🌾 Acknowledgement

We extend our deepest gratitude to all contributors for dedicating their time and expertise to engage with this important topic. Special thanks to the director of Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) School of Nutrition, Fiona Yeudall, for their unwavering support. We also acknowledge the invaluable contributions of our team members, both past and present, including the students who initiated this work.

We would like to acknowledge Safeena Jabar, RD, a graduate of the TMU School of Nutrition with a Master of MHSc in Nutrition Communication, for creating the initial version that inspired this Pressbook. While she was still a student, she not only developed a PowerPoint slideshow introducing anti-Black racism in dietetics to educate her peers, but she also successfully persuaded the school to invest in Black dietitians to review and contribute to the work. Furthermore, she advocated for the presentation to serve as a baseline prerequisite, leading to the hiring of a Black dietitian and anti-oppression expert to provide in-class workshops that continue to this day.

The student feedback collected over four years from those engaging with Safeena’s original version directly informed the creation of this finalized resource, An Introduction to Anti-Black Racism in Canadian Nutrition, Food & Dietetics, which will serve nutrition students and professionals across Canada.

Thank you, Safeena, for recognizing that anti-Black racism is not just the Black community’s problem, but a collective human responsibility to dismantle. Thank you also for reminding us that we can use our privileges to uplift others without overshadowing equity-deserving groups. May this text serve as an enduring reminder that individuals can spark significant, systemic change.

In particular, we acknowledge the courage and resilience of those who have been harmed by dietetic practices, alongside the tireless efforts of advocates and researchers in the ongoing fight against anti-Black racism.