46 5.7: Nurturing the Roots: Advocating for Changes in the Food System

Did you watch the video interviews by Toyin and Sheldomar? Fill in the following crossword puzzle with terms used in their advice about advocacy.

1. Government-funded budget to empower Black farmers to access the tools they need to empower others.
2. The gigantic monster.
3. Important to have Black folks also taking up positions of power.
4. Programs focused on addressing the need for land, resources, capacity and other resources in order for people in the city to grow food.
5. Food insecurity is part of this bigger problem.

Role Scenario: You are a Public Health Dietitian working in a management role within your region. You manage a team of public health dietitians, health promoters, and public health nurses.

Your department has been working with the local school board to help promote the nutrition of children and youth from junior kindergarten through to grade 12. Your district has a variety of schools located in wealthy and impoverished areas. Your team is aware that there is a higher population of low-income, Black immigrants in the poorer areas. The schools in these areas have been very creative in promoting healthy, culturally affirming foods to the children and their parents. However, the increasing cost of food has worsened food security in the area. Families depending on food banks has increased 300% in the last year.

A few of the schools have informed you that some of the immigrant families have members who are experienced farmers. They are seeking the help of your department to develop programming, policies, and funding to establish local agricultural programs that will help provide food for student programs, agricultural education skills for students, and jobs for community members.

Activity Instructions:

1. Review Regional Policy: Click the link to review the municipal or provincial policies closest to your location from the lists below:
   • Alberta:
     • Community Garden Guidelines (Edmonton) 
     • Community gardens in Calgary
   • British Columbia:
     • Community Garden Policy (Vancouver)
   • Manitoba:
     • Community Garden Policy Winnipeg
     • Community garden setup- Winnipeg
   • Newfoundland and Labrador:
     • 2026-27 Community Garden Support Program Guide
   • Northwest Territories:
     • Growing Forward
   • Nova Scotia:
     • Community Garden handbook – Halifax
   • Ontario:
     • Community Gardens – City of Toronto
     • Urban Agriculture – Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA)
   • PEI:
     • City of Charlottetown Community Garden Policy
     • City of Charlottetown Community Garden handbook
   • Saskatchewan:
     • Community Garden Policy
     • Grow Regina
   • Québec:
     • Jardiner dans les espaces publics
     • Jardins communautaires à RDP-PAT
   • Yukon:
     • City of Dawson Community Garden
     • Yukon Agricultural Funding
2. Brainstorm Program Solutions: List 3-4 creative program ideas for how your public health team can support the schools in achieving their goals.
3. Identify Structural Barriers: What potential barriers to access are caused by the selected policies? (e.g., soil quality standards, urban space limitations, restricted partnerships, barriers to selling urban produce, restrictions on compensating growers)
4. Go Beyond! Don’t let the barriers stop you. What creative ways can you find to confront, work within, or completely bypass these policy barriers to get the community-led farm running?

Educator’s Tip

This is an opportunity to teach students how to use public health strategies and tools to assess, organize, evaluate and communicate their plan through the use of Situational Assessments or Logic Models.  If you are unfamiliar with these tools, the following links may be useful:

• Public Health Ontario “Focus on Logic Models: A Planning and Evaluation Tool”
• Public Health Ontario “Conducting Situational Assessments”