Webinar: Understanding Food Sovereignty and Policy Through a Community Lens: Food Systems in Rural and Indigenous Canada

Date and Time

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The Rural Policy Learning Commons is hosting a free webinar titled, "Understanding Food Sovereignty and Policy Through a Community Lens: Food Systems in Rural and Indigenous Canada". The webinar will feature Danielle Robinson and Stephen Penner, both PhD students in Rural Studies from here at the University of Guelph. A brief description of the webinar is listed below: 

The concept of food sovereignty and its connections with diverse rural and Indigenous communities have, until very recently, been underappreciated and unrecognized in government policy. This webinar reviews the concept of food sovereignty and its history, central tenets and contentions. Challenges with institutionalizing food sovereignty are considered, including the challenges in and contributions by diverse rural and Indigenous communities.

The current development of A Food Policy for Canada and the case of Nishnawbe Aski Nations are presented as opportunities to apply rural and Indigenous lenses to questions about how principles of food sovereignty might be recognized and supported by public policy. Policy recommendations that reflect food sovereignty principles and rural and Indigenous priorities are suggested with a focus on the need for democratic engagement, attention to place and power, and value driven actions for food providers, people and nature. Finally, action-oriented, community-driven future research related to the articulation, operationalization and measurement of food sovereignty is proposed.

Panelists:
Danielle Robinson is a PhD Candidate in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph. She lives with her family in the Okanagan region of British Columbia where she is studying the interrelationships between food sovereignty, rural tourism development and cultural sustainability. She also teaches Wine and Food Tourism and Tourism Planning and Development at Okanagan College.

Stephen Penner is born in Montreal, he has worked and travelled across Turtle Island and he finds his current home on Treaty One Land in Winnipeg. He is grateful to find himself as a Ph.D. student at the University of Guelph surrounded and supported by an incredible faculty in Rural Studies. Stephen is honoured to have shared space with many Indigenous Nations; through his work, research and his incredible good fortune, have had these experiences shape his world view. His research and passion is exploring the enormous and complex power that lies in Indigenous Food systems. Building an understanding of the nexus that exist in Indigenous Law, Food Sovereignty and Traditional Stories and how that understanding can facilitate a community recognized food Mino-Pimatsiwin (good life). Stephen’s recent and past has seen work and travel to Eeyou Ishtee- QC, Old Crow-Yukon, Naujaat- NU, Yup’ik Communities- AK, Tuskegee- AL, and the communities of the Nishnawabe Aski Nation-ON.

The upcoming webinar is free to attend, however, registration is requested. Please register here.  The School of Environmental Design and Rural Development is a member of the Rural Policy Learning Commons. 

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