion is named, all levels of government have a responsibility to create the enabling conditions that allow people to feed themselves and their families with choice and dignity. The recent equitable access to retail study conducted by the city food policy team reveals significant gaps in healthy food access in parts of our city. Not great for the single parent who must drag her kids around on multiple buses to find affordable and nutritious food. As the study offers, non-profit food retail to fill the gap in the market is one policy option. Perhaps his time has come. We may not need to look any further than existing examples such as Washington Market or some of the low-cost community markets that our food networks operate in public spaces, all which could be scaled up at a modest cost. This rights-based motion is deserving of consideration. It builds on previous commitments to strengthen our food system. It supports existing social policy, including the food strategy and the healthy city strategy, and at this stage simply explores the idea of a pilot. I can assure you that as someone who has worked in food systems for 19 years, we're such an initiative to get off the ground that it would put Vancouver on the map as a food leader. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Speaker number seven is Nada Amadi.
In person?
Not here, not long. Okay, I'm going to come back. Speaker number eight is Mona Stilwell.
Hello?
Hi. Hi. My name is Mona Stilwell, and I am a resident of Vancouver. In the Chinese lunar solar calendar, the year is broken up into 24 sections called terms. We are currently in the term called Insects Awaken. Love that term. During this time, our bodies should be eating liver-supporting foods like celery, lemons, and spinach. And I have the financial privilege to go buy that product to do just that. There are many residents of Vancouver who do not have the same financial privilege that I do. often have to make the decision between paying rent or buying food, and food that's super inexpensive, probably from the dollar store. There's a lot of people going to the dollar store to buy food now. That is not an indication of a healthy and supportive society. It doesn't indicate a society that cares about its residents when you have to make that decision between rent and food. I feel like the city of Vancouver's mayor and council members are accountable and responsible for the well-being of the residents. I hope you all agree. For myself, I have made a weekly commitment to fill up a free pantry in my neighborhood every week. I fill it up. It's a small pantry, thankfully, so it's not too bad. But I am counting on the mayor and council to recognize the responsibility of your position to help those of us who need it the most. by unanimously supporting this motion. Thank you for hearing me.
Thank you. Speaker number nine is Jenny Simpson.
Jenny? Speaker number nine is not on the line. Speaker number 10 is Joey Liu.
Good morning. Can you hear me?
Yes, we can. Please go ahead.
Great. Yeah, so my name is Joey Liu. I'm a Vancouver resident, and I fully support this motion. So I'm currently on mat leave right now, but I've actually come to council before to speak as the food security manager at South End Neighborhood House. Many of you have heard me speak a number of times on how hard it is for South End residents to access culturally appropriate, affordable food in the area. And I know I've talked a lot about how hard it is to find permanent space to run a food support program like the South Van Food Hub. In my four and a half years helping to manage the Food Hub, we've been searching for space the entire time we've been operating the program. We've gone to look at spaces that were used as banquet halls, restaurants, even a dollar store, but none of it worked out. And last year, we were actually pretty close to signing a commercial lease for a warehouse in the industrial area of South Van. But in the end, we decided not to go with it because the rent was going to be double what we pay at the Langara YMCA, which is where the food hub is renting out of. And it just didn't make any financial sense because we could see program costs rising and grant funding decreasing in our sector. But without any other alternatives, and now, as I think you know, that Langara YMCA is being so close to redevelopment, there's a lot of uncertainty for the food hub going into the next fiscal year and as well for the area in general. And this motion talks about food priority zones, and I really want to emphasize that South Vancouver is definitely one of those zones. The area needs so many more options for food access. both in terms of retail and community programs. And I think this motion would really benefit all the residents who are struggling to put food on the table and have to travel far to access good food. I think this motion is going to help stabilize the work that food nonprofits like South Van Averitt House are already doing, and it's going to encourage more options beyond that type of emergency programming. I believe that this motion can really use some of the levers that the city has to build better more sustainable food systems and lastly i think this motion builds on the closing the gap food systems motion from july 2024 that council voted in favor of especially councillor kirby young's amendment that directed staff to evaluate opportunities in city-owned or operated buildings for food non-profits to support sustainable food systems and i'm hoping that since council voted unanimously in favor of that motion You know, I'm really hoping today that council can also move this motion forward so we can really get some of this crucial work done together. So thanks so much for your time, and I hope you all take care.
Okay, thanks. Speaker number 11 is Pamela Ramirez-Vergaz.
Hi, can you hear me?
Yes, we can. Please go ahead.
Okay, thank you. Good morning, Mayor and Council. My name is Pamela Ramirez Vargas. I am the current food security manager at South Vancouver Neighborhood House, and I am a Vancouver resident. I am speaking today in support of this motion. Every day in my work at the food hub, I see the reality behind the statistics. Our neighbors are struggling to access food that is not only affordable, but also dignified and culturally appropriate. Food insecurity in Vancouver is not simply about food. It is about the ability of people to participate fully in their communities. We see firsthand how food access intersects with mental health and well-being. When people are constantly worrying about their next meal, it affects their stress level, their relationships, their ability to focus on work, school, and feel connected to their community. But we also see the opposite. When people have reliable access to food in welcoming community spaces, it creates connection, dignity, and a sense of belonging. This is why public food infrastructure is so important. Just as we invest in public libraries and community centers, we must begin to think about food assets as essential community infrastructure. spaces where people can access affordable and culturally appropriate food, but also gather, learn, and participate in shaping their local food system. In Southeast Vancouver, residents face long distance to affordable grocery store, rising food prices, and limited culturally appropriate options. Community nonprofit organizations like ours are doing everything they can to respond, but this alone cannot solve a systemic issue. What we need are structural solutions that make food access a shared public responsibility. This motion is an important step in that direction. Identifying city-owned land in food priority zones, exploring community-operated grocery stores, and protecting culturally significant food retail are practical tools that can strengthen food access in neighborhoods that need it most. We have learned that when communities are involved in designing solutions, the outcomes are stronger, more sustainable, and more equitable. People do not just want food. They want agency, participation, and dignity. By affirming the right to food and investing in public food infrastructure, Vancouver has an opportunity to lead with a vision that recognizes food not as charity, but as a cornerstone of a healthy and connected city. Thank you so much for your time, and I really hope that this motion is passed unanimously.
Thank you. Thank you. Speaker number 12 is Delano Ellingwood.
Hi, can you hear me? Yes, we can. Please go ahead. Awesome.
Good morning, Council. My name is Delano Ellingwood, and I'm a Vancouver resident. I'm calling in this morning in support of the motion put forth by Councillor Orr. Food is not only a basic necessity of life, but it's also a basic human right, much like housing and medical care. I don't quite understand how we can discuss multi-million dollar lipstick projects that are meant to attract travelers and people coming to the World Cup when we are not providing for our residents here at home. uh... but other speakers have so eloquently stated vancouver extremely wealthy and we don't really have any excuses for ignoring such a basic issue we have to act like a world-class city if uh... we want to be one you understand uh... regardless of finances and background and postal code we have to have our citizens be able to access all of the basic necessities of life i don't really feel like we have any excuses anymore so i hope
that we will pass this unanimously, and I appreciate your time. Thank you. Speaker number 13 is Tanya Webkin.
Tanya? Speaker number 13 is Tanya Webkin. Hi there. Hi. Please go ahead.
Yeah, I am here to support Councillor Orr's motion. This is an incredibly important issue for our city. Food insecurity in Vancouver is at a crisis level, driven by inflation and severe cost of living gap. Food bank use has gone up 79% since 2019, and we don't need charity. We need system changes. One in four people are food insecure, and children make up one-third of food bank visitors. We have hungry children in Vancouver that need urgent action. But we also have folks on fixed incomes, seniors, and students who are also struggling. Food banks were created to be an emergency response in the mid-80s. They were never intended to be a permanent solution. They were meant to be a last resort, not a needed weekly event. Depending on food banks is not equitable and it is not sustainable. Like some have mentioned, you know, the pending sale of the Sunrise did highlight this as a longstanding issue, particularly in the downtown area, in the downtown east side and for Chinatown. You know, we have lost So many cultural food assets at alarming rates, particularly in the Chinatown area. If you look at the Chinatown food security report, they've lost 55% of green grocers between 2009 and 2016. This loss of integrated food systems has... has changed the landscape of how people shop in that area we also have a large concentration of people who are seniors people that are disabled never mind the overwhelming impact that the downtown east side core is over 30 indigenous the equitable access to food retail report identified several food priority zones the downtown east side is one but vancouver's southeast and east neighborhoods are also incredibly at risk These areas don't have equitable access to healthy food or cultural food sources, which are also part of that equitable access. This also affects social determinants of health. And in that report on page 18, as some have mentioned, this report shows where low-income areas overlap with poor access to food retail. The Vancouver Food Strategy and the Food Charter both assert that residents have the right to equitable, dignified, and a rights-based food system as a basic human right. And the Downtown Eastside has been a long-time, culturally diverse neighborhood for generations. The Food Charter states that the city is committed to a just and sustainable food system.
And according to the Food Charter, We need that because it contributes to the economic, ecological, and social well-being of our city and region. It encourages personal business and government food practices that foster local production and protect our natural and human resources. It recognizes access to safe, sufficient, culturally appropriate, and nutritious... That's your time, sorry.
Please pass this motion and bring food justice to the City of Vancouver.
Thank you. Speaker number 14 is Alicia Squamish.
Not on the line. Okay. All right. So I'm going to go back to the speaker number five, Sarah McLeod.
Sarah?
Just one moment. The staff in the back are just typing. There may be an update on Sarah. Not on the line. Okay. Speaker number seven is Nada Amdi.
No, not on the line. Speaker number nine is Janice Simpson.
Not on the line. Speaker number 14 is Alicia Squamish.
Not on the line.
All right, thank you. Okay, so this is the end of our speakers list. Thank you everyone for speaking to the Standing Committee on City Finance and Services. Committee members, is there any discussion?
Okay, Councillor Donato.
Yeah, thanks, Chair. I had started earlier. I just wanted to have a question, so it's a point of information through you to the mover of the motion. Just around clarity around the motion, is it from the direction this proposes it's seeking that... the city explore options for a city-owned, operated, or publicly funded grocery. Is that part of the intent of the motion, is to explore that? Just if the mover could speak to that, please.
Yeah, so I'll turn it over.
Yeah, absolutely. That's part of it. Policy options to pilot at least one public-owned or community-operated grocery store on city land. That's definitely part of the report back to look at the feasibility of that for sure.
Okay. Okay. Thank you.
Yeah, just generally speaking in support of this, I appreciate that it is directing for a report back, and I think these are some pretty important issues. And I am very curious with the possibility and feasibility of leveraging city-owned land for this kind of space. I would love to see this expanded actually for broader food security. We've talked in the past about the opportunities for – replacing the food distribution hubs along Malkin Avenue with the coming of the hospital and the fact that a lot of the land assessment value there has skyrocketed, I remain worried that we might lose some of this incredibly valuable infrastructure and have long thought that there'd be an opportunity for us to consider how we could do what many cities do, which is to have our own food distribution hub that services not only as a lease space for food distributors and produce distributors, but as a functioning public market as well. And this is done in cities around the world. A bit of a tangent from the intention of this motion, but I think it's part of a broader conversation that leverages city assets for food security. And in the immediate, I would love to see this perhaps leveraged as the conversation around the Chinatown Plaza evolves. And maybe we might see something happen there where we can enhance food security in an area that could well use it. So happy to support this motion and excited to see what comes back from staff reporting. And I'm going to avoid amending it into something about food distribution hubs as much as I would love to. I think it's not germane to this immediate motion. Thank you.
Okay, thanks, Councillor Frey. Councillor Domenato.
Thank you, Chair. I have a question through you, pointing permission through you to the City Manager. Yeah. Sorry. City Manager, I'm just wondering if you could just comment on the feedback that was given on this report or this motion in that it states that a report is coming back on existing food systems. It's planned to come in the next three months. And... I'm asking because I also was reviewing the Vancouver food strategy and a number of other sort of points of reference in terms of the Vancouver plan. And noting that for the most part, most of what's in this motion is already underway in the city. And I'm just curious if you could comment on that. I'm not going to call it out of order, but it effectively is already being done based on, and Councillor Boyle had a motion previously around food cultural assets. Some of these pieces are embedded in the Vancouver plan, the Vancouver food strategy, including piloting. And we already leverage city land for nonprofits. So just can you comment on that? Because I was a little surprised to see this come forward.
Thank you, Councillor Sanderson, Deputy City Manager. Yeah, in the staff feedback, we did identify that a significant amount of this work is already underway as part of the Vancouver food strategy, as well as contemplation in the Vancouver plan. What I can say is that the item that we're not actively looking at is our... the notion that the city would run a grocery store. So that is new to the food strategy work, but the balance of it is already in place. Okay. I guess my last question then to you, I appreciate that, is that... I toured a number of years ago, maybe other councillors did, is Quest's site down at the downtown east side. And there's a number of other, I know there's been concern and angst over sometimes, not by myself, but members of the community about the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. But there's a range of not-for-profits and other organizations contributing to food security. And so I'm curious for what your thoughts are on what gap the city would fill by opening its own grocery. Like what would... What would the difference be compared to all the other agencies that are already operating in this space?
Or is there a difference? I really don't know. Yeah, thank you for the question, Councillor. I'm not in a position to comment on that right now. What I can say is that through the city's existing suite of services, we do provide low-cost services. food access through our inner city community centers, Gathering Place, Evelyn Saller Center, and Carnegie Center. We do offer some social services funding through the ACCS grants to nonprofits that also offer these types of services. We have typically viewed food provision and the need for these services as the impact of deep and persistent poverty, which is a senior government responsibility. So that's the way we've approached it historically. Okay, no, I appreciate that. Okay, I think just with my limited time, I'll just state that I appreciate the spirit in which the motion is brought forward by Councillor Orr. I think that what I've heard and confirmed from my review of work is that this council has affirmed its commitment to food security and infrastructure. That work is underway. We're going to get a report back in what looks like less than three months' time. And on that basis, I won't be supporting the motion. And it sounds like we have a number of organizations already addressing sort of some of that gap. I'm not saying it's perfect in recognizing that poverty continues to be an issue within our communities and our city. But this work is largely already underway and we'll be getting a report back.
Thank you. Okay, Councillor Maloney.
Thank you. And I appreciate in a lot of areas we are already working on programs, but I think for me I will be supporting this because we're not doing anywhere near enough and we're not doing enough on food security, we're not doing enough in other areas of... road safety and public safety and poverty reduction and housing. So I think I'm very grateful to Councillor Orr for moving this motion and I'd like to acknowledge the advocacy on this by Amanda Burrows. Thanks.
All right, thanks. So this is the end of our speakers list. I'm going to call the vote. Clerk, please take us to the voting screen and committee members, please register your vote on the voting panel. We are voting on the main motion. Chair, this is Councillor Bligh. Could I have a vote of assistance in favor, please? Okay. Councillor Kerbion, we need you to turn on the video, please. And Councillor Bligh, oh, just, yeah, okay. Councillor Kerbion. Oh, Councillor Kerbion, we need you to turn on the video, please. Who would like to vote? Yeah, sure. I can't turn my video on at the moment, so I won't be able to vote. Okay. All right. Thanks. All right. So the motion did not pass with Councillor Zhou, Dominano, Classen, Meister, and Mayor Xinyi in opposition.
Okay. Thanks, everyone. That completes motion two on the agenda. Motion three, cheap, easy, everywhere, unlocking the full potential of shared mobility to reduce traffic congestion across Metro Vancouver was co-submitted by Councillor Maloney and Councillor Wong. And it is to be moved and introduced by Councillor Maloney. Before we begin this agenda item, if anyone believes they have a conflict of interest, now is the time to declare it. Does anyone have a conflict of interest to disclose? Seeing none, Councillor Maloney, you have two minutes to introduce your motion.
Statement Watch
All right. Good morning, Mayor and Council. Thanks for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Jordan Bultitude. I'm speaking as the co-chair of the Vancouver Food Policy Council, and we strongly support Councillor Orr's motion. Under international law, Canada has already legally affirmed the right to food through multiple commitments over half a century ago, including through Article 11 of the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, which explicitly recognizes the right to adequate food and freedom from hunger. These commitments provide a clear, practical framework for governments at all levels to advance equitable food access within their jurisdiction. More than a decade after Council adopted the Vancouver Food Strategy, inequities in food access are more pressing than ever. Food insecurity remains concentrated in lower-income neighbourhoods, particularly in identified food priority zones, such as the Downtown Eastside and Southeast Vancouver, where residents face limited access to full-service grocery stores and greater barriers to affordable food. These important neighborhoods are home to many different communities who disproportionately face structural food insecurity, including Indigenous community members, newcomers, and seniors and people with disabilities who are living on fixed incomes. At the same time, the loss of affordable, culturally significant food retail in Vancouver has shown just how vulnerable food access is, especially for communities who depend on culturally necessary foods for health, dignity, and connection. Neighbors now travel across neighborhoods and sometimes across cities to find foods their families need and can afford, as essential businesses are pushed out of Vancouver's highly concentrated retail market. The strain is felt alongside rising grocery prices, stagnant wages, and inadequate government support, forcing people to rely on informal community networks and overstretched nonprofits just to get by. These networks are powerful, but they should not have to carry systemic failures alone. With meaningful support from Council, we could build a food system that is functional, collaborative, efficient, and sustainable, giving far more families the relief of knowing they are truly cared for by their city. Thanks to the City of Vancouver's thorough equitable access to healthy food retail report, our understanding of where affordable food services are needed is the most comprehensive it has ever been. Taken together, the steps proposed in this motion turn data into action and take an evidence-based, measured approach to advancing food justice in Vancouver that will reach the people that are most impacted. Frankly, this motion fills me with hope during a particularly desolate time. It gives us the opportunity to imagine a more resilient, equitable, and geographically distributed food system aligned with the city's commitments to healthy equity, reconciliation, climate resilience, and inclusive economic development. For these reasons, the Vancouver Food Policy Council respectfully urges Council to support this motion. Thank you for your time and leadership.
Statement Watch
Good morning and thank you. I'm speaking in support of this motion. The UN Declaration of Human Rights, which was drafted by Canadian John Peter Humphrey, was explicit in naming the right to food. Article 25 states, everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of themselves and their family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care and necessary social services. In a city like ours, an extremely wealthy city, but where the rent for a one-bedroom is $2,500 a month, tens of thousands of households have to choose each month between buying healthy groceries and being able to pay the rent. this motion makes three very basic common sense proposals all within available city powers first up it asks the city to make a list of city-owned land and commercial spaces in food priority zones so as mentioned by the previous speaker there's already a report on equitable access to food retail Page 18 of that report maps in red the food and retail priority zones, and these are areas where income is lower and affordable grocery stores within walking distance are lacking. So the red zones on the map actually cover much of east and south Vancouver. This is very alarming. I encourage all councillors to look closely at that. The second thing the motion asks is to look at piloting at least one publicly owned or community-operated grocery store using city land. It's just one pilot project. Very modest-esque. Zorhan Mamdani, some of you may have heard of, has the highest approval ratings in North America, famously got elected promising one community grocery store for each of New York City's five boroughs. So I'd love to see that point expanded to cover a number of key neighborhoods in Vancouver with this pilot project. And finally, the motion calls on the city to use all available means to stabilize and protect culturally significant and affordable food retail. Again, this is pure common sense. uh... and last year i just remind uh... counselors whether there was some confusion about city food grants uh... that went towards school meal programs a number of counselors uh... stated that this was merely a mix-up or misunderstanding with other levels of government, and they made clear they were committed to universal school meal programs for kids in Vancouver. This motion is really just expanding on that principle. I think we can all agree that there is nothing close to equal opportunity in a city or a society when some kids are going to school on an empty stomach. So I think it's really important for Vancouver to enshrine the right to food in all of its policies, in particular around land use, which is your primary function and power at the municipal level. So please, councillors, let's make this one unanimous. Thank you.
Statement Watch
Thank you. Good morning, councillors. My name is Chloe Leslie. I'm a Vancouver resident and I support this motion. I believe that food is not a luxury and it's not a charity. Instead, it's a human right. Yet across Vancouver, access to healthy, affordable and culturally appropriate food depends far too much on your postal code. In neighborhoods like the downtown east side and, as Jordan mentioned, parts of southeast Vancouver, residents face some of the highest rates of food insecurity in the city while having the fewest full-service grocery stores. We all know this, and the city has known this for years. In 2013, this council adopted the Vancouver Food Strategy and committed to building food-friendly neighborhoods and improving access to healthy, culturally diverse food. That was 13 years ago. This motion is about moving from commitment to implementation. Because right now, the loss of longstanding neighborhood food assets like Sunrise Market shows just how fragile affordable food access has become. I know that we can't solve the entire food system at the municipal level, but I believe we do have tools. We control land, we control zoning, we control leases and public buildings. This motion asks a simple question. Where do we already have the public assets to do better? It also advances work that this council approved in the 2024 Closing the Gap motion to create below-market leases for affordable food retail. I believe that this motion is practical, I believe it's achievable, and it's long overdue. I think a city that believes food is a human right has to build the infrastructure to make that right a reality. Every resident of Vancouver should be able to buy fresh, healthy food in their own neighbourhood without travelling across the city or relying on our emergency charitable food programs to survive. Food dignity should not depend on luck or your postal code. It should be something we plan for. I believe this motion is a step towards that future and I urge Council to support it. Thank you.
Statement Watch
Thank you. My name is Kabir, and I'm a resident of Vancouver, just around East Van. I'm also the manager of research and organizing for the Carnegie Housing Project, which is a research and advocacy project of the Carnegie Community Centers Association's elected board in the downtown Eastside. I'm calling in to speak in favor of Councillor Orr's motion. As some of you might know, the Sunrise Market on the corner of Gore and Powell has been up for sale for a few months, and it is indeed the only affordable source of fresh food in the neighborhood. We did a little survey at work, which is ongoing, across 15 corner stores, plus the No Frills near Hastings and Clark. all the corner stores which are convenient stores often 24 7 between campbell and columbia from east to west and paul and georgia from north to south they simply buy the milk bread and eggs from stores like no frills and then reselling them at a slightly higher price which with a liter of milk that is sold at no frills for 350 going for as much as six dollars for one liter of milk in these uh convenience stores None of them have fresh food like fruits or vegetables either, and very few of them have bread or peanut butter or dairy-based butter. All the peers and residents in the neighborhood whom I have spoken to have voiced their concerns about this, especially the loss of Sunrise. Many have spoken about how grocery stores in other parts of the city treat them as criminals based on looks rather than their actions. Well, Sunrise doesn't do that, and it is therefore seen as a community space as well, rather than just a place of business or exchange. That is also the beauty of a community-run grocery store, right? It is a part of the community rather than a business that is just passing through it. So I really hope that the City Council passes this motion that Councillor Orr is proposing and directs staff to report back on the possibility of running a pilot that includes either buying sunrises or utilizing city-owned land to run a similar community-run store in the neighborhood. So I really believe that we need food, not cops, in the neighborhood. Thank you.
Statement Watch
Thank you. Hello, counsel. I'm pleased to speak today in support of this motion. My name is Ian Marcus, and I am the umbrella coordinator for the Vancouver Neighborhood Food Networks and member of the Vancouver Food Justice Coalition. Close to one in four BC residents report food insecurity, according to StatsCan. Shocking in a country as wealthy as ours. This is not a food distribution or a failure of the individual problem, but rather a result of multifaceted, deeper structural and systemic inequalities. We have seen a 27% cost of food increase since 2020, according to Canada's food price report. Most large food retailers continue to see significant increases to their net revenues and profits, a structural affordability issue embedded in the nature of food retail. For most of us, our food bills are through the roof. The cost of living is simply outpacing our incomes. We have written that it is time for a publicly owned food store where prices are not set by the market, but by an affordability measure where social value is placed on health and well-being, not profit, where food is decommodified or treated as a regulated utility. The potential loss of Sunrise Market that triggered this motion will be a huge loss, not only for the Downtown Eastside residents, but to folks from across the city who travel to Sunrise for cheap deals. For many consumers, especially those with limited budgets, the retail food sector generally has not been too kind. Moreover, the inability to provide affordable retail options is a human rights failure. As this right to food motion is named, all levels of government have a responsibility to create the enabling conditions that allow people to feed themselves and their families with choice and dignity. The recent equitable access to retail study conducted by the city food policy team reveals significant gaps in healthy food access in parts of our city. Not great for the single parent who must drag her kids around on multiple buses to find affordable and nutritious food. As the study offers, non-profit food retail to fill the gap in the market is one policy option. Perhaps his time has come. We may not need to look any further than existing examples such as Washington Market or some of the low-cost community markets that our food networks operate in public spaces, all which could be scaled up at a modest cost. This rights-based motion is deserving of consideration. It builds on previous commitments to strengthen our food system. It supports existing social policy, including the food strategy and the healthy city strategy, and at this stage simply explores the idea of a pilot. I can assure you that as someone who has worked in food systems for 19 years, we're such an initiative to get off the ground that it would put Vancouver on the map as a food leader. Thank you very much.
Statement Watch
Hi. Hi. My name is Mona Stilwell, and I am a resident of Vancouver. In the Chinese lunar solar calendar, the year is broken up into 24 sections called terms. We are currently in the term called Insects Awaken. Love that term. During this time, our bodies should be eating liver-supporting foods like celery, lemons, and spinach. And I have the financial privilege to go buy that product to do just that. There are many residents of Vancouver who do not have the same financial privilege that I do. often have to make the decision between paying rent or buying food, and food that's super inexpensive, probably from the dollar store. There's a lot of people going to the dollar store to buy food now. That is not an indication of a healthy and supportive society. It doesn't indicate a society that cares about its residents when you have to make that decision between rent and food. I feel like the city of Vancouver's mayor and council members are accountable and responsible for the well-being of the residents. I hope you all agree. For myself, I have made a weekly commitment to fill up a free pantry in my neighborhood every week. I fill it up. It's a small pantry, thankfully, so it's not too bad. But I am counting on the mayor and council to recognize the responsibility of your position to help those of us who need it the most. by unanimously supporting this motion. Thank you for hearing me.
Statement Watch
Great. Yeah, so my name is Joey Liu. I'm a Vancouver resident, and I fully support this motion. So I'm currently on mat leave right now, but I've actually come to council before to speak as the food security manager at South End Neighborhood House. Many of you have heard me speak a number of times on how hard it is for South End residents to access culturally appropriate, affordable food in the area. And I know I've talked a lot about how hard it is to find permanent space to run a food support program like the South Van Food Hub. In my four and a half years helping to manage the Food Hub, we've been searching for space the entire time we've been operating the program. We've gone to look at spaces that were used as banquet halls, restaurants, even a dollar store, but none of it worked out. And last year, we were actually pretty close to signing a commercial lease for a warehouse in the industrial area of South Van. But in the end, we decided not to go with it because the rent was going to be double what we pay at the Langara YMCA, which is where the food hub is renting out of. And it just didn't make any financial sense because we could see program costs rising and grant funding decreasing in our sector. But without any other alternatives, and now, as I think you know, that Langara YMCA is being so close to redevelopment, there's a lot of uncertainty for the food hub going into the next fiscal year and as well for the area in general. And this motion talks about food priority zones, and I really want to emphasize that South Vancouver is definitely one of those zones. The area needs so many more options for food access. both in terms of retail and community programs. And I think this motion would really benefit all the residents who are struggling to put food on the table and have to travel far to access good food. I think this motion is going to help stabilize the work that food nonprofits like South Van Averitt House are already doing, and it's going to encourage more options beyond that type of emergency programming. I believe that this motion can really use some of the levers that the city has to build better more sustainable food systems and lastly i think this motion builds on the closing the gap food systems motion from july 2024 that council voted in favor of especially councillor kirby young's amendment that directed staff to evaluate opportunities in city-owned or operated buildings for food non-profits to support sustainable food systems and i'm hoping that since council voted unanimously in favor of that motion You know, I'm really hoping today that council can also move this motion forward so we can really get some of this crucial work done together. So thanks so much for your time, and I hope you all take care.
Statement Watch
Okay, thank you. Good morning, Mayor and Council. My name is Pamela Ramirez Vargas. I am the current food security manager at South Vancouver Neighborhood House, and I am a Vancouver resident. I am speaking today in support of this motion. Every day in my work at the food hub, I see the reality behind the statistics. Our neighbors are struggling to access food that is not only affordable, but also dignified and culturally appropriate. Food insecurity in Vancouver is not simply about food. It is about the ability of people to participate fully in their communities. We see firsthand how food access intersects with mental health and well-being. When people are constantly worrying about their next meal, it affects their stress level, their relationships, their ability to focus on work, school, and feel connected to their community. But we also see the opposite. When people have reliable access to food in welcoming community spaces, it creates connection, dignity, and a sense of belonging. This is why public food infrastructure is so important. Just as we invest in public libraries and community centers, we must begin to think about food assets as essential community infrastructure. spaces where people can access affordable and culturally appropriate food, but also gather, learn, and participate in shaping their local food system. In Southeast Vancouver, residents face long distance to affordable grocery store, rising food prices, and limited culturally appropriate options. Community nonprofit organizations like ours are doing everything they can to respond, but this alone cannot solve a systemic issue. What we need are structural solutions that make food access a shared public responsibility. This motion is an important step in that direction. Identifying city-owned land in food priority zones, exploring community-operated grocery stores, and protecting culturally significant food retail are practical tools that can strengthen food access in neighborhoods that need it most. We have learned that when communities are involved in designing solutions, the outcomes are stronger, more sustainable, and more equitable. People do not just want food. They want agency, participation, and dignity. By affirming the right to food and investing in public food infrastructure, Vancouver has an opportunity to lead with a vision that recognizes food not as charity, but as a cornerstone of a healthy and connected city. Thank you so much for your time, and I really hope that this motion is passed unanimously.
Statement Watch
Good morning, Council. My name is Delano Ellingwood, and I'm a Vancouver resident. I'm calling in this morning in support of the motion put forth by Councillor Orr. Food is not only a basic necessity of life, but it's also a basic human right, much like housing and medical care. I don't quite understand how we can discuss multi-million dollar lipstick projects that are meant to attract travelers and people coming to the World Cup when we are not providing for our residents here at home. uh... but other speakers have so eloquently stated vancouver extremely wealthy and we don't really have any excuses for ignoring such a basic issue we have to act like a world-class city if uh... we want to be one you understand uh... regardless of finances and background and postal code we have to have our citizens be able to access all of the basic necessities of life i don't really feel like we have any excuses anymore so i hope
Statement Watch
Yeah, I am here to support Councillor Orr's motion. This is an incredibly important issue for our city. Food insecurity in Vancouver is at a crisis level, driven by inflation and severe cost of living gap. Food bank use has gone up 79% since 2019, and we don't need charity. We need system changes. One in four people are food insecure, and children make up one-third of food bank visitors. We have hungry children in Vancouver that need urgent action. But we also have folks on fixed incomes, seniors, and students who are also struggling. Food banks were created to be an emergency response in the mid-80s. They were never intended to be a permanent solution. They were meant to be a last resort, not a needed weekly event. Depending on food banks is not equitable and it is not sustainable. Like some have mentioned, you know, the pending sale of the Sunrise did highlight this as a longstanding issue, particularly in the downtown area, in the downtown east side and for Chinatown. You know, we have lost So many cultural food assets at alarming rates, particularly in the Chinatown area. If you look at the Chinatown food security report, they've lost 55% of green grocers between 2009 and 2016. This loss of integrated food systems has... has changed the landscape of how people shop in that area we also have a large concentration of people who are seniors people that are disabled never mind the overwhelming impact that the downtown east side core is over 30 indigenous the equitable access to food retail report identified several food priority zones the downtown east side is one but vancouver's southeast and east neighborhoods are also incredibly at risk These areas don't have equitable access to healthy food or cultural food sources, which are also part of that equitable access. This also affects social determinants of health. And in that report on page 18, as some have mentioned, this report shows where low-income areas overlap with poor access to food retail. The Vancouver Food Strategy and the Food Charter both assert that residents have the right to equitable, dignified, and a rights-based food system as a basic human right. And the Downtown Eastside has been a long-time, culturally diverse neighborhood for generations. The Food Charter states that the city is committed to a just and sustainable food system. And according to the Food Charter, We need that because it contributes to the economic, ecological, and social well-being of our city and region. It encourages personal business and government food practices that foster local production and protect our natural and human resources. It recognizes access to safe, sufficient, culturally appropriate, and nutritious... That's your time, sorry. Please pass this motion and bring food justice to the City of Vancouver.