Food Secure Canada Launches Initiative to Advance Indigenous and Black Food Sovereignties

The Canadian Food Movement is at a crossroads. Activism around food system issues has traditionally been white-led, underrepresenting the priorities and leadership of Indigenous, Black, and racialized communities who continue to be on the frontlines of systemic inequities in our food system. This has resulted in a lack of access to important self-determined resources, infrastructure, and support systems that can bolster food sovereignty and resilience for these communities.

In August 2022, in response to guidance from Food Secure Canada’s (FSC) Black and Indigenous Board members, FSC decided to partner with the People's Food Institute (PFI) to secure funding from the Walmart Foundation to launch the Indigenous and Black Peoples’ Food Sovereignty Planning Initiative (IBPFS). This one-year planning-focused initiative seeks to move away from funder-driven, project-based outcomes to build and strengthen relationships among Black and Indigenous leaders in order to:

1. Inform and strengthen established and emerging community-led plans and actions to advance food sovereignty;

2. Build relationships across communities and contexts to shore up networks and identify core challenges and actionable opportunities to advance food sovereignty; 

3. Harness and share cross-cultural knowledge and strategies to facilitate capacity and increase access to resources for the most disenfranchised communities in our food systems.

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