Canadian Journal of Urban Research
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Local Food System Planning: The Problem, Conceptual Issues, and Policy Tools for Local Government Planners
Full text linkLocal food system planning was identified in the late 1990s as an emerging and important urban planning object. Since then, little attention has been placed on identifying a robust and comprehensive understanding of the roles and tools local government can use in addressing their local food systems. The emerging literature identifi es problems with the dominant productionist agricultural system, addresses conceptual issues and often advances normative arguments in support of developing and supporting local food systems, but attention to the practical actions needed to address this issue on the ground have been limited. This paper provides an overview of the reported risks (such as water shortages, climate change, peak oil) associated with our dominant food systems, addresses the lack of attention to the importance of subscales within ‘local’ and definition of ‘local food,’ and it identifies the main reasons for considering local food systems as part of addressing the food system risks. Finally, it presents a policy framework along with tools and roles for local government to address local food systems within each of the framework’s categories. The principal purpose is to help advance the local food system work of planners in their North American communities
Beyond Food Security: Understanding Access to Cultural Food for Urban Indigenous People in Winnipeg as Indigenous Food Sovereignty
Full text linkAccess to safe, affordable and nutritious food is an obstacle facing many Indigenous people in the inner city of Winnipeg, which is known for having vast food deserts. While food security is an urgent social, economic, cultural and health issue for Indigenous people in urban areas, and particularly those living in inner city areas, there are some unique elements of food security related to cultural values. Access to cultural food in urban communities is a challenge for Indigenous people. This paper discusses the results of some preliminary research conducted which explored the experiences and meanings associated with Indigenous cultural food for Indigenous people living in urban communities and the larger goals of what is being called “Indigenous Food Sovereignty” (IFS) with regards to cultural food specifically. When Indigenous people have the skills to practice IFS, a whole range of positive benefits to their social and economic well-being can unfold. Three themes which emerged from this research include (1) growing, harvesting, preparing and eating cultural food as ceremony, (2) cultural food as a part of connection to land through reciprocity and (3) re-learning IFS to address food insecurity in the city
Food, Space and the City: Theorizing the Free Spaces of FoodShare's Good Food Markets
Full text linkThis paper explores a social and spatial (socio-spatial) response to urban food insecurity in Toronto, Ontario as expressed through FoodShare’s Good Food Market (GFM) program. I argue that the GFMs draw on a multi-scalar conception of urban food insecurity to inform a strategy of resistance to the globalized food system and as a means of reducing food insecurity in Toronto. In as much as the GFM markets are relatively fixed places of resistance to the globalized and industrialized food system, I argue they can be more broadly theorized within the free space literature, a product of the confluence of social movement and critical human geography scholarship. Situating the GFM markets within this hybrid theoretical context illuminates strengths and raises cautions of employing place-based scalar strategies in the context of urban food activism
Characterizing Saskatoon’s Food Environment: A Neighbourhood-level Analysis of In-store Fruit and Vegetable Access
Full text linkThis paper evaluates the relationship between in-store food offerings and neighbourhood level socio-economic and demographic characteristics in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, as well as to assess differences in fruit and vegetable access among grocery stores in neighbourhoods of varying socioeconomic status.This study compares measures of the food environment using data based on structured observations, self-reported data and measured data. A census of 116 food stores were measured in Saskatoon’s residential neighbourhoods (n=60), of which 24 were grocery stores. Neighbourhoods were assigned to categories of high, mid and low socioeconomic status (SES) based on the Material and Social Deprivation Index. Proportion of Aboriginal ancestry by neighbourhood was also incorporated into the analysis. High SES neighbourhoods had a higher proportion of grocery stores, of all store types, than mid or low SESneighbourhoods, while low SES neighbourhoods had a much higher proportion of convenience stores compared to mid and high SES neighbourhoods. Overall in-store grocery measures did not vary signifi cantly across neighbourhood-level SES, but did vary by proportion of Aboriginal ancestry. Price and availability of fruits and vegetables varied in low SES neighbourhoods and those with a higher proportion of Aboriginal ancestry. Th is study uncovers a disproportionately high distribution of convenience stores in lower SES neighbourhoods, suggesting that food swamps are prevalent in Saskatoon and confi rms previous research findings of inequities experienced by Aboriginal people in the city. Further research, including more qualitatively-driven data, is necessary to elucidate the complexities of Saskatoon’s food environment