On March 19, two days after Premier Ford declared a state of emergency for Ontario, a ‘new’ food network emerged in Peterborough. It developed out of the Peterborough Food Action Network (PFAN) which, for 13 years, has promoted community food security in Peterborough City, County, and local First Nations. Maintaining the vision that “everyone in… Read More
(Photo: Phil Wallis) Lorraine Johnson is a self-described cultivation activist and author of numerous books on environmental issues and growing. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in literary studies from the University of Toronto, Johnson worked for many years as a book editor before writing her first book, Green Future: How to Make a World of a Difference (Penguin… Read More
Masks, hand sanitizer, face shields. Stickers placed six feet apart, lining the floor and facilitating physical distancing. Clear, plastic windows at the checkout counter. These are familiar images in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has brought widespread disruption to the ways people obtain food. Some have turned towards growing produce to reduce the frequency… Read More
In February, the traffic flow between the Pacific Mall and the Silver Star Blvd, a Chinese food mecca for the Greater Toronto Area, could be best described by a Chinese proverb: “Carriages flow like a stream and horses whinny like dragons”. The tasty kebabs, boiling hotpots, and hand-pulled noodles sold in the mall normally drew… Read More
Food banks are a relatively long-standing part of community landscapes across the country, and fill a critical role of feeding individuals and families who rely on their services. However, this was not always the case. When food banks were first introduced into Canada in 1981, they were meant to be a temporary measure, designed… Read More
How can urban growing reach more people? Who is at risk of being excluded from urban agriculture initiatives? How can community and municipal leaders identify and remove barriers to accessing growing space? In the process of implementing equitable agricultural initiatives in the city, these are the questions that need to guide decision-making, to ensure that all… Read More
The three Malvern community gardens are located in the Malvern neighbourhood, and reflect the diverse nature of the community. Gardeners come from Caribbean, South Asian, and European backgrounds. (Photo: Google Maps) Randy Bhagwan, Malvern Garden Lead and Communication Coordinator of the Malvern Food Security Workgroup. Due to physical distancing measures, the gardeners and garden leads… Read More
Across the country, community organizations, school food programs, school districts and parents continue to pay close attention to recommendations as governments continue to release guidelines and frameworks for what the return to school will look like. As of the end of July all provinces and territories have released some form of documentation framing what school… Read More
Over the past months, the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that Canada’s patchwork approach to school nutrition programs is inadequate to support children’s health, nutrition, and academic success. Food security, already a pressing issue across Canada, has now been made even more urgent during the COVID-19 pandemic as low-income people are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19,… Read More
Over the past several months, the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified long-standing vulnerabilities within Canada’s food system. News reports have highlighted, for example, grocery stores’ struggles to keep certain items stocked, livestock herds being culled in huge numbers due to bottlenecks at meat processing plants, and produce sitting wasting in farmers’ fields due to restaurant closures… Read More