Tag: policy

Moving Towards a Vegan Option in Canada

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By Carolyn Harris

Hello everyone!

I wanted to give you all a quick update. You may remember two of my previous blog posts, letting you know about a petition calling on the Canadian government “to require public canteens under federal jurisdiction to provide a vegan option, and to raise this issue and work with provincial and territorial counterparts to require the same at all levels of government.” In practice, this means that a vegan option would be required to be served in all public schools, hospitals, prisons, and other public institutions. This is an important step that our country can take towards animal rights and vegan rights. A similar law is already in place in Portugal.

I didn’t start the petition, but I signed it and mentioned it on my blogs because this issue matters a lot to me.

In total, the petition received 3106 signatures from the public, and it was presented to the House of Commons on February 7, 2018. The government’s response was disappointing—basically, they implied that they don’t plan on taking action on this issue.

Fortunately, however, the dedicated vegan advocates who are working on this issue are not giving up! A new organization, Vegan Option Canada, has been founded to advocate for this new law. Vegan Option Canada is currently running two versions of their petition: an official paper petition and an unofficial, supplementary online petition. You can sign both, as the signatures for each petition are counted separately. You can access the online petition directly by clicking here. Check out Vegan Option Canada’s website to learn more about this issue and to find a paper petition near you. Alternatively, you can order sheets of the paper petition so that you can collect signatures yourself!

I feel quite confident that this initiative can succeed. Let’s work together and make it happen!

Petition to the Government of Canada Regarding Food Policy

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Recently I found out about a new petition that was posted on the Parliament of Canada’s E-petitions website. The petition, which is being sponsored by Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, is calling for all public canteens under federal jurisdiction to serve a vegan option (and for the federal government to work with the provinces and territories to implement this law at their levels, as well).

The main part of the petition reads, “We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to require public canteens under federal jurisdiction to provide a vegan option, and to raise this issue and work with provincial and territorial counterparts to require the same at all levels of government.”

Judging by the way that the petition is worded, it sounds like, if the petition becomes law, this could lead to hospitals, schools, universities, colleges, prisons, and other public institutions to be required to serve a vegan option. This would be a win for people who live a vegan lifestyle, for, as a matter of human rights, it is essential that vegans have access to vegan food.

Furthermore, this would help encourage more people to eat a vegan diet, and it could help to indirectly raise awareness about veganism and to help people realize what vegan food actually is.

In March 2017, Portugal passed a law requiring all public canteens (at hospitals, schools, prisons, etc.) to serve a vegan option. Canada needs a law like this, too!

Canadian citizens are able to sign the petition and read more about it here. The petition is open until November 29, 2017, at 2:32 p.m. EDT.

Front-of-Package Nutrition Labelling: Stakeholder Meeting

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The Canadian government is developing new regulations that would require front-of-package labelling for foods high in sugar, saturated fat, and sodium.

This image, from the consultation document (by the Food Directorate) found on the Government of Canada’s website, is titled “Figure 1: Examples of FOP “high in” symbol under consideration by Health Canada“.

Canada Front-of-Package Labelling

 

Front-of-package labelling is an issue that may be of interest to many health-concerned people. It is specifically relevant to vegans because most of the foods that are high in saturated fats are animal-derived; however, foods that are high in sugars may or may not be vegan, so more research would need to be done to determine if these new labelling requirements would actually benefit animals.

The consultation is now closed, but if this is a topic that interests you, you might want to check out the live-streaming of an upcoming meeting with stakeholders on the subject. You can get your free tickets on Eventbrite.

Have a nice day!