The Toronto Youth Food Policy Council (TYFPC) is the world’s first youth-run food policy council (that’s right!). We seek to mobilize and engage youth to make change by building a just food system. The TYFPC provides youth with a space to network, share opportunities, and learn from one another. We strive to become Toronto’s leading youth voice for municipal food policy change. The TYFPC also has two permanent youth seats on the Toronto Food Policy Council where we’re committed to overseeing the inclusion of the youth voice.
Mission Statement
Mobilize and engage youth to make change by building a just food system. We envision a Toronto where youth are informed, empowered, and mobilized.
Vision Statement
We, as youth, are dedicated to building a food system that is sustainable, equitable, regionally-focused and accessible. As a group that represents the diversity of Toronto, we will seek to build community partnerships, produce youth-centered policy documents, and encourage the development of sustainable food system infrastructure in Toronto.
We operate along two distinct trajectories:
1. To provide youth with an open space to network, learn from one another, and share food related opportunities.
2. To become an influencing voice in municipal food policy change.
The Three C’s of Membership
The TYFPC is YOUR organization! As such, we have developed the Three C’s of Council Membership that allow Toronto’s diverse youth community to become involved according to their availability, interests, and passions. You(th) can join the TYFPC as one of the following:
Council Member
Council members are the most active in the TYFPC and form its core leadership. Their role is to promote the TYFPC, attend council and community meetings, participate in at least one committee, communicate regularly with other council members, and make monthly contributions to the TYFPC blog. Council members serve a minimum one-year term.
Committee Member
Committee members are those interested in lending their time and skills to the TYFPC on a project by project basis. The role of the committee member involves participating in as many community meetings as desired and being active on a committee. This role requires some commitment, and is ideal for those who are fairly busy and can never be sure how much extra time they will have to offer.
Community Member
Community members attend and participate in community meetings as desired. This role is ideal for those who have less time to support the work of the TYFPC, who are new to the food scene, or who are not from the Toronto area and are therefore unable to attend meetings. Currently, our community includes 1,300 Twitter followers, 300 newsletter subscribers, 1,100 Facebook fans, and a regular turnout of between 60-100 people at our bi-monthly community meetings.
Want to learn more?
For those wanting a more in depth analysis on food policy councils and the birth of the TYFPC, take a look at Tracy Phillippi’s thesis entitled The Toronto Youth Food Policy Council: A Case Study on the Evolving Implementation of an Effective Youth Voice in Food Policy Development, which was submitted to the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University in September 2010. Tracy was the founder of the TYFPC and chair from 2009 to 2011.