Notice of Job Posting for Provincial Participatory Food Costing Coordinator

Mount Saint Vincent University
requires a

Provincial Participatory Food Costing Coordinator
Participatory Action Research and Training Centre on Food Security

Supported by funds secured from the Nova Scotia Department of Health Promotion and Protection, Food Costing will be conducted as recommended in the report Working Together for Ongoing Food Costing & Policy Solutions to Build Food Security: A Proposed Model of Ongoing Food Costing in Nova Scotia and subsequent updates.
This is a grant-paid, contract 0.6 FTE position reporting to the Principal Investigator (PI) of the project, under the guidance of the Food Costing Working Group of Nova Scotia Food Security Network Coordinating Committee, and the Nova Scotia Department of Health Promotion and Protection. The position is located at the Participatory Action Research & Training Centre on Food Security, Mount Saint Vincent University.
Duties:  The successful candidate will be proficient at efficiently managing a number of priorities simultaneously, will be comfortable performing both administrative and coordination tasks, and will enjoy exercising initiative and taking ownership of tasks.  Responsibilities will include coordinating and managing provincial food costing research, according to the participatory model developed by the project partners including completion of a full report detailing project findings.  The responsibilities of the Coordinator include a mix of project management, administrative and research related tasks.
Qualifications: The ideal candidate will possess, or be pursuing, a Masters degree in a Health, Education or Social Science related discipline, have solid research experience and skills ideally with a focus on participatory, community-based research. The coordinator must possess a well-balanced combination of management, project coordination, partnership building, and facilitation skills, as well as a commitment to using participatory approaches when working with all project stakeholders.
The ability to plan, multi-task, problem solve, work to deadlines, and work with multiple teams and partners is required. Knowledge of nutrition, food security issues, population health, quantitative data analysis, community capacity building and community development is required.  Other requirements include:  proven record of effective written and oral communication in a complex partnership; an ability to train and mentor students; a demonstrated ability to prepare presentations and reports; demonstrated competence with software packages such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and SPSS; a willingness to travel within Nova Scotia and possibly elsewhere; experience working or volunteering with community groups or NGOs;  knowledge of quantitative and participatory research methodologies; a commitment to collaborative teamwork; and a valid Driver's license and access to a reliable vehicle.
Classification:  Part-time, contract position, 42 hours bi-weekly
Salary:             $23 - $28/hr, depending on qualifications & experience
Start date:      This contract runs from January 2010 to November 2010 (with possibility of an extension).
To apply for this position please use the following link: http://www.careerbeacon.com/search/en/-1/-1/14/-1/0/0/0/0/0/0/3/MB0912228906.  This competition closes at 4:30pm on December 30^th, 2009.
Mount Saint Vincent University is committed to the principles of employment equity and encourages applications from all qualified candidates including women, aboriginal persons, visible minorities, and persons with disabilities.  All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, priority will be given to Canadians and permanent residents.  We thank you for your interest in employment at the Mount and advise that only those candidates invited to an interview will be contacted.

Passing of Jeremy Frith

It is with deep sadness that we post this notice of the passing of Jeremy Frith of St. Ann's Bay, Nova Scotia

Jeremy died Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009, unexpectedly, at home. Born June 3, 1945, in Bermuda, Jeremy lived around the world before settling to create his dream, Mountain Meadow Farm in North River, St. Ann's Bay. He was a visionary and a maverick in all aspects of life with a remarkable sense of humour. Jeremy was a fixer and a thinker, a dreamer and a doer, a poet, musician and storyteller. He was a passionate farmer and a steward of the land since the age of two. Jeremy was a very generous community man, an elder at the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church and a man who felt strongly
about the co-operative movement. He was a loving and supportive husband and father.

He is survived by his wife, Sue; his two sons, Josiah and Alec; a stepdaughter, Laura Russell; and siblings, John, Michael and Wendy and their families. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the forestry program of the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax.

A service will be held at the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church at North River, St. Ann's Bay, Saturday, Dec. 12 at 11 a.m.

News: Canadian Regulations for Organic Logo-Products certified before June 30, 2009

We just received this information and we’re passing it on…

A message from the COO - Un message du BBC

From: Stephane O'Neil

Program Officer, Canada Organic Office, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Agent de programme, Bureau Bio-Canada, Agence canadienne d'inspection des aliments
1400 Merivale  | 1400, rue Merivale Ottawa ON K1A 0Y9
Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada
www.inspection.gc.ca

The information below is from the CFIA regarding regulations that come into force on the use of the Organic logo on products certified before the Organic Products Regulations, 2009 .

Question:  Can an organic product, with an organic content of 95% or greater, certified by an accredited CB to a standard other than the Canadian Organic Standards (including standards of a foreign country or the Quebec organic standard) bear the logo after June 30, 2009?

Answer:  

Before answering, please note that one of the principles behind implementing the Canada Organic Regime is to incorporate existing organic structures, where possible, under identified criteria. This was done to establish a smooth transition from a voluntary organic certification system to an organic regulatory regime.

With that in mind, the answer is yes. 

Agricultural products certified:

• as organic by a Certification Body whose accreditation is recognized under the regulations (i.e., recommended by a designated conformity verification body or a by a competent authority with whom the Government of Canada has an agreement with); and
• before the Organic Products Regulations come into force on June 30, 2009…

will meet the requirements of the regulations and may bear the logo after the regulations come into force on June 30, 2009.

This is based on the principle that the product may already comply with the requirements of the Canadian Organic Standards, or that if they don’t, the operator is working with their Certification Body to comply with the standards for the next certification. It should be noted, so that their products may continue to the bear the logo, the operator should be working with their certification body to comply with the Canadian Organic Standards. The Canada Organic Regime’s Stream of Commerce and Enforcement Policy will be revised to reflect this.

Keep Biosolids off Farmland

As indicated in the sidebar, preventing the use of bio-solids, which is essentially human sewage sludge derived from residential, commercial and industrial waste water on farmland is a key issue of concern for OCNS. The OCNS is strongly opposed to this practice that is already taking place here in Nova Scotia, much to the surprise and disappointment of many people who live here.

We support the position of the Nova Scotia Environmental Network (NSEN) and encourage you, if you haven’t already, to read their position statement. The NSEN is doing an excellent job of tracking and reporting on this issue. We encourage you to support their efforts, including acquiring signatures for the petition against this practice and sending letters and email to your provincial and municipal representatives, and the premier.

Here’s what we’ve recently heard from Marilyn Cameron, Chair of Biosolids & Waste Water Caucus, Nova Scotia Environmental Network:

This is an update concerning the Petition asking the Province Government to Ban Biosolids which you were forwarded about three weeks ago.  Hopefully, many of you are working on getting a page of two of signatures as support for this initiative. 

The Province of Nova Scotia did respond to Kings County Council with regards to their Biosolids Ban.  They did not seem to say much in the letter except that "the Department of Environment has no mandate to restrict the use of approved products or prevent land application activities in specific counties."  They seem to be suggesting that farmers could ignore the ban and "challenge" the authority of the County should they want to continue using biosolids.  A week or more ago, I have written a letter to Council asking for clarification of what the status is of the Biosolids Ban and have yet, not heard back.  It is unknown whether Kings County Council will want to fight to maintain this ban.  We may need all the petition signatures we can get!   And soon!  

Of interest, in Elgin, Quebec they also imposed a ban on biosolids in their county.  However, a farmer did challenge the ban on land application of biosolids in the Municipality of Elgin.  The County decided to go to court and oppose the farmer and they WON.  The Superior Court based its decision on the "precautionary principle" which states that municipalities are obligated to be proactive in protecting human health and the environment from perceived harms - even if complete scientific evidence is lacking to prove such a harm exists.  

Some good news has happened recently.  The Kings County Federation of Agriculture has passed a resolution supporting Kings County's ban on biosolids.  The Farmers Market Association is currently having discussions about the possibility of establishing a "Biosolids Free" policy for vendors.  Wolfville's Farmers Market has already signed on and, hopefully, many others will do the same.

In the meantime, we will continue to give presentations to other farming communities, including HRM, in the Province and to work on informing the public and food service groups about biosolids and its impact on our health and environment.  Please consider writing a letter or two yourself to a food company in Nova Scotia.  I would be happy to provide you with a list of the major players and their addresses.

Please feel free to return to me any completed signature sheets from the Petition that you have.  I currently have about 65 - 70 completed sheets.  If you have distributed some sheets to some of your favorite shops or markets, please check them once a week and remove any completed sheets in case they get lost or taken from the shop.  Please return the originals and please do not allow signatures on the backs of sheets or on plain paper (without the wording of the petition on it).  You may keep collecting signatures until Christmas, if you are getting a good response.  If it has slipped your mind to collect signatures, it is still not too late to try!  

This is an important issue for all of us. Please make sure your government representatives hear your opinion on this issue!

NSFA Policy Paper and Process

Information about the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture (NSFA) including the policy process and draft policy is available at their website.

Link to the NSFA Policy process and paper.

 

 

Get involved...

To become a member of the OCNS please visit our website:

http://ocns.ca/membership.htm