Category: **ESPC Documents: Publications

Literacy has been broadly defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as “understanding, evaluating, using and engaging with written texts to participate in society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential”. In addition, literacy also involves numeracy, defined by the OECD as “the ability to engage with mathematical information in order to manage the mathematical demands of a range of situations in everyday life.” Low levels of literacy reduce a person’s ability to carry out basic daily activities. For example, this may mean the inability to work, use public transportation or understand important documents necessary to receive medical or social services. Providing all Canadians with meaningful opportunities to develop and sustain quality literary skills will result in stronger communities bolstered by active participation in economic, employment, health, and social systems.

ESPC Documents/Fact Sheets/FACT_Sheet_Literacy_2015.pdf

The first farmers’ market in Alberta was established in Edmonton in 1903. A number of markets in other locations began to emerge throughout during the next four decades. Following WWII, when many people moved away from rural areas towards urban centres, food increasingly was purchased from supermarkets and less directly from farmers and producers. Farmers’ markets began to re-appear in the 1970s but there was a lack of consistency with how each was set up and operated. In Alberta, there are now two different types of markets—Alberta approved farmers’ markets and public markets. Both types of markets involve a gathering of vendors who sell their products directly to consumers. The difference lies in the ownership/management of the market and the privileges accorded to each type of market.

ESPC Documents/Fact Sheets/fACT_Sheet_Farmers_Markets_2014.pdf