23. Vancouver Food Justice Network

Project Description

Note: This project will take place online and in person

Context/Background

The Vancouver Food Justice Coalition brings together people who are affiliated with a community organization, or who come to the table as concerned individuals. Currently 24 local food organizations are participating. Many of us working in the community food sector have long been asking whether our current food systems policies and funding are matching the current realities in our communities. This LFS 350 student project focuses on municipal policy, including the City of Vancouver, Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, and others.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed and exacerbated realities of inequality in our society, including food insecurity. Community food sector actors, and those with lived experience, have always known these realities, but an increasingly vocal food movement and public are demanding upstream solutions that will support a more just food system. Although many members of the VFJ Coalition work in charitable and non-profit settings, we challenge the traditional food charity model and its inadequacy in addressing complex food systems inequalities: Persistent and intergenerational food insecurity, climate impacts to our food supply, diet related chronic illness, and urban development pressures to name a few.

At the same time, most community food programs are at capacity and dreadfully underfunded. A recent analysis of City of Vancouver operating and capital budgeting revealed very low percentages of overall municipal funding allocated to food systems work. Vancouver has a very active and collaborative food movement. For many years, existing local groups such as the Vancouver Food Policy Council and the Vancouver Neighbourhood Food Networks have been working towards food justice, and they operate in the tension between institutional constraints and radical advocacy. The VFJ aims to create space for community-based organizations and those with lived and living experience to engage meaningfully and authentically in policy and systems change. It aims to lead food justice policy advocacy with community knowledge -- working through community driven, collaborative, and cross-sectoral organizational structures and processes. It is critical that those most impacted by food insecurity and intersecting oppression to be leading systems change. This principle is fundamental in working towards a more equitable, decolonial, and just food system.

Vancouver's active and robust food movement provides a context and opportunity for the VFJ coalition to facilitate important new food sector relationship building and networking in the coming years. Local actors include include urban farmers, community gardens, cultural, Indigenous, and non-food-centric organizations that focus on (for example) anti-poverty work and/or disability justice. Vancouver is also home to community centres and neighbourhood houses, food banks, community food programs, food businesses (including restaurants) food recovery operations, faith-based organizations, and many others.

Food Systems Issue(s) Addressed in this Project

Currently, many food activists, food community developers, farmers, and others are caught up in the weeds, barely able to run basic food security programs and without the capacity to address larger systems change. As hard as it is, unless we begin to organize politically, we may not see the kind of transformative change needed. Advancing systems change requires well-researched, evidence-backed conversations and community-informed solutions. It also requires considerable relational work in order to build trust, and to build a collective political voice to meet power with power and push for change.

In the lead up to the 2022 Vancouver municipal election, a group of food justice organizations, including Vancouver Neighbourhood Food Networks hosted a Food Justice Town Hall to explore local food policy issues, opportunities, and the vision for a just and resilient food system in Vancouver. Election candidates had the opportunity to share the food policy priorities of their respective parties. After the election, VFJ prepared eight food policy briefs and sent them to the newly elected officials as a means of further education.

One year later, LFS 350 students will support a community event whose goal is to engage elected City of Vancouver officials in a dialogue to explore and find common ground in working towards a more just food system. VFJ recognizes the importance of accessible, safe, and democratic community convening spaces where authentic sharing and learning can take place. To this end, we prioritize thoughtful planning processes, and the specific format and timing of the event are still in discussion.

Bringing forward a radically new vision for a just, resilient and decolonial system is messy and always-emergent work. Relational, trust-building work takes time (even years), but is the foundation of an engaged and radical (roots) democracy. The upcoming dialogue event takes a government relational approach as a means of establishing a collaborative dialogue for policy and systems change (this is only one approach among many). This project is an for students to take part in building the VFJ coalition, its mission and vision, from the ground up.

Main Project Activities

• LFS students will assist in the design and planning process of the event. We hope to schedule the event in October or November 2023, in which case, students can support day-of logistics (e.g. set-up and take-down, sign-in table), documentation (e.g. photography, note-taking), and real-time social media sharing
• If the event is pushed to a later date, students will still take part in planning discussions, and can help prepare event materials such as info boards and posters, participant feedback form, and develop social media or other promotional materials

If time permits

• Students can reflect on their experiences by writing a guest entry for the Vancouver Neighbourhood Food Networks blog

Main Project Deliverable(s)

Depending on the timing of the dialogue event:

• Summarizing/simplifying policy briefs and turning them into posters (e.g. infographic-style)
• Create participant feedback form (hard copies and QR code/online)
• Social media and other promotional materials (e.g. pre-prepared posts)

If the event takes place in Fall 2023:

• Event documentation (e.g. photos, note-taking) - see Food Justice Town Hall Event Recap as an example
• Logistical support (e.g. room setup and takedown)
• Handle sign-in table (e.g. collecting contact information, ensuring photo permissions are clearly indicated)

Student Assets and Skills (preferred or required)

• Passion and interest in social and political change well organized
• Interest in coalition building processes
• Interest in municipal policy processes
• Willingness to learn and take on new challenges
• Comfortable with uncertainty
• Experience with poster and/or infographic design
• Photography and/or videography skills
• Media and social media skills
• Event note-taking experience a bonus

Are there any mandatory attendance dates (e.g. special event)?

• Attendance at the in-person event, likely a full day. Ideally also at regular planning meetings (virtual and in-person)

Is a criminal record search (CRS) required?

• No

How much self-direction is expected from the students?

• Deciding on the project deliverable(s): Mostly led by community partner, with some student input
• Developing the activity plan and timeline: Equal leadership between students and community partner
• Scheduling and initiating the communication plan (e.g. weekly Zoom check-in, biweekly email update, etc.): Equal leadership between students and community partner
• Implementing the activity plan (e.g. surveying stakeholder groups): Mostly led by students, with some community partner input
• Finalizing the deliverable(s): Mostly led by students, with some community partner input

Related Volunteering/Community Service Opportunities for Students

• Students are welcome to join the Vancouver Food Justice Coalition as members who may bring forward a youth/student perspective
• These meetings are held every two months and open to all. Contact vanfoodjustice@gmail.com for more information

Required Reading

Project/Partner Orientation Materials

Students should review the following materials prior to the first partner meeting. Additional orientation materials may be provided at the first partner meeting.

• Vancouver Food Strategy (2013)
• Vancouver Food Strategy Progress Report and Action Update (2017)
• Vancouver Park Board Local Food System Action Plan (2021)
• Vancouver Food Justice food sector briefs - request from your TA or the course coordinator. The briefs are not for public sharing as VFJ has not yet developed a public strategy
• Food Justice Town Hall Event Recap (includes video recording)
• Wells, V.S. (2023). Vancouver tells non-profits seeking funding to be "respectful," fuelling free speech concerns

Additional Materials

Network Building

• Thinking Like a Network - Useful Resources (SPARC BC)
• The Partnership Toolkit: Tools for Building and Sustaining Partnerships (SPARC BC)

Event Planning

• Tools for Accessible and Inclusive Event Planning (UBC Equity and Inclusion Office)
• Respectful Dialogues Guide (UBC Equity and Inclusion Office)

Food Policy

• Reimagining & Decolonizing Charity (Indigenous Climate Action)
• Ostenso, V., Dring, C. & Wittman, H. (2020). Planning for whom? Toward culturally inclusive food systems in Metro Vancouver. DOI:10.7551/mitpress/11862.003.0017
• Cohen, N.& Ilieva, R.T. (2020). Expanding the boundaries of food policy: The turn to equity in New York City. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.102012
• Holt-Giménez, E., & Wang, Y. (2011). Reform or transformation? The pivotal role of food justice in the U.S. food movement. Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Contexts. https://doi.org/10.2979/racethmulglocon.5.1.83
• Levcoe, C.Z. (2017). Learning democracy through food justice movements

Vancouver Neighbourhood Food Network blog posts, such as:

• https://vancouverfoodnetworks.com/2023/01/making-food-security-a-city-budget-priority/
• https://vancouverfoodnetworks.com/2022/11/collaborative-policy-development-moving-our-food-justice-priorities-forward-post-vancouver-election/