Parkdale Food Network
November 2013 Meeting Minutes
Date/Time: Thursday, November 21, 2013 2:30PM-4:00PM
Location: Masaryk Cowan Community Center, 220 Cowan Avenue, Toronto M6K 2N6
Meeting Minutes:
2:30 Review of Member Terms of Reference
Presentation of the PFN ‘Member Terms of Reference’. Terms were approved by all network members in attendance.
The Parkdale Food Network ‘terms of reference’ are broken into two parts, a general description of the network and ‘what membership means’.
What membership means:
1. Opportunities
“As a member of the Parkdale Food Network you will have the opportunity to meet and engage with other community organizations and community members in your neighbourhood. The network provides a space for community organizations to collaborate on programs and share of ideas and resources about food programing.”
2. Meetings
“Meetings for the network take place 5-6 times a year. These meetings allow for an update on network goals as well as a chance for organizations to share information on the programing they provide.”
3. Transparency
“In order to ensure transparency within the network, members who wish to use the Parkdale Food Network as leverage for funding must first submit proposals to the steering committee.”
2:45 Discussion on the structure of the steering committee
Questions presented:
1. How many organizations should be on the PFN steering committee (what is representative)?
2. What should the term length be for steering committee members?
3. How often should the steering committee meet?
4. How would you like the committee to correspond with the Network?
Additional Comments:
Questions will be sent out to all Parkdale Food Network Members via Survey Monkey in December’s newsletter. Supplementary context and examples will be given to each of the questions.
Survey can be found here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WQFP7GH
3:10 Agency Presentations and Discussion
Danielle Goldfinger – Not Far From the Tree
Kira Kastner – Houselink
3:30 Conversation on the creation of a community food hub
Carolyn Bierma -Daily Bread Food Bank
The Daily Bread Food Bank is currently looking for a potential location to house a new food bank in Parkdale, as new food bank is much needed in the area. Carolyn presented the idea of opening one within the umbrella of a multi-service food hub rather than one which stand-alone.
-Would the Parkdale Food Network be interested in an initiative surrounding a community food hub?
General interest in the project was shown but the idea will be brought to the steering committee for further discussion on how it can best fit into the goals of the Parkdale Food Network.
4:00 Conclude