The food movement in Canada: a social movement network perspective

Abstract

In the Global North, there has been increasing analysis of the ways that alternative food initiatives (AFIs) are developing viable, place-based solutions that challenge the corporate-led industrial food system; however, there has been little study of the interrelationships among them. In an effort to better understand the possibilities for food system transformation, this paper builds on existing studies to investigate the increasing collaborations among AFIs occurring through provincial food networks in Canada. I pay particular attention to the attempts to foster and maintain these networks by exploring the history of collaboration since the late 1970s and the development of provincial networking organizations (PNOs) as central to this process. Contrary to assumptions that AFIs act in isolation, I demonstrate that they are part of actual and existing mobilizations through robust social movement networks. Together, these collaborative efforts may be illustrative of a new wave in food activism that is represented by the emergence of a multi-scaled and cross-sectoral ‘food movement’ – a network of networks.

Keywords:

• alternative food initiatives
• food movement
• networks
• Canada
• social movement
• networking organization

I gratefully acknowledge the research support from Melissa Bebee and Sarah Wakefield as well as the valuable feedback on early drafts of this paper from Rebecca Schiff, Lesley Wood, Scott Prudham and the members of the Political Economy and Political Ecology working group at the University of Toronto. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance and support of the activists and academics within the food movement who provided the substance of this paper. This research was financially supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Notes

¹Canada has recognized the right to adequate food as a fundamental human right through multiple international and domestic agreements (see Rideout et al. 2007).

²Besides the four case studies discussed here, there are PNOs in Alberta (Growing Food Security in Alberta, est. 2003), Saskatchewan (Food Secure Saskatchewan, est. 2006), New Brunswick (The New Brunswick Food Security Action Network, est. 2010), Prince Edward Island (The Prince Edward Island Food Security Network, est. 2008), and Newfoundland and Labrador (The Food Security Network of Newfoundland and Labrador, est. 1998). There is also a regional network that has been established in Canada's North (The Northern Food Network, est. 2010).

³The Toronto Food Charter was established through broad citizen participation and adopted by City Council in March 2001. It presents a vision for a just and sustainable food system in the city.

⁴A notable exception was the establishment of the Ontario Public Health Association's Food Security Working Group in 1993 to advocate for the adoption of a provincial food and nutrition strategy. In 2007, the working group received a grant in partnership with the Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition to create FoodNet Ontario as a provincial information hub. However, despite developing the foundations for a broader coalition, FoodNet failed to coalesce into a robust PNO.

⁵Nova Scotia's food costing is part of the National Nutritious Food Basket, which attempts to monitor the cost and affordability of eating a healthy diet. While the project is initiated at the federal level, regional governments develop their own protocols to guide data collection for their jurisdictions.

⁶The Department of Health Promotion, now the Department of Health and Wellness, has provided ongoing funding since this point.

Additional information

Charles Z. Levkoe is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Geography and the Environment at Wilfrid Laurier University. His interdisciplinary research bridges the fields of agricultural, political and social geography along with rural sociology, political science and environmental studies. His current research focuses on alternative food initiatives and the growing food movement's responses to urban and rural food system challenges. This work considers the role of multiple actors, their connection to place and their ability to mobilize across sectors, scales and places.