City of Kingston Food Framework
The City of Kingston is working alongside community partners on the development of a food framework.
The goal of this framework is to understand the programs and actions that impact the local and regional food ecosystem, identify opportunities to empower and collaborate with partners, create a structure for monitoring food systems, provide recommendations to strengthen them and track progress toward resulting goals.
The framework is touching on many different areas of the food ecosystem ranging from supporting food insecurity measures, supporting tourism and economic development opportunities, and environmental impacts such as food waste reduction.
Background
An inter-departmental team worked on the development of the framework, aligning with Council’s strategic priorities and building off work done by the PhD-Community Initiative research in 2024. The framework includes five pillars (Food Access, Food Infrastructure & Distribution, Food System Governance, Food Education & Literacy and Food Production) each with an environmental scan of current activities, initial recommendations and key performance indicators.
As part of the community food inventory, staff have already developed two important resources for the community:
Staff developed on the Open Data platform a list of local low to no cost food resources, including but not limited to Community Food Programs, location of Community Gardens, Cultural Food Stores, Farm stands and low cost grocery stores (Community Food Resources | Open Data Kingston).
On the City website staff have updated the Food Supports website and included direct links to food charities that members of the community can be directed to should they be interested in providing donations (Food Supports | City of Kingston).
Recognizing the role of the municipality in the context of a food framework, the plan will emphasize the importance of strategic partnerships, with the goal of determining how municipal resources are allocated, if internal policies should be adapted, facilitating collaboration and advocating for needed change.
Community Engagement
Staff have conducted initial engagement with key groups such as the Rural Working Group, the Food Policy Council, EDI committee, MAAC committee, Economic Development partners and Public Health align goals, identify current actions and programs and to incorporate their feedback into the framework.
Additional Funding
As part of the 2025 operating budget, a one-time contribution of $200,000 for food programs was approved. This is in addition to the $100,000 in remaining 2025 ‘Fines For Food’ funding, bringing the total food program budget for 2025 to $300,000. Staff were directed to report back to Council in the Spring of 2025 with a proposed allocation approach for these funds.
Based on the findings and recommendations in the various areas of the framework and the engagement with partners, staff propose to launch a funding application process with four (4) funding streams: meal provision and food access, small capital and infrastructure enhancement, innovative projects and pilot initiatives, and food business start-up grants.
Next Steps
The Food Framework and proposed allocation approach for food program funding was endorsed by City Council on Tuesday, May 20 2025. The document can be viewed on the City of Kingston's website.
Staff will begin the implementation of the recommendations and collaborate with partners, organizations, agencies, associations and businesses within the community. The framework is a living document, and we'll continue to connect with external programs, strategies, and goals to expand upon the municipal role, the gaps that exist and measure progress over time. Staff will report back to Council annually on the food framework implementation status.
