Feeding City’s Stories section showcases our research examining the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on food chains, markets, producers, workers, and consumers. Through qualitative research, we seek to foster ways to build back a more resilient and sustainable food future.
Sustainability Champions: The Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems (CIKS) By: CIKS and the Feeding City Team Information about CIKS The Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems (CIKS) is located in the city of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where it operates the CIKS Technology Resource Centre. CIKS is an important interlocutor in the… Read More
By: Noha Fikry, These reflections are based on a one-year of ethnographic fieldwork that I conducted between 2017-2018 on four urban rooftops in Cairo and Alexandria, the two largest cities in Egypt. On these rooftops, women rear chickens, goats, rabbits, turkeys, geese, and sheep to feed their families and gift their in-laws. Women primarily use… Read More
By: Matilda Dipieri, Junior Researcher The Scarborough Farmers Market and the Courtyard Farmers Market bring local, fairly priced, culturally appropriate, farm-fresh produce and artisanal products to the Greater Toronto Area’s socially-diverse communities. Managed by Jennifer Forde, founder of Red Onion Events/Quest Vision Management, both farmers markets make important strides towards food sovereignty in the region.… Read More
By: Amber McNeil About the Organization Feed Scarborough’s vision is for a hunger–free, resilient Scarborough. They seek to empower their community and provide innovative solutions to reduce poverty through dignified access to food. Feed Scarborough’s founder Suman Roy has long been a leading voice in the study of campus food insecurity in Canada through his… Read More
By: Abigail Ayala Romero The Yanapana Project was created as a joint effort by eight Ecuadorian students from three Canadian universities. As one of the founding members, I am writing this article to share our story. Yanapana Project officially launched in July 2020 after witnessing COVID 19’s impact on Ecuador’s less-resourced communities. The viral outbreak… Read More
By: Amber McNeil 5n2 volunteer Christine explains that when she recently retired, she looked for a volunteer opportunity. “My interests are cooking and gardening, so I wanted to do one of those two things..food to me brings everybody together… I love working in an atmosphere where… everybody has a common purpose”. (Volunteer Highlights: Meet… Read More
By: Cheyanna Sammy Sitting on the border of Toronto and Pickering, Paul Wong’s Fine Chinese Cuisine has been serving the patrons of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) for three decades. Over the years, Paul Wong’s has developed a well-established reputation making it one of the go-to Chinese restaurants in the eastern GTA. Not only is… Read More
By: Cheryl Cheung With the support of the University of Toronto’s Student Engagement Award, I worked with Patrick Ren and Mabel Yang on a documentary covering the impact of COVID-19 on communities in the Greater Vancouver Area. A salient way to capture such stories is through a food lens. We subsequently filmed the documentary … Read More
by Matilda Dipieri With winter approaching, the Withrow Park Farmers Market prepares to wrap up the 2021 season after a successful summer operating. As COVID-19 continues imposing limitations on how the market operates, this season has been a true testament to Withrow Market’s longstanding community support. From its origins in 2006, local residents have managed… Read More
By Franzelah Gallo and Yusra Khalid 5n2 (formerly 5n2 Kitchens) is a charity organization that combats food insecurity in Toronto ,Canada, especially in the Scarborough-Guildwood area. Since its founding by Seema David in 2013, 5n2 has served over 474,000 people with culturally appropriate, freshly cooked, hot meals. 5n2 is also an important food rescue organization… Read More