A Food Charter is a broad community statement or set of goals that outline a community’s vision for their local food system. 

Food Charters reflect the voices of various stakeholders, and therefore encourage community connections and cross-sectorial collaboration. 

The vision for food charters is typically grounded in the pursuit of a healthy, sustainable, and just food system – this vision should guide community action and municipal policy development

A Food Charter was created in 2011 through the Child and Youth Network (Link to 2011 Food Charter).  It envisioned a food secure London, based on a just and sustainable food system, increased food literacy, and sufficient personal income and resources to afford nutritious food

Food Charters are developed through collaboration and consultation with community members and groups, municipal staff, health professionals, food processors and producers, institutional food providers, social justice organizations, academics, and minority group community representatives 

While Food Charters are often signed by municipalities, signatories also include businesses, non-profit organizations, public institutions, and individuals.

Canada signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in 1976 – recognizes the “fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger”

Public health units across Southwestern Ontario are very concerned about the growing number of households struggling to afford basic needs such as food. As of 2024, one in four households in Southwestern Ontario, and one in three in London-Middlesex experienced household food insecurity (citation 1, citation 2). 

While household food insecurity is a major concern, food insecurity impacts everyone. Access to food is connected to our health and well-being, our local economy, our environment, and the strength of our communities. A food system that works for everyone benefits us all.

A Food Charter provides a shared vision and set of values to help guide decisions, policies, and partnerships that shape our local food system. It brings people together around a common goal: building a community where everyone can access the food they need, while supporting a healthy, equitable, sustainable, and resilient food system for generations to come.

After the consultations, we will review the feedback and look for common themes, priorities and different perspectives. This will help inform a draft Food Charter, which will be shared for further feedback before it is finalized. We want the Food Charter to reflect the realities of our communities, recognize the work that is already happening, and help guide future efforts to strengthen our local food system.

A food charter, on its own, does not commit governments or organizations to new spending or specific programs. A Food Charter sets out a shared vision and principles to help guide decisions and encourage collaboration. Any decisions about new programs, policies or funding would be made separately by the organizations or governments involved, through their own planning and budget processes.

Community feedback will help shape the priorities and principles in the Food Charter. We will also prepare a report about the consultation process, including what we heard and how that input helped inform the Charter. We know that not everyone will have the same priorities or perspectives. The report will help show what we heard from the community and how that feedback was considered as the Charter was developed. 

The Charter will provide a shared starting point for future conversations, collaboration and action. The vision of the food charter can be used to inform future municipal policy development. It can help organizations, governments and community members identify opportunities to work together on local food system issues. What happens next will depend on the priorities identified and the commitments that organizations and governments choose to make. Decisions about specific actions, funding and measuring progress will happen through those separate processes.

Multiple regions in Ontario and beyond have food charters.  A full list can be found at Sustain Ontario. Food policy councils are often involved in the community consultation and development of food charters.