Photo: Castanet

The Kamloops Food Policy Council has received more than $75,000 in federal funding to support its growing team.

“Access to local food is integral for the city, as Kamloops often acts as host community when there are climate emergencies and evacuations,” Kent Fawcett, KFPC’s food hub manager, said in a statement.

“A strong local food supply chain helps ensure there is adequate access to food to sustain our community, as well as an increased population when acting as a host community.”

The agency is receiving $76,742.40 from the federal government’s Community Services Recovery Fund.

Co-ordinator Jess Payette said the money will be used to build the KFPC’s internal capacity.

“Our team has doubled in size since the pandemic to better serve the emergency needs of our community and requires financial support to continue the operations of our programs on this scale,” she told Castanet Kamloops.

“These funds will be used to support our team and their work until June 2024.”

According to the agency, the KPFC has responded in recent years to climate disasters including wildfires, floods and atmospheric rivers, through policy advocacy and community projects “that directly address the impacts these events have on the local food supply chain.”

Recently, the KPFC created a community meal calendar and resource list that was distributed to wildfire evacuees in Kamloops over the summer.