Food Sovereignty for Black Communities in Toronto: Challenges and Policy Opportunities

BY PAUL JUNOR

On Monday, November 6^th, 2023, the Black Food Sovereignty Toronto launched their new report, “Food Sovereignty for Black Communities in Toronto: Challenges and Policy Opportunities.” There were several speakers and presenters at the launch and food was catered by Chef Rachel Adjei, and Bashir Munye.The speakers included:

• Sherwin Blyden-Chair of Afri-Can FoodBasket Board of Directors
• Mustafa Koa, Director, Centre for Studies in Food Security at TMU
• Zakiya Tafari, Executive Director of Afri-Can FoodBasket
• Western Husbands, Adjunct Professor at U of T School of Public Health
• Kemba Byam, Acting Manager, Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit at the City of Toronto

It was in 2019 that the Black Food Sovereignty Initiative of Toronto (BFSIT) was started by the Afri-CanFoodBasket (AFB) in collaboration with the City of Toronto. The main purpose of BFSIT is to collectively address chronic food insecurity in Toronto. There was the subsequent formation of The Black Food Sovereignty Working Group (BFSWG) as an initiative to mobilize Black sustainable food systems folks. There were partnerships between: Black farmers, restaurateurs, dietitians, nutritionists, importers, and many B3 organizations. This resulted in empowering them to become food secure, and ultimately, developing food sovereignty.”

The issue of food insecurity in the African Canadian community is of paramount importance. In the introduction of the report, its disproportionate impact on the Black community is highlighted. According to data obtained from Dhunna and Tarasuk in 2021 and Foods Share and PROOF in 2019, in 2018, Black families in Canada were 3.5 times more likely to be food insecure than White families, and over one-third of Black children lived in food insecure households. The report notes that racism, discrimination and inequality are at the root of Black people’s chronic insecure access to food as they are a reflection of systemic and structural barriers.

The report quotes from a UN document in 2022, “Processes and strategies to achieve food sovereignty reflect the interests of communities that understand access to food as a human right and emerge under the leadership of those communities.” The policy-oriented report provides a working definition of Black Food Sovereignty. It states that it locates the principles of food sovereignty within the context of Black people’s marginalization. It is a movement and process to ensure that Black communities build and control a food system that serves the needs of those communities.

The following are three areas that leaders within Toronto’s Black Food Sovereignty movement believe they foster:

• Black people’s access to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced distributed in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner.
• Black people’s stewardship of systems and institutions that determine access to food and resources for producing food.
• Black people’s leadership in policy and program development to address community health and wellbeing (Nicoll 2021). In summary, it is conceived as a holistic, healthy, sustainable, and systemic approach for Black communities to address chronic food insecurity.

At the launch of the policy paper, I met Corine Bond of DezayStudio.ca who was instrumental in the layout and design of the report’s cover page. Itah Sadu serves as the moderator of the launch. She describes the symbolic importance of food in the African Canadian community. She introduced Rachel Adjei, owner of the Abibinan Project to the audience.

These are three action steps intended from the plan:

Developing Governance Structures and Outreach

• Recruit and launch the Black Food Sovereignty Alliance (Toronto)

Planning with the Community and City Divisions:

• BFST will meet with the community and the City of Toronto to assist with the planning and implementation of the BFSP

Reporting to Toronto’s African Canadian Community:

• Hosts community conversation through an Annual Black Food Sovereignty Conference

There are high hopes that the Black community will respond to this timely report.