Sessions by Stream - Resetting the Table 2016

Resetting the Table will feature 50+ sessions to build skills, learn from experts, exchange views and develop our strategy to improve our food system. We shall explore best practices, policy innovations, public health dilemmas, systemic barriers to equality and rights, diversity and resilience, struggles on specific issues, collaboration for change, working across difference and the role of youth in food-systems change. Many sessions will promote exchange between local and regional experiences in a national context, and, in particular, have a lens on the national food policy agenda - how we can address the hard questions and develop new perspectives.

Jump to Stream sessions:

Good Healthy Food Education for Learners of All Ages

Brooke Ziebell, FoodShare Toronto; Chad Duplessis, Eel Ground First Nation; Martine Carrière, Les ateliers cinq épices

Join FoodShare’s award-winning Field to Table Schools team, Eel Ground First Nation’s Healthy Body, Minds, Spirits program, and Les ateliers cinq épices program, for a super-fun, hands-on session highlighting some of the easiest ways you can build an appetite for healthy food and engage kids in important food issues. Participants will walk away with a head full of replicable ideas, a portfolio brimming with adaptable lesson plans and a stomach full of healthy snacks. Experience how good food education can be integrated into the curriculum, ticking boxes for teachers, parents and students alike.

Demonstrating Impact: Tools and Examples to Demysify the Evaluation of School Food Programs

Moderator: Phil Groff, Sustain Ontario; Panellists: Kristie Jameson, Farm to Cafeteria Canada; Micheline Turnau, Nourishing School Communities; Rachel Schofield Martin, Réseau des Cafétérias Communautaires

How do you collect evidence to prove your school food program is having an impact? Hear tangible examples of how evaluation has been used to build capacity, make evidence-informed decisions and demonstrate the impact of school food programs. Learn more about evaluation practices, tools for evaluating programs, environments and systems, as well as lessons learned from diverse initiatives across Canada.

Can Policy Increase Healthy and Local Food for Students?

Moderator: Mary McKenna, University of New Brunswick; Panelists: Adrienne Levay, University of British Columbia; Margo Riebe-Butt, Nourish Nova Scotia; Alejandra Dubois, Ottawa Food Policy Council

Influencing policy and implementing change is challenging, but lessons can be learned from the Canadian school food policy landscape. This session will include presentations and an interactive discussion on the following topics: how Nourish Nova Scotia strategically aligned to support provincial government policies, strategies and legislative acts in Nova Scotia; findings from an evaluation of the implementation of British Columbia’s school food and beverage sales guidelines; and findings from Ottawa Food Policy Council research on school food policies in Ontario. The sessions will be moderated by policy expert Mary McKenna, who will provide highlights from her research and experiences with school and nutrition policies in Canada and abroad.

Creating a Groundswell of Support for Healthy Kids

Stephanie Segave, VON Canada; Susan Roberts, Alberta Food Matters; Martha Friendly, Childcare Resource and Research Unit

Across the country, people are advocating for increased investment in healthy food for children. Members of the Coalition for Healthy School Food are building public support to gain federal investment in a healthy school food program through public engagement campaigns such as the Great Big Crunch and the “Say Yes! to Good Food in Schools” messaging. Alberta Food Matters and its partners are advocating for the Alberta government to develop a Universal School Food Strategy. Childcare advocates are looking to ensure quality food becomes part of a quality childcare system. Join an interactive discussion on how we can collectively build public support to get more healthy food in schools and childcare facilities.

Let’s Talk School Food: Open Space Dialogue

Presenters: Alejandra Dubois; Ottawa Food Policy Council; Colleen Hill, Heart and Stroke Foundation. Moderator: Carolyn Webb, Sustain Ontario.

Through facilitated group discussions, this open space session will allow participants to come together to continue key conversations that emerged during the school food stream’s four panel presentations, and to begin critical discussions. Focused questions will be used during the session to delve into these themes such as, “Which commonalities and differences exist across provinces?”; “What are some challenges that people are running into?”; and “How can we learn from each other and work together to advance the issue of school food?”

Affirming Indigenous Food, Land and Culture - Holistic Health and Community Development

Kelly Gordon, Six Nations Health Services; Daniel Kanu, Food Matters Manitoba; Kaylia Marquis, Ieiénthos Akotióhkwa Planting Group – Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project; Nour Attalah, University of Ottawa

This session will highlight projects and programs that are engaging communities in Indigenous food related activities that build on and promote traditional knowledge, wisdom, values, strategies and relationships to the land, plants, and animals. As the most some of the most sustainable adaptation strategies of humanity, the presenters will discuss how Indigenous food, land and cultural heritage can address epidemic proportions of diabetes and other food and lifestyle related illnesses.

Building an Indigenous Food Sovereignty Movement - Past, Present and Future Generations

Tabitha Martens, University of Manitoba; Byron Beardy, Four Arrows Health Authority; Melanie Kurrein, BC Provincial Health Services Authority; Karen Isaac, BC Aboriginal Childcare Society

This session will highlight some strategic research, economic activities, and policy proposals that are increasing the capacity of present and future generations in Indigenous communities to respond to their own needs for healthy, culturally appropriate Indigenous foods. The session explores how the food related research, action and policy proposals are being developed as a means to empower communities to adapt to the present day economic reality, while at the same time as addressing epidemic proportions of food and lifestyle related illnesses.

Intergenerational and Intercultural Exchange of Knowledge to Transform the Food System: Co-Creating Visual Tools Through the Legacies Project

Dianne and Dan Kretschmar, Ryan DeCaire, Fernando Garcia, Grenville Farms; Dawn Morrison, Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty of the British Columbia Food Systems Network;Fulvio Gioanetto, Mexican Agroecology Networks; Deborah Barndt, Lauren Baker, Alexandra Gelis, Legacy Project

The Legacies Project supports the food sovereignty movement by creating intergenerational and intercultural dialogues, in particular between Indigenous and settler communities aiming to decolonize and restore food systems and movements. Join presenters from Ontario, BC and Mexico working on documenting intergenerational projects and relationships, conserving bio-cultural heritage through Indigenous food practices, and reclaiming and reinventing traditional food practices. This workshop will share videos from participating projects and the exchanges among them, to foster broader discussion among workshop participants.

Advancing Food Security in Canada's North

Lauren Goodman, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami; Gioia Montevecchi, Food First NL; Abel, Juliana Flowers, Regina Dicker, Martha Winters; Norma Kassi, Mary Jane Johnson, Jody Butler Walker, Arctic Institute for Community-based Research

In the north, families face significant challenges accessing healthy and culturally-appropriate food. The issue of northern food insecurity is complicated, with multifaceted dimensions related to climate change, declining traditional food species, high cost of living, geographic isolation, and reliance on market foods. Just as the issue is multidimensional, so too are the strategies to address it. This session will highlight innovative, community-based solutions to advancing food security across Canada's North, while showcasing stories of resilience and strength.

Strategies for Protection, Conservation and Restoration of Indigenous Land, Food and Bio-cultural Heritage

Julian Napoleon, Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty; Martha Stiegman, York University; Sherry Pictou, Bear River First Nation; Tirso Gonzales, Social Policy, Consultant; Larry McDermott, Plenty Canada

This session will feature three presentations on what Indigenous food sovereignty looks like in western Canada. A number of projects and processes will be highlighted with regards to land-based food systems, Indigenous research approaches, and mobilization of knowledge-keepers and Elders to establish more opportunities for sharing ideas and knowledge around Indigenous food sovereignty.

Decolonizing Food Movements: Building Relationships of Solidarity Through Food Sovereignty in Canada 

Dawn Morrison, Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty; Charles Levkoe, Community First: Impacts of Community Engagement; Abra Brynne, British Columbia Food Systems Network; Lauren Kepkiewicz, Community First: Impacts of Community Engagement

What does it mean to decolonize food movements in Canada? Join us as we explore aspects of Indigenous and settler relations in our collective efforts to build just and sustainable land and food systems. Drawing on a collaboration between the Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty (WGIFS), the British Columbia Food Systems Network (BCFSN) and the Community First: Impacts of Community Engagement’s Food Sovereignty Hub (CFICE), this session will highlight experiences of decolonizing research and relationships. Participants will be invited to join our discussion about the tensions, challenges, possibilities and strategies for solidarity-based work. Through conversation, we aim to better understand what decolonization looks like, to learn from those currently doing this and to (re)imagine food movements and food systems transformation.

Paying for Nutrition, Poverty, and Indigenous Food Sovereignty in a 4th World Reality

Gigi Veeraraghavan, Fort Albany First Nation; Kristin Burnett, Lakehead University; Joseph LeBlanc, Anishnaabe; Wilson Mendes, Oka Community Planning and Visual Communication/UBC Faculty of Land and Food Systems

Many people in northern and Indigenous communities live in 3rd world conditions within a 1st world country of Canada. An overview of the FSC report Paying for Nutrition: Food Costing in the North will be followed by a presentation on the lack of access to healthy food in the poverty stricken neighbourhoods where Indigenous peoples are over-represented. The session will also explore strategies to address the underlying disparities in northern and urban Indigenous communities along the James Bay Coast and Vancouver’s downtown eastside.

Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the Americas 

Sherry Pictou, Bear River First Nation; Filiberto Penados, Mayan scholar; Michael Sacco, founder of ChocoSol Traders; and students from the New College Belize Program. Moderator: Lori Stahlbrand, University of Toronto

Indigenous peoples across the Americas are struggling with many of the same issues around food sovereignty, heritage foods and spiritual food traditions. They also share many farming, fishing and foraging practices. This panel presents perspectives from Mexico, Central America, and the East Coast of Canada.

Streams to Rivers: Indigenous Inland Fisheries Struggles and the Canadian Food Sovereignty Movement

Presenters: Arthur Bull, The Bay of Fundy Marine Resource Centre; Sherry Pictou, World Forum on Fisher Peoples

How can we connect Indigenous inland fisheries' struggles with the Canadian food sovereignty movement? This session will be a sharing circle aimed at exploring how we can draw upon our past experience to create a space for sharing stories and strategies, and building solidarity between Indigenous inland fishing communities while building alliances with the wider food sovereignty movement. This session will also look at how connecting with international movements, such as the small scale fisheries movement, can help to make this a reality. 

Young Voices Speaking Up for Food Justice Challenge Old Ideas

Melana Roberts, Toronto Youth Food Policy Council (TYFPC); Juneeja Varhese, Rachel Levesque, Food Secure Canada (FSC) Youth Caucus; Sarah Archibald, FSC Youth Caucus/Meal Exchange; Alia Karim, TYFPC; Katie German, Orlando Lopez Gomez & Cali Wilson, FoodShare School Grown

Working from the perspective of youth who are often excluded from important policy discussions, this session will host a panel of youth (high school, post-secondary and young professionals) to discuss how they amplify youth voices through education on food policy and food-related issues, networking, engagement, and partnerships for collective impact. What are the innovative and diverse ways young people can engage in food issues and politics? This presentation will include concrete examples from FoodShare’s School Grown youth farming program, Meal Exchange’s campus driven food work, and TYFPC’s city-wide youth organizing. The presentations will be followed with an interactive Q&A and networking meet-and-greet for all attendees.

Good Jobs and Justice in the Food Chain

Adriana Beemans, Metcalf Foundation; Syed Hussan, Migrant Workers Alliance; Derek Johnstone, United Food and Commercial Workers; Donald Lafleur, Canadian Labour Congress

This session will examine the issues of workers rights and workers' realities right across the food chain.  From the migrant workers in the fields and meat packing plants, to distribution and service industry workers, speakers will explore how good food can strengthen local economies and provide access to quality jobs.  There will also be some discussion of the challenges posed by international trade agreements and immigration rules and the need for policy supports including incentives in Canada's new national food policy.

Food Sovereignty & Food Justice for Whom?    

Jacqueline Dwyer and Noel Livingston, Toronto Black Farmers & Growers Collective; Workshop Facilitators: Jenelle Regnier-Davies, Building Roots in Toronto & TFPC; Sabina  Ali, Thorncliffe Park Women's Committee

This session will be a discussion about our lived experience as grassroots food justice and food security advocates. We recognize the presence of racialized systemic barriers to resources and funding for community food programming, and the impacts of the lack of adequate representation and cultural diversity within the ‘food movement’. Where do we go from here? Following the presentation, the session will open as a workshop to discuss food injustice in racialized and marginalized communities, and through this, collaborate and discuss tangible methods for mobilizing change.

Migrant Dreams: Food Justice and Citizenship in Canada

Min Sook Lee, Director of Migrant Dreams; Bill Fairbairn, Inter Pares; Chris Ramsaroop, Justice for Migrant Workers (J4MW)

The presence of foreign workers in Canada has grown due to the expansion of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Without public discourse and with little public scrutiny, Canada is becoming a nation of guest-workers. In 2002, there were approximately 100,000 foreign workers here. Within one decade, that number tripled to 300,000. They work in industries as varied as farming, mining, food processing, construction and restaurant services.This workforce doesn’t enjoy the same rights and privileges as Canadian workers and has few pathways to citizenship. The session will feature excerpts from “Migrant Dreams”, a powerful new documentary by award-winning director Min Sook Lee focusing on the undertold story of migrant agricultural workers in Canada, and will be followed by a discussion with Min Sook Lee and workers featured in the film.

Moving Grassroots Organizations Toward Health, Community and Good Food

Emily Van Halem, Community Food Centres Canada; Emily Van Halem, Community Food Centres Canada; Bill Crawford, Eden Food for Change; Daniel Rotman, NDG Food Depot

As the awareness grows about how food programs can act as a catalyst for community and individual change, many organizations are looking to deepen and broaden their work — be it offering healthier food, creating more leadership opportunities for community members, developing programs that inspire and inform people to make the best of the food choices within their reach or finding ways for community members to take action on systemic issues. Using a set of "Good Food Principles", CFCC offers a framework for organizations to self-assess and set goals to move toward food programs that support health, equity, and dignity. This workshop will look at these principles, while also featuring two organizations that have been working to gradually shift the values and practices of their organizations — intentionally, incrementally and with relatively modest resources.

Pecha Kucha - Food Justice 

Presenters: Utcha Sawyers (Chair), FoodShare Toronto; Julia Fursova, The Four Villages Community Health Centre; Andrea Moraes, Ryerson University; Anna Levin, Food Matters Manitoba; Susan Belyea, Kingston Food Providers Working Group; Sarah Rotz, University of Guelph.

Join us for a Pecha Kucha style session that will cover a variety of initiaves and research actively advancing food justice in Canada. Each pecha kucha-like talk will consist of a short overview of less than seven minutes on their initiative that provide solutions to the injustice present in our food system. Topics include the infusion of aboriginal content in curriculum, youth and food, immigrant and racialized communities in the food movement, indigenous food sovereignty and more.    

Advanced Workshop on the Nitty Gritty of Joined Up Food Policy

Dr. Rod MacRae, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University; Hugo Martorell School of Graduate Studies, Concordia University/FSC

The food policy landscape in Canada is uneven, and shifting. Provinces have vital responsibilities, while federal departments have been tasked with new mandates since a new government stepped in. This advanced workshop will provide an overview of provincial food policies, identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current policy arrangements, and discuss upcoming challenges and opportunities for a joined-up, national food policy to advance the goals of health and sustainability. Links to background readings on website program.

Getting the National Food Policy We Want

Olivier de Schutter, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food (video message); Cecilia Rocha, Ryerson University; Tim Lang, (by Skype); Graham Riches, University of British Columbia; Wayne Roberts, food policy analyst. Chair: Charles Levkoe, Lakehead University

The federal government’s announcement of a national food policy has raised significant questions about the role of civil society in these processes. How will this policy protect the right to food? How can we ensure that civil society voices have a say in its development and a voice once it is adopted? How can we link up our concerns around equity, health and sustainability? What can we learn from the experiences of other countries? This panel will attempt to answer these questions and begin to think through how we can get the national food policy we want.

National Perspectives on a National Food Policy

Peter Andrée, Associate Professor of Political Science, Carleton University (chair); Ron Bonnett, President, Canadian Federation of Agriculture; Diana Bronson, Executive Director, Food Secure Canada; Jean-Charles LeVallée, Associate Director, Centre for Food in Canada, David McInnes, President, Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute; Natan Obed, President, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami TBC

The government of Canada is working on a national food policy that promised to “include promotion of healthy living and safe food, and food security’. This interactive roundtable brings together the leaders of major national organizations seeking to influence Canada’s national food policy to better understand their unique perspectives, including both their differences and where they might find common ground.

Sustainable Diets and Canada’s Food Guide

Cecilia Rocha, Ryerson University; Barbara Seed, PhD, MPH, RD; Fiona Yeudall, Ryerson University. Facilitator: Jennifer Reynolds, Food Secure Canada

Sweden, Brazil, Qatar and Germany have integrated sustainability principles into their national dietary guidelines. With the Senate calling for an overhaul of Canada’s Food Guide (CFG) we are presented with a strategic opportunity in Canada to do the same. Promoting more sustainable diets would leverage consumer food dollars and the purchasing power of public institutions like schools and hospitals for greater sustainability, climate and health impacts. This session will explore some of the “win-win” recommendations for sustainable diets that promote both human and environmental health. How these can be translated into consumer messages as well as how they can be incorporated into other levels of food policy (e.g. municipal, organizational, and individual). What can we learn from efforts that have failed in other countries like the US to shift towards sustainability? How can nutrition experts, climate and sustainable agriculture advocates dialogue and work together on this issue?

The True Cost of Food in Canada and Beyond 

Brian Gilvesey, Executive Director, Alternative Land Use Systems (ALUS) James Hugues, Senior Social Innovation Fellow, J.W. McConnell Family Foundation Cecilia Rocha, Professor, School of Nutrition, Ryerson University and member, IPES-Food Ruth Richardson, Executive Director, Global Alliance for the Future of Food Facilitator: Beth Hunter, Program Director, J.W. McConnell Family Foundation

This session focuses on theoretical and practical ways that true cost accounting is being applied to the externalities associated with agriculture and food systems. The objective of these efforts is to develop measures that portray the true costs and benefits of food, including externalities such as soil and biodiversity loss and health care impacts. Presentations will highlight a diversity of work on externalities, followed by a discussion about the need and potential to develop this work. 

Food hubs - Adding Value and Cultivating Connections

Peggy Baillie, Local Organic Food Co-ops Network; Bruce Eric Enloe, Two Rivers Food Hub; Franco Naccarato, Greenbelt Fund

Different models of food hubs are emerging across Canada to help ‘rebuild the middle’ of the food system – aggregating and distributing local foods from small and mid-sized producers. This session will explore successes and challenges of food hubs in different contexts to access markets and close the loop in regional food systems. For example, how can value added processing help address the many challenges including food waste, farm profit margins and distribution gaps?

FoodReach: Bringing Good Food to Community Agencies and Student Nutrition Programs at Wholesale Prices

Barbara Emmanuel, Toronto Public Health; Paul Coleman, Toronto Public Health; Mark Pearlman, Enterprise Adoption Leaders; Other speaker TBC.

FoodReach is a collaborative venture that has aligned private, public, not for profit and foundation partners to help community-based organizations stabilize access to good food and reduce food costs. FoodReach is an e-commerce portal, allowing agencies to efficiently shop for food online, and to share ideas and resources in order to build a more effective system of food provision. Presenters will give an overview of the collective impact of FoodReach and the key structures needed for other jurisdictions to develop similar initiatives.

From Field to Patient Tray – How Can Health Care Institutions Build the Value Chain to Provide more Fresh, Local, Sustainable Food?

Brent Preston & Gillian Flies, The New Farm; Grace Mandarano & Paul Sawtell, 100km Foods; Representative CUPE; Wendy Smith, MEALSource; Hayley Lapalme, Nourish/J.W. McConnell Family Foundation;Joshna Maharaj, Chef and activist. Moderator - Jennifer Reynolds, Food Secure Canada.

This discussion-focused panel will explore both the opportunities and challenges being faced by healthcare facilities and local food sellers to develop the value chain from ‘the field to patient tray’. What might producers need to do to be more market ready? What issues do distributors in selling to the institutional market? How can institutions effectively change their purchasing, food services, policies, and engage stakeholders and staff to embrace change? How can new relationships be brokered to making meaningful connections with the food that patients, families and staff are served in health care institutions?

Making Food Choices Meaningful to Shift Narratives

Amy Rosenthal, School Food Focus; Sarah Grant, Localize; Hannah Wittman, Centre for Sustainable Food Systems – UBC; Hayley Lapalme, Nourish/J.W McConnell Family Foundation. Facilitator - Jennifer Reynolds, Food Secure Canada

Communicating the impact of food choices on health, the economy and the environment is a key way to spark change in the behavior of consumers, students and institutional procurement. What is involved in communicating these messages that build awareness to encourage a shift towards greater sustainability in food systems? Farm to school programs build student food literacy, peer networks support other champions and collaborations to emerge, metrics on institutional purchasing help institutions be more aware of their behaviour and impact, marketing and food chain transparency informs retail consumer choices. The session will explore the differences between these strategies, how they support each other and where they fall short.

Sustainable Food Businesses - What Does Policy Change Have to Do With It?

Andrew Heintzman, InvestEco; Paul Sawtell, 100km Foods; Lulu Cohen-Farnell, Real Food for Real Kids; Ryan Turnbull, Eco-Ethonomics; Dan Donovan, Hooked. Moderator: Christie Young, FarmStart

Many successful businesses are responding to the growing consumer demand for sustainable food and driving change in our food system. This panel will explore which policies, regulatory changes and incentives could foster greater innovation in businesses that deliver on the triple bottom line. How can we develop the infrastructure, markets and supply needed so that all Canadians can benefit from a thriving, sustainable local food economy?

Turning on the Power – Starting Urban Farms in Hydro Corridors

Rhonda Teitel-Payne, Toronto Urban Growers;, Juneeja, Varghese, Malvern Family Resource Centre; Ryan Noble, North York Harvest Food Bank; Andrea Boucaud, Flemingdon Health Centre

Urban farms can be sites for reclaiming neighbourhood food sovereignty through community engagement and significant food production, but land access and enabling policies are a major challenge. Presenters will share how they established four urban farms in Hydro corridors with a focus on community economic development, including the ground-breaking collaborations formed, the points of resistance encountered and the tools for overcoming them. Participants will be able to discuss their own related experiences and potential projects.

Scaling Sustainable Local Food Systems Up and Out: The Potential of University Procurement

Lori Stahlbrand, University of Toronto; Celia White, Meal Exchange, Real Food Challenge Coordinator; Jaco Lokker, Director of Culinary Operations & Executive chef, U of T Food Services; Representative TBC, CUPE

Hear about exciting new developments in university procurement from Canada, the US and the UK. Find out how universities can and are playing a leading role in food-system transformation. Learn about the power of student engagement and leading models for collaboration among students, faculty, administration and food service, including Meal Exchange’s newest program, the Real Food Challenge. Sample local and sustainable food from U of T's newly re-organized food service department.

Food By Ward: Mapping Food Assets and Opportunities to Strengthen Local Food Economies in Toronto

Melana Roberts,Toronto Youth Food Policy Council; Rachel Gray, Toronto Food Policy Council

Learn about Toronto’s newest tool for advocacy and food policy development! Food By Ward: Food Assets and Opportunities in Toronto is food asset mapping tool that supports the development of strong local food economies, providing baseline information regarding existing food assets and opportunities across the city’s 44 wards. This interactive presentation explores how food mapping can be used to advance and guide community-led food priorities, engage city staff and Councillors in important food policy conversations, and increase the appetite for food in city planning. It also highlights the potential for food mapping in understanding issues of food access as they relate to poverty reduction initiatives, transit equity, and present opportunities to bridge gaps in access to food resources in Toronto. More than a planning resource, Food By Ward and the TFPC’s Food Champion initiative, are working to strengthen local food networks and build cohesion between local and city-wide food priorities.

Good Food Comes From Good Seed: How Regionally Adapted Seeds Build Food Security in the Face of Climate Change

Aabir Dey, The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, USC Canada/Everdale; Jane Rabinowicz, The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, USC Canada; Bob Wildfong, Seeds of Diversity; Kim Delaney, Hawthorn Farm Organic Seeds

For the past three years, The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security has been supporting the movement to build resilient seed systems in Canada. This session will focus on the Bauta Initiative’s national programs that 1) conserve biodiversity in gene banks and community seed collections, and 2) introduce new ecological field crop and vegetable varieties through innovative farmer-breeder collaborations. These field-based programs can shape new discussions on agricultural policy, and on the need to prioritize biodiversity conservation, agricultural extension, and public plant breeding to build a resilient national seed and food system.

Our Power: Lessons from Food Justice for Renewable Energy Organizers

Keith Stewart, Greenpeace; Donald LaFleur, CLC; Utcha Sawyers, Food Secure Canada / FoodShare; Representative from Toronto Renewable Energy Coop TBC

The movement for community-controlled renewable energy faces many parallels with food justice organizing.  The projects are often community-led, require new regulatory policies and structures to thrive, do best when backed by diverse coalitions, and face well-organized corporate opposition with millions to lose. This session will begin with a panel sharing perspectives on parallels and potential learnings between the two movements, then break into smaller groups to explore specific lessons, strategies and case studies from the food movement, to help advance community energy organizing. Join us and help build cross-movement power for clean energy and food justice in Canada.

Food Waste in Canada: Unpacking the Problem and Promoting Innovative Solutions

Chair: Tammara Soma, Project Manager, Food Systems Lab, PhD Candidate University of Toronto Expert Panel: Annette Synowiec, Manager, Solid Waste, City of Toronto; Jocelyn Molyneux, Vermicomposter, Waste Not Worm Farm; Dave Kranenburg, Social Innovation Lab Facilitator, Rhizome Institute; Nick Saul, President and CEO, Community Food Centres Canada; Indigenous Leader TBC

It has been six years since the first report quantifying the cost of food waste in Canada was published. Despite the staggering amount of food wasted in Canada (estimated to cost $31 billion dollars annually), there is currently no concerted effort to address the issue at a national level. Dominant solutions and ideas promoted to tackle the issue focuses on stop-gap solutions rather than systems-based solutions. Without understanding the root of the problem and unpacking the issue, we risk exacerbating the problem. This panel will feature six experts from academia, the public sector, urban farming, the social innovation lab, community food justice, and Indigenous peoples. The objectives of the panel will be to explore diverse perspectives and discuss interdisciplinary solutions to the issue of food waste in Canada.

The Leap Manifesto & Food Justice

Katie McKenna & Bianca Mugyenyi, The Leap Manifesto; Jim Thomas, ETC Group; Sally Miller (Independent), Others TBC

The Leap Manifesto has garnered widespread attention for its call for a transition to a clean energy economy in Canada based in principles of social and economic justice. Among the documents’ demands are calls for “a far more localized and ecologically-based agricultural system” in Canada, and “immigration status and full protection for all workers.”  Join us for an interactive panel and workshop designed to draw on participants’ knowledge and experience to strengthen the Leap Manifesto as a policy and organizing tool, and broaden the coalition around it.

How to Start and Run a Fruit Rescue Program   

Carrie Regenstreif, Fruit Rescue Networking Group (moderator); Sue Arndt, Executive Director of Not Far from the Tree; Laura Reinsborough, formerly with/founder of Not Far from the Tree; Katrina Siks, Hidden Harvest Ottawa; Getty Stewart, FruitShare Manitoba

There are dozens of fruit rescue programs, in which volunteers collect surplus fruit and share it with people in need, in communities across the country, each a little different. Speakers from Not Far from the Tree in Toronto, Hidden Harvest Ottawa and FruitShare Manitoba will provide a wealth of useful advice and help participants avoid the many potential pitfalls of taking on such a project. The session will also be invaluable for those involved with existing programs at all levels of development. Topics will include how to get started, social enterprise and other funding models, and how to survive on a tiny budget.

Is Canada Back? Aid and Global Food Security

Paul Hagerman, Canadian Foodgrains Bank; Cecilia Rocha, Ryerson University; Melissa Matlow, World Animal Protection; Renaud DePlaen, IDRC; Amrane Boughmar, Global Affairs Canada

Canada has been a leader in global food security, but recent reductions in aid put this at risk. Food security was not prominent in Global Affairs Canada’s 2016 policy discussion paper.  This workshop will hear directly from experts who deliver Canada’s aid for agriculture around the world.  They, and audience members, will discuss what Canada does well in global food security, and where Canada should focus its resources for best results.

Agroecology IS Feeding the World

Moderator: Eric Chaurette, Inter Pares. Presenters: Ilsa Sà, West African farm movement COPAGEN, Tiniguena, Guinea-Bissau; Tejaswi Dantuluri, Deccan Development Society, India; Taarini Chopra, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network; Martin Entz, University of Manitoba; Geneviève Grossenbacher, Farmer and USC Canada; Bryan Dale, University of Toronto

We are often told that industrial agriculture is needed to feed the world. Evidence shows the contrary. If we are to truly feed ourselves in a sustainable way and reduce our impact on climate change, we need to scale up agroecology and scale down industrial agriculture. Hear from farmers and researchers from Canada and the Global South about how agroecology and food sovereignty are building a just and sustainable food system. Find out about practical ways that you can support the growth of agroecology. Contribute ideas as to how food sovereignty and agroecology are key elements of a just transition to a fossil-free economy. Format: Fishbowl featuring farm leaders, researchers and thinkers from the Global South and Canada.

Women at the Heart of Food Sovereignty

Moderator: Melissa Matlow, World Animal Protection, Member of the Food Security Policy Group. Presenters: Joan Brady, National Farmers Union of Canada and La Via Campesina; Chandra F. Maracle, Founder of Kakhwa'on:we/Real People Eat Real Food and Co-Founder and Nutrition Coordinator of Skaronhyaseko:wa Tyohterakentko:wa Tsi Yontaweya'tahkwa/The Everlasting Tree School at Six Nations of the Grand River Territory; Bidakanne Sammamma, farmer, seed saver, and women’s leader with Deccan Development Society, India

Women have played a crucial role in the emergence of food sovereignty as a framework for change, and building organizations and movements to advance it. The workshop will feature testimonials and inspiring stories of women leaders from diverse backgrounds (Indigenous, Global South, rural, urban) in the global movement for food sovereignty. The workshop will build greater understanding of the role of women in our movement, and build solidarity among women from Canada, Turtle Island, and the Global South

Global Perspectives on Sustainable City Region Food Systems

Bruce Frayne, University of Waterloo; Fiona Yeudall, Ryerson University; Zhenzhong Si, Balsillie School; Mary Ceasar, Balsillie School; Cameron McCordic, Balsillie School

This sustainable city-region food systems panel explores two international collaborations. The Hungry Cities Partnership includes researchers and policy advocates from South Africa, Kenya, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Mozambique and China. The research focuses on innovation in the informal food economy in the context of rapidly-growing cities and expanding food markets in the Global South. The Municipal Food Policies and Practices Project includes municipal, civil society and academic partners in Canada, Kenya, Netherlands and South Africa. The project has developed and tested training for municipal actors to build capacity and understanding of intersectoral food systems approaches, urban food production, food and nutrition security and waste management and resource recovery. In an increasingly urban and globalized world, we face common opportunities and challenges, in addition to unique contexts. Participants will have an opportunity to share their experiences and draw on examples from around the globe of actions for more sustainable food systems.

Food Security and Social Justice Organizing Strategies

Yvonne Kelly, Freedom 90 Union of Food Bank and Emergency Meal Program Volunteers and Put Food in the Budget; Mike Balkwill, Put Food in the Budget; Kristine Carbis, Freedom 90

Emergency food provision through meal programs, soup lines and food banks were intended to be a short-term charitable response to assist people in times of hardship. After 30 years of emergency food provision only social justice organizing strategies will ensure that we move beyond charity.

This workshop outlines how social and economic injustice have created the perfect conditions for food insecurity to thrive in. Presenters will describe how charitable models that have become societal institutions serve to distract us from what is really needed to reduce growing levels of food insecurity - good jobs, adequate incomes and affordable housing. Speakers from Freedom 90 www.freedom90.ca and Put Food in the Budget www.putfoodinthebudget.ca campaigns will present a strategy and facilitate discussion on how people involved as volunteers and staff in food security organizations can incorporate social justice organizing into their food security work.  

Making Zero Hunger Real (Part 1): Food Insecurity 101       

Naomi Dachner, University of Toronto; Anita Abraham, Meal Exchange; Kathryn Scharf, Community Food Centres Canada; Elaine Power, Queen's University

A grounded understanding of food insecurity in Canada is necessary to effectively move forward on FSC’s commitment to zero hunger, while also pursuing the concomitant goals of healthy and safe food and sustainable food systems. Drawing on over 20 years of research, this session will present evidence-based fundamentals of food insecurity in Canada - how food insecurity is measured, the current prevalence and trends over time. What are the causes and consequences of food insecurity and how can it be addressed? Workshop participants will identify opportunities for advocacy around issues such as basic income in light of the existing evidence.

Making Zero Hunger Real (Part 2): Defining the Issues, Audiences and Tactics to Advance the Fight Against Food Insecurity       

Kathryn Scharf, Community Food Centres Canada; Naomi Dachner, PROOF; Elaine Power, Basic Income Network

Making Zero Hunger Real (Part 2) is a participatory workshop to explore opportunities for the food movement to get organized to fight food insecurity, the tactics that might help us to advance them, and the audiences that should be targeted by any campaigns. We will explore a number of policy proposals that are gaining traction in Canada, including: a basic income guarantee (both provincial and federal); initiatives to address northern and Indigenous food security; the move toward a federal tax credit to incentivize a reduction in corporate food waste through donations to food charities; and indexing the child benefit to inflation. What can we do to insert ourselves in this conversation to ensure that the evolving policy initiatives serve the communities we work with?

Socially Innovative Practices at North American Food Banks

Moderator: Trish Kelly, GVFB. Presenters: Aart Schurmann Hess, Greater Vancouver Food Bank (GVFB); Janine De La Salle, Urban Food Strategies; Shawn Pegg, Food Banks Canada; Danielle McIntyre, Interfaith Food Banks Society of Lethbridge.

After decades of front line, emergency food distribution, food banks are increasingly taking a critical look at their work to focus on longer term strategies that address the core causes of hunger. This session asks: How are (and can) food banks innovating to work towards community food security? Building from candid interviews with 18 food organizations, this workshop presents a continuum of socially innovative practices in the sector by sharing the stories of three food banks’ stories of change. Together, we will dialogue on how food banks can work with others towards an inclusive community food security and justice movement.

The Hand You’re Dealt: A Board Game About Food Insecurity in Nova Scotia

Patty Williams, FoodArc

Since 2002, the Food Action Research Centre (FoodARC) has been examining the affordability of a nutritious diet in Nova Scotia using Participatory Food Costing. FoodARC developed a board game called The Hand You’re Dealt to communicate our findings and focus responsibility for food security on policy-based solutions. The game has been played with family resource centres, food activists, student groups, high school classrooms, and health professionals, and has proven to be an incredible way to create empathy and challenge judgements about people facing food insecurity. In this workshop, you’ll play the game and discuss what it teaches us about how to communicate about food access in a way that captures people’s attention and transforms their perceptions. You’ll also try out some supplementary tools for facilitating group game play and debrief, and talk about how you might use scenario-based pedagogical and communication strategies in your own work.

Dig In: Cultivating Possibilities for New Ecological Farmers

Heather Pritchard, Farm Folk City Folk; Jean-Martin Fortier, La Ferme des Quatre-Temps. Organized by Food Secure Canada’s New Farmer Initiative.

Canada’s agriculture is facing a renewal crisis, exacerbated by the many barriers facing new ecological farmers in accessing land, finances, and training. The good news is that innovative projects are sprouting across the country to help the next generation of ecological farmers succeed. In this session panelists Jean-Martin Fortier (The Market Gardener) and Heather Pritchard (FarmFolk CityFolk) will be joined by moderator Jordan Marr to discuss the exciting initiatives they are developing to address some of these challenges.

Following panelists’ presentations, there will be an opportunity for questions and discussion to share your ideas on what we can do to help similar initiatives grow and thrive to ensure a vibrant and sustainable food future for us all.

How the Organic Value Chain Meets Consumer Demands

Tia Loftsgard, Canadian Organic Trade Association; Krysten Cooper, Yorkshire Valley; Matt Lurie, Owner of Organic Garage Organic and All Natural Grocery Store; Carolyn Young, Organic Council of Ontario; Tim deWit, Organic Turkey Farmer, Yorkshire Valley Farms

Fuelled by rising consumer awareness and demand in Canada and abroad, the organic movement continues to build momentum. Come and learn about what is behind the trends in organic production, sales and consumer perception. Participants will outline their successes and challenges in developing the organic value chain and supporting transitioning farmers.

New Farmers: Developing Policies for Food Sovereignty

Annette Desmarais, University of Manitoba; Ayla Fenton, National Farmers Union; Dana Penrice, National Farmers Union

We are facing a crisis of attrition in Canadian agriculture: 75% of farmers set to retire and possibly sell their land within the next ten years. Luckily, an increasing number of young people are starting to farm, many of whom do not come from a farm background. We are drawn to agriculture because we want to address the injustices and threats our societies face such as climate change, inequality,human rights, soil degradation, rural decline, and food insecurity.  Farming and supplying healthy food to our local communities are a means of political resistance against a corporate-dominated system that puts profit above life. The NFU Youth, with the National New Farmer Coalition, are working to promote policies that consider the social value of land, transfer Canadian farmland to responsible stewards and provide ongoing support to new farmers. Hear about our research and policy recommendations, and join in the discussion. We will also hear from Annette Desmarais (University of Manitoba) on lessons learned from Saskatchewan farmers about the value of farmland ownership.

GM Food Labelling - What are the Possibilities and Limits?

Thibault Rehn, Vigilance OGM; Lucy Sharratt, CBAN; Heather Lee and Terran Giacomini, No More GMOs Toronto

In this participatory workshop, we will break down the issue of labeling genetically modified (GM) foods and present the new Quebec campaign for labeling. For twenty years, 80% of Canadians have said they want GM food labeling – so why don’t we have it? Can we get it, and why do we want it? What would labeling achieve and what are its limitations? Join campaigners from across Canada to tackle the question of GM food labeling.

Healthy City – Healthy Food System

Representatives: Justine McIntyre, Montreal City Councillor; Ghalia Chahine, Système alimentaire montréalais; Jessica Reeve, Toronto Food Policy Council; Mary Fragedakis, Toronto City Councillor; Joe Mihevic, Toronto City Councillor & Chair of the Board of Health; Stephanie Lim, Vancouver Food Policy Council; Sarah Carten, Social Planner, City of Vancouver

In October 2015, 150 cities all around the world, including 3 Canadian cities (Montreal, Toronto & Vancouver) signed the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact. What can this international movement bring to local, regional and national food initiatives? How can signing the Milan Urban Food Pact help a city go further to change the food system?  At a national level, how do we connect all of these cities to make further change?

In this session, we will discuss how municipal levers can help create and strengthen healthy local and regional food systems. In addition, we will explore how can cities across Canada better collaborate to share their experiences and make far-reaching change toward healthy local and regional food systems?

GMOs: Impacts and Risks in Canada

Lucy Sharratt, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network; Taarini Chopra, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, Thibault Rehn, Vigilance OGM

The latest cutting edge research on GMOs can be at your fingertips! The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) will break down what we now know about the impacts and risks of GMOs in Canada after 20 years. Join us for this chance to digest the most important results from CBAN’s year-long investigation called the GMO Inquiry. Get real and most relevant information on the impacts of GMOs for farmers, the environment, and our democracy. It's time for an evaluation of GMOs - we’ve started it!

Dangerous Ideas: Bringing the Sacred into Activism

Jodi Koberinski, Beyond Pesticides; d’bi young anitafrika, Dan Longboat, Trent University.

Now into our third year, Dangerous Ideas Festival challenges our underlying assumptions about "what is so" and allows our creativity and curiosity to envision "what is possible”. We have called on two well received and distinct voices in the region, d'bi young anitafrika and Dr. Dan Longboat, both having graced our stage at the Dangerous Ideas Festival: Re-Imagining the Commons. This will be a panel and performance piece, and room-dependent will also allow for audience engagement/ participation. We've invited our guests to reflect on their experience of participating in our festival, and offer wisdom to our attendees on the value of bringing the sacred into our activism and our work for justice.

The Power of Community Art Creates Public Awareness of the Food Movement

Heather Rigby, Land Over Landings

This presentation will review the history of a small community of individuals who actively came together using various forms of performance art, billboard, field art, and publications as resistance to activate a larger public awareness around a cause worth fighting for. It is vitally important to highlight the power of Community Art right now relative to the Pickering Federal Lands – prime farmland expropriated in 1972 for a never-built airport – still remain threatened by development. Yet the Lands offer a unique opportunity – a place to establish small farms producing all manner of fresh fruits and vegetables, raising livestock, and giving a start to those all-important young farmers who will be feeding us in the future. The Lands should be a source of local food for Toronto residents, reducing the current and unnecessary amount of long-distance transporting of food to our tables. A workshop will follow to explore ways in which individuals and organizations can highlight their cause through various art practice.

Pecha Kucha - Research for/with Food Movements

Sally Miller, City Region Food Systems Project; Natalie Dyck, Edible Alchemy CoLaboratory; Melanie Kurrein, Provincial Health Services Authority, Kelsey Speed, University of Waterloo; Sarah Hargreaves, Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario; Hannah Wittman, University of British Columbia; Lynn Roblin, Ontario Public Health Association; Jessica Wall, Acadia University. Chair: Hugo Martorell, Food Secure Canada

This session brings together a range of new research conducted for and with food movements. Presenters are researchers and practitioners and come from a range of non-profit organizations, food networks and universities across Canada. Each pecha kucha-like presentation will share the big ideas from the research and a focus on how it matters for food movements. Topics include evaluating the role of value-added foods in regional food distribution, food recovery, fermentation, food waste, linking food safety and food security, farmer-led research, community consultations with food bank users and more. Following the presentations, we will invite questions and discussion.