Next time you go in for a scoop of ice cream, you’ll be treated to a sprinkling of civic democracy on top.
Earnest Ice Cream, along with 20 other Metro Vancouver food stops, is promoting the upcoming civic election through the Feed Democracy campaign, a movement that hopes to increase voter turnout in Vancouver’s November 15 election.
The Fraser Street shop, along with Chambar, Choices Market, Fable and many others throughout the region, is displaying table toppers and stickers to remind people to vote.
Feed Democracy, a project from the Broadbent Institute, invites businesses to get involved with civic engagement through the relationships they have with their customers and community. By targeting people where they naturally congregate, the campaign hopes to start conversations and raise the voter turnout to 50 per cent.
Erica Bernardi of Earnest Ice Cream jumped at the chance to be included in the project: “Knowing that people already come together in our space to share ideas and ice cream, we thought it would be the ideal location to start the conversation about politics.”
She also highlighted that because of the diversity of their customers, they had “an opportunity to reach Vancouverites who may not have access to typical political coverage through standard media outlets.”
Reaching more people might be part of the solution to low voter turn outs. The 2011 election saw only a 34.57 per cent turnout, though that was still an increase from 2008’s 30.79 per cent. This is in comparison to Toronto’s 2014 civic election where 60 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot, though notorious former mayor Rob Ford’s media antics likely had an impact on that number.
The Feed Democracy campaign runs November 4 – 15 around Metro Vancouver. Visit their website for a full list of participating businesses – and don’t forget to vote!
Featured Image: Lucy Page
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