🛠️ Chapter 4: Relevance to Practice
31 4.7: Systemic Barriers in the Food System
Culturally Appropriate Food
“There’s no culture without food”
Culturally Appropriate Food is vital for promoting the health and well-being of communities, particularly within the Black community. It refers to food that aligns with cultural traditions, practices, and nutritional needs, ensuring that individuals have access to diets that support their health and heritage. This topic also intersects with discussions about the nutrient density of foods, which can decline as food travels long distances from its source. Local farming and community engagement in growing culturally relevant foods are essential for maintaining the nutritional quality of diets and supporting health equity.
Video 4.6: Founder of Back to Roots Farms Ltd., Kishon Warmington, discusses the importance of culturally appropriate foods for the health of the Black community. Kishon emphasizes how local farming and culturally aligned practices can support better health outcomes and food sovereignty.
Keywords: Culturally Appropriate Food
Stop and Reflect
Supportive Readings:
Marrero, A., Tamez, M., Rodríguez-Orengo, J. F., & Mattei, J. (2021). The association between purchasing locally produced food and diet quality among adults in Puerto Rico. Public Health Nutrition, 24(13), 4177–4186.
Food Sovereignty
Food sovereignty is a crucial issue that intersects with empowerment, institutionalized racism, and culturally appropriate food practices. It involves ensuring that all individuals have reliable access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs. For Black Canadian farmers, challenges such as gatekeeping, biases, and institutionalized racism can hinder their ability to contribute effectively to the food system and support the nutrition of Black Canadians. Addressing these challenges is essential for improving food security and fostering self-determination within the community.
Video 4.7: Founder of the Canadian Black Farmers Association and the Founder and Executive Director of the Kara-Kata Afrobeat Society of Canada, Toyin Kayo-Ajayi, shares some of the challenges he has faced as a Black Canadian farmer. He discusses his innovative approaches to improving food security and his advocacy for Black food sovereignty.
Keywords: Biases, Community Empowerment, Culturally appropriate food, Empowerment, Food security, Gatekeeping, Institutionalized Racism, Norm
Stop and Reflect
Case Study: Barriers to accessing culturally appropriate foods for the Black Community in Canada
Authors: Toyin Kayo-Ajayi and Jennifer Wilds of the Kara-Kata Afrobeat Society of Canada
Through my experience as a Black farmer in Canada who works to grow culturally appropriate food for the Black community, I have experienced many systemic barriers to bringing this Kara-Kata to life.
Black-led non-profit organizations that serve the local Black community often start off with and have less access to funding compared to white farmers and growers. Grant programs and grant applications do not consider the different cultural needs of our community and this creates more challenges for us to access the funding needed to fulfill our projects.
On one occasion I met with a government grant program to educate them on this issue and how to make these programs and applications more accessible for our community. I expressed the needs of our community and the challenges I have faced in accessing the funding needed by a Black farmer. But they did not believe me. They asked:
“Why is your experience different from any other farmer?” They wanted more proof.
This was a very troubling conversation for me.
After speaking up, I did see a positive result the following year, when the same grant program came out. It seems that the Black community is just not considered in these programs, and it is up to us to educate others on our needs.
Case Study: Structural Racism
One of the only ways to access some of our cultural foods is to import them from Africa or
other countries. Often, once the food arrives in Canada, much of it is spoiled and has to be discarded. Both the importing and waste drive up the price so small Black grocery shop owners must increase the price to cover their loss. This makes access to our foods and supporting Black grocers even more challenging.
These financial barriers lead to even more issues. Many people in the Black, British-Colombian community choose to eat more Western foods because they are more affordable. This has increased our intake of fast foods and highly processed foods. I believe it has resulted in a major decline in our health and well-being.