Fighting Hunger Needs an Advocate: You
The winds of change don’t flow from up high. They rise up from the ground.
Part of the Harvest mission is to be an advocate against hunger. We do canvas and have some relationship with the government – but hungry people don’t vote a lot. That mountain hasn’t moved much.
(In 2012, Olivier De Schutter, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, came to Winnipeg and held a forum in the Harvest building on that very topic. Canada failed to embrace the ‘food as a human right’ initiative then and has not signed on since).
But we haven’t given up. In fact, we’re ramping up.
How To Be Heard
Here are a few ways to use your voice:
- Get social! Share posts on social media about food insecurity in Manitoba.
- Band together with like-minded friends and family members and launch a campaign in your community to educate and raise awareness.
- Be radical! Discover the empowerment and strength of starting a movement by using your voice at home, school, work, and among your peers.
- Speak out against hunger by becoming educated on the topic and sharing everything you’ve learned.
- Start a petition and demand change for an issue close to your heart.
- Ask your City Councilor, MLA and MP to act on issues of food shortages and hunger in the Manitoba Legislature and invite them to join you as a Harvest Star.
If you’re on this page, you understand – change won’t happen until you advocate for it.
Be The Voice
You Can Step Up for Change
Our most effective method is to encourage people concerned about food security for our community to participate in the process, and, where practical and possible, to aid them in their efforts. Every voice matters. Any voice can make a difference.
First Steps
Advocacy can take many forms. Have you considered writing a text, email or letter to your MLA and the Premier of Manitoba? Ask them to support anti-poverty and food security initiatives could help people break the poverty cycle and pay community dividends for years to come.
Harvest Advocacy Goals
Harvest believes we all have a role to play in helping Manitobans build a sustainable and healthy province. Together with you, we want to break the cycle of poverty in Manitoba and advocate for a future that benefits everyone.
- Fund and grow school food programs across Manitoba and Canada that provide access to nutritious, affordable food to all children in educational settings.
- Increase opportunities that support local and market-based food systems in Northern Manitoba.
- Make job creation and training programs like the ones operated by Harvest a priority so we can provides skills and reduce barriers for people seeking employment and accessing education.
- Increase accessible and affordable child care spaces, allowing for people with children to have equal opportunity to obtain education and employment.