Food activism webinar

Ashtonbee Community Food Garden invites you to a panel discussion about food activism on college and university campuses.

Considering an important discussion among students, we decided to keep the event, now virtually. We will be thrilled if you and your students can join us online this March 23 from 10:30 am to 12 pm.

“ About the speakers: Join Joshna Maharaj, author of the book "Take Back the Tray: Revolutionizing Food in Hospitals, Schools and other institutions," to hear her story of how she shifted the food being served on campus to include more local and fresh foods. Jaimie White from MealExchange will also be presenting on how they have organized and worked with students across the country to ensure students have access to the food they need to be successful and how to advocate for fair and local food to be served on campus.”

We are very happy of hosting this event about food activism and to show our concern about students facing food insecurity.

Food Insecurity and the need to fight for social/environmental justice

Food insecurity, which refers to uncertain or inadequate access to food due to financial constraints, is recognized as a serious issue among households in developed countries (Coleman-Jensen, Rabbitt, Gregory, & Singh, 2015; Tarasuk, Mitchell, & Dachner, 2012).

However, aside from recent research on the clients of campus food banks (Farahbakhsh et al., 2015; Hanbazaza, Ball, Farmer, Maximova, & Willows, 2016), there has been a relatively little examination of this issue in the context of Canadian higher education. Financial strain is a common phenomenon among Canadian students (Burley & Awad, 2015) and can create vulnerability to income-related shocks that may affect access to food and other basic needs.

With this acknowledgement, this project has the intention to discuss by bringing experts of food insecurity to Ashtonbee campus to promote ideas and tools to engage the students to create campus food systems that are sustainable, socially just, humane, and healthy. Besides, experts will also invite students to learn how to create an urban garden using small spaces and reflecting the students´realities.

The proposal has a notion that students are well-positioned to look at the resources on their campuses and to redirect them to make positive changes within their communities. The food lives at the intersection of health environment, equity, and a sense of belonging. Food is a powerful mechanism to create change and put the students at the heart of an innovative and prepare to the food system.