Call to Action: Advance the Right to Food and Public Food Infrastructure
Cities cannot rely fully on private interests to adequately fulfill a public need.
Sent on March 9, 2026 by Sacia Burton and Chantelle Spicer, BC Poverty Reduction Coalition
RE: support for Councillor Orr’s motion “Advancing the Right to Food and Public Food Infrastructure” for Council’s consideration on March 11, 2026.
We support this motion as it offers a natural progression of policy following the City’s 2025 report: Equitable Access to Healthy Food Retail. While the report recommended several market-based initiatives to incentivize private and community-led ideas, direct public involvement in food access was notably absent in the matrix of improved food access solutions. As we see with a market-based approach to housing, cities cannot rely fully on private interests to adequately fulfill a public need. South and East Vancouver neighbourhoods are demonstrably underserved by crucial amenities, and public intervention is an appropriate measure to include in the web of solutions.
Culturally significant and affordable food retail is particularly precarious across the city. Without safeguards for local grocers or plans for public intervention, affordable options – such as Sunrise Market in the Downtown Eastside – risk redevelopment, leaving whole neighbourhoods without a reliable grocery option. In the face of shrinking accessible and affordable grocery options, residents of Vancouver with the fewest financial resources and least access to personal transportation are set up to spend a disproportionate amount of time travelling to and from food hubs and grocery stores that meet their needs.
In our recent community-based work at the intersection of food access and transportation, we heard from people across the city whose food needs are not being met by a market-based approach to food access. Many shared dreams of reliably accessible public gardens, markets, and hubs in their neighbourhoods. We urge Council to move forward with the recommendations outlined in this motion as a step towards realizing a systemic, rights-based approach to food access in Vancouver.
