Our (20 year!) Story

FSC as a Hub for Dialogue and Advocacy

Food Secure Canada’s vision is a just, healthy, and sustainable food system that honours our relationship to the earth and each other. This is built on a foundation of dialogue, policy advocacy, and strengthening the capacity of communities.

The seeds of our vision were planted at a 2001 conference in Toronto. This event gathered leaders and civil society organizations from every province, to tackle the challenge of food security both in Canada and abroad. Recognizing the importance of ongoing dialogue and advocacy across the country, Food Secure Canada was created as a non-profit organization. Since that first conference, FSC has continued to create space for sharing, learning, and building consensus on food security issues through events called Assemblies. Learn more about the Assemblies here

Contributions to Federal Food Policy

Over the years, FSC has become recognized as a hub convening diverse voices in the food movement, enabling broader participation, and advocating for policy change. The organization’s work over the previous 20 years directly contributed to the creation of the Food Policy for Canada (2019) and the formation of the Canadian Food Policy Advisory Council (2021). Additionally, the FSC-supported Coalition for Healthy School Food (CHSF) plays a pivotal role in shaping policy and funding for a National School Food Program.

Journey of Transformation and (Un)Learning

Racism and inequities permeate society, and are embedded in organizations and the food movement. In 2018, the Food Secure Canada Board of Directors and team embarked on a period of reflection, introspection, and (un)learning with the goal of creating new ways of working that confront racism, discrimination, and other inequities. The 10th Assembly in 2018 was an especially pivotal moment that catalyzed this period of transformation, and since then FSC has created a 2022-2023 strategic plan to guide FSC’s goal of supporting an equitable food movement and fight for just, healthy, and sustainable food.

Amplifying Diverse Voices for Food System Transformation

Our renewed strategic plan puts forth our mission to amplify diverse voices to transform the food system through dialogue, advocacy, and capacity building. We pledge to breathe life into this mandate and uphold our new values: food is sacred; equity and justice; (un)learning; respect, compassion, and patience; balanced and grounded; courage; interdependence. Learn more about our strategic plan here.

Looking Forward

As we move forward, we will continue to remember our history and look towards the future, honouring our relationships with each other and the earth. We invite you to join us on this journey as we work together to create a just, healthy, and sustainable food system for all.

Read our key reports

 

To learn more about Food Secure Canada’s policy work, check out our timeline from 2001 – 2019.