{"id":29,"date":"2026-10-05T12:56:54","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T16:56:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/rethinkingfoodsecurity\/chapter\/introducing-the-centre-for-studies-in-food-security\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T11:20:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T15:20:36","slug":"introducing-the-centre-for-studies-in-food-security","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/rethinkingfoodsecurity\/chapter\/introducing-the-centre-for-studies-in-food-security\/","title":{"raw":"1. Introduction: Celebrating 30 Years of the Centre for Studies in Food Security","rendered":"1. Introduction: Celebrating 30 Years of the Centre for Studies in Food Security"},"content":{"raw":"

Introduction<\/h2>\r\nThe idea for this book emerged as part of the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Centre for Studies in Food Security (CSFS, or \u201cthe Centre\u201d), situated in the global city of Toronto, Canada\u2019s largest and most diverse metropolis. The Centre was established in 1995, shortly before the dawn of the 21st century, to address growing concerns about hunger and malnutrition in Canada and worldwide. A project emerging from a collaboration between Jennifer Welsh of the School of Nutrition and Mustafa Ko\u00e7 of the Sociology Department at Ryerson University[footnote]Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) has officially changed its name three times over the Centre's timeline: 1993\u20132002: Ryerson Polytechnic University (RPU); 2002\u20132022: Ryerson University (RU); 2022\u2013Present: Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU)[\/footnote], the Centre quickly attracted other researchers, students, and food activists. Over the years, the Centre has grown its network and impact alongside the unfolding of the first quarter of the 21st Century, an era marked by explosive digital transformation and innovation, unprecedented connectivity and globalization, escalating geopolitical conflict, climate change, a global pandemic, mass migration, polarizing social movements, calls for truth and reconciliation, and ongoing and deepening inequalities.\r\n\r\nIn this introduction, we describe the historical context in which the Centre emerged (section I), as well as its main contributions to research, education, policy, community action, and dialogue on food security in Canada (section II). We then consider pervasive challenges and ongoing limitations facing research centres, universities, and higher education institutions in promoting equity and justice (section III). The chapters in this volume, introduced in section IV, reflect the breadth of CSFS members\u2019 research interests and impacts, as well as the multidisciplinary nature of food security as an object of study. We close this introductory chapter (section V) by reflecting on the Centre\u2019s 30-year legacy, the ongoing challenges facing food security, and the collective efforts of those who have contributed to the Centre and our publishing endeavours.\r\n

I - Historical Context of the Centre for Studies in Food Security Launch<\/h2>\r\nFood security, as a policy framework adopted by various international organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), helped define the objectives of the new Centre for Studies in Food Security (CSFS), whose members aimed at working towards a just, sustainable, and healthy food system for all. As discussion of food provisioning conditions in modern market economies emerged around the mid-1970s (United Nations, 1975), food security became a key policy objective at the local, national, and global levels, as well as an analytical framework that guided research agendas. As detailed in Chapter 2 in this volume, the concept of food security (or access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food) is complex and evolving with multiple understandings and related priorities.\r\n\r\nRising concerns about global inequalities, demographic pressures, and changing consumption patterns in the developing world have prompted scrutiny of long-term food security. The optimism of the post-WWII period gave way to a new era of free market liberalism in the 1970s.\u00a0 Neoliberal policies resulted in a decline in industrialization and the relocation of industrial production to countries with lax labour and environmental regulations and lower wages. Growing unemployment and cuts to social programs contributed to higher unemployment rates, rising poverty levels, and food insecurity. A recession began to affect the Canadian economy in the late 1970s. Worried about unemployment, declining farm income, and rising food prices, community organizers established the People's Food Commission in 1977. The Commission's final document, The Land of Milk and Money (People\u2019s Food Commission, 1980), reflected increasing concerns about the decline of family farming, corporate concentration in the agri-food sector, rising food prices, and structural problems within the food system.\r\n\r\nIn 1981, Canada's first food bank, the Edmonton Gleaners Association, opened in Edmonton (Edmonton\u2019s Food Bank, 2021). The first food bank in Toronto, the Daily Bread Food Bank, began operations in 1983. By 1985, there were 94 food banks across Canada. The Canadian Association of Food Banks (later, Food Banks Canada) was established in 1988 (Riches, 2002). Since then, and despite their intended role as temporary emergency responses, food banks have become a growing presence in the lives of many Canadians.\u00a0The 2025 HungerCount Report recorded 2,165,776 visits to 2,725 food banks in March 2025 (Food Banks Canada, 2025). Compared with March 2019 figures, food bank visits increased by 99.37%. These reports are revealing, although they may represent only a portion of Canada's food-insecure population.\r\n\r\nBy 1985, one in six people in Toronto were living in poverty (FoodShare, n.d.), and the crisis was worsening. With the support of Mayor Art Eggleton, FoodShare Toronto was established to donate surplus food to those in need. In 1986, the Toronto Star newspaper quoted MPP Richard Johnston stating, \u201c\u2026 hunger in Metro Toronto has reached \u2018frightening\u2019 proportions and is a glaring indictment of Ontario's social assistance programs\u201d (Contenta, 1986, A1). It went on to quote that when Second Harvest (a program aimed at rescuing surplus food and diverting it to those who need it) first started last April, they distributed 1,133 kilograms (2,500 pounds) of food a month. Less than a year later, the group's 40 volunteers distributed 22,675 kilograms (50,000 pounds) of food in February (Contenta, 1986, A1).\r\n\r\nIn 1987, the Food System Seminar Series was created, bringing together academics from York University, the University of Toronto, and Toronto Metropolitan University (then named Ryerson Polytechnic Institute). The Seminar often hosted researchers from other parts of Canada and the world. As an example, Tim Lang, founder of the London Food Commission in the UK, visited Toronto to contribute to discussions and actions aimed at addressing food security issues (FoodShare, n.d.). Later, in 1997, Tim Lang would be the keynote speaker at the CSFS International Conference on Sustainable Urban Food Security.\r\n\r\nCreated by Toronto City Council in 1990, the Toronto Food Policy Council (TFPC) was proposed as a vehicle for \u201cfood citizenship\u201d (Welsh & MacRae, 1998). The goals of the TFPC were \u201cto address both social justice and sustainability issues, and to provide a mechanism for \u2018food democracy\u2019 or \u2018food citizenship\u2019, which emerges from people\u2019s active participation in shaping the food system, rather than by accepting the system as passive consumers\u201d (Welsh & MacRae, 1998, p. 238). Its first coordinator, Rod MacRae, played a crucial role in highlighting the city's food policy issues. TFPC discussion papers advocated systematic, capacity-building approaches to address food challenges and enhance food security. Jennifer Welsh, from the School of Nutrition at Ryerson University, served as the first Community Co-Chair of TFPC from 1990 to 1992.\r\n\r\nThe CSFS emerged from this history. It was inspired by the work of the People\u2019s Food Commission years earlier, as well as the discussions at the TFPC and at the Food Systems Seminar Series. Its founding members were also driven by a growing concern with the spread of food insecurity in Canada and around the world. Jennifer Welsh was one of its co-founders, and Rod MacRae became one of its first associate members. In the following years, the TFPC and the CSFS collaborated closely, with several other CSFS members also serving on the TFPC. The Centre\u2019s long-standing partnerships with researchers, policymakers, and community organizers throughout Toronto, Canada, and worldwide have shaped much of its research and educational activities over the years.\r\n

II \u2013 CSFS' Main Contributions<\/h2>\r\nSince its inception, the Centre for Studies in Food Security has supported research, professional practice, and community action to enhance food security. Its focus has been on the unique organization and challenges of urban and metropolitan food systems, and on how these systems are interconnected with rural communities, the agricultural sector, and the broader global food system. It has taken a multidisciplinary and systemic approach to the social justice, environmental sustainability, health, and socio-cultural aspects of food security.\r\n

Pillars of Food Security: The 5As Approach<\/h3>\r\nOne of the key contributions of the CSFS has been developing a unique approach to identifying the essential dimensions of food security, identified as the pillars. Pillars refer to mutually distinct, yet interdependent foundational dimensions that together define a complex concept, such as food security. Based on definitional distinctions and emphases on the essential conditions that constitute food security, different organizations have used different pillars of food security. One of the most common models since 2006 was the four pillars of food security used by FAO (2006). Up until the 2020s, FAO\u2019s pillars of food security (availability, access, utilization, and stability) remained the most widely accepted understanding of the concept.\u00a0Food access<\/strong> is the ability of individuals to obtain food for a nutritious diet through their entitlements, the resources and rights (legal, economic, social, and traditional) available to them within their community. Utilization<\/strong> means the body's ability to benefit from food, which depends not only on diet quality but on non-food factors such as clean water, sanitation, and healthcare. Finally, stability<\/strong> requires that access to adequate food be consistent over time and not be undermined by sudden shocks such as economic crises, climate change or recurring conditions such as seasonal scarcity (FAO, 2006).\r\n\r\nWhile embracing FAO\u2019s definition of food security, CSFS adopted a somewhat different approach in identifying the key pillars of food security. The CSFS\u2019s 5As approach includes availability, accessibility, adequacy, acceptability, and agency (CSFS, n.d.). CSFS never claimed intellectual ownership of the 5As model and preferred to develop it collectively with its allies and other researchers (BC Centre for Disease Control, 2022; Chappell, 2018; Council of Canadian Academies, 2014; Garofalo, 2023; Ko\u00e7, 2025; Piaskoski et al., 2020; Second Harvest, 2025).\r\n\r\nAccording to the CSFS 5As approach, availability<\/strong> refers to the need for sufficient, assured, and dependable food supplies within a community or society. It has been the focus of all food security discussions since the post-World War II era. Food availability includes adequate production, storage, and distribution. Historically, ensuring food supply has been challenging due to various natural, societal, and external factors. Natural factors, such as weather conditions and earthquakes, along with social disruptions like wars and financial crises, can undermine a society\u2019s ability to maintain sufficient food supplies.\u00a0Availability is a macro-level concept that ensures food is accessible for a specific region or jurisdiction, not just for a household. Food availability depends on numerous factors, including crop production, livestock farming, fisheries, aquaculture, pollination, and climatic conditions such as rainfall levels. It also considers the availability of other inputs, such as fertilizers, storage capacity, food loss and waste, and internal and international trade flows. Many critiques of the productionist paradigm (Lapp\u00e9 & Lapp\u00e9, 2002) argue that the main problem in achieving food security is not a lack of food availability but issues of access.\r\n\r\nAccessibility<\/strong>: The distribution and access to food are vital aspects of food security. Inequities have caused significant entitlement issues that mirror disparities in class, gender, ethnicity, race, and age, as well as gaps in national and regional development both within and between societies. Even in developed economies, inequalities in food access contribute to food insecurity among marginalized populations. Many observers argue that the main cause of food insecurity in modern society is not a lack of availability but rather the social inequalities that prevent people from accessing \u201clife goods,\u201d such as food, housing, education, transportation, and healthcare. Therefore, addressing accessibility requires considering not only the availability of food but also the factors that hinder certain members of society \u2014 including women, the working poor, racialized and ethnic minorities, the elderly, and people from specific regions \u2014 from obtaining food or forcing some to compromise their diets to afford other essential needs. Famines, wars, and trade embargoes can create availability challenges, but they also limit access for large segments of the population. Even in extreme situations, accessibility is rarely an issue for the privileged.\r\n\r\nAcceptability<\/strong>: Food security implies culturally acceptable foods and distribution systems that uphold human dignity while respecting social and cultural norms. As a vital part of human health and well-being, food and foodways embody humanity's rich social and cultural diversity. Although all definitions of food security highlight availability and accessibility, acceptability is a less-recognized cultural and ethical aspect of food security discussions. This element can also be crucial when addressing food assistance, whether through charitable organizations like food banks or international food aid programmes. Numerous studies show that only 25-30 percent of food-insecure people use food banks and often leave certain items on the sidewalk, as they prefer not to consume them, even when hungry (Loopstra & Tarasuk, 2015; Tarasuk et al., 2020). Food security should not be limited to obtaining enough calories; it also requires access to foods that are culturally familiar and acceptable. For Indigenous peoples, barriers to accessing traditional foods have adversely affected their health and well-being (Power, 2008; Neufeld, 2021). Acceptability also presents challenges in institutional diets, such as those in hospitals (Cass & Charlton, 2022), schools (The Lancet Regional Health \u2013 Americas, 2022), and prisons (Kushmerick-McCune et al., 2024), where \u201ccheap\u201d food often leads to poor health outcomes and significant waste (Anderson & Um, 2017).\r\n\r\nAdequacy<\/strong>: Adequacy refers to a food system that provides nutritious and safe foods to support overall health. Food is a key factor in human health. In this context, food security means not just the availability and accessibility of food, or enough calories, but safe and nutritious options that promote health and wellbeing. Food safety and nutritional quality are among the most important factors in various food policies throughout the 20th century (Lang et al., 2009; Ostry, 2011). Despite this recognition, supermarkets and school food environments are full of highly processed pseudo foods (Monteiro et al., 2025; Scrinis et al., 2025; Winson, 2021). Adequacy also includes the sustainability and resilience of production and distribution systems to ensure long-term food security; protect growers, workers, and eaters from harmful practices; protect biodiversity; and respect nature and all life forms (Rockstr\u00f6m et al., 2025; Schneider et al., 2025). Environmental challenges such as climate change, water scarcity, land degradation, and environmental pollution threaten food security (Blay-Palmer & Ko\u00e7, 2016).\u00a0Overreliance on fossil fuels is another fragility of the food system, given its environmental consequences and supply chain vulnerabilities. Fossil fuels are used in every segment of the food chain as fuel for machinery, fertilizers, pesticides, plastic packaging, ultra-processed foods, transportation and processing (International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems [IPES-Food], 2025).\r\n\r\nAgency<\/strong>: The question of structure and agency has been a central focus of sociology. Structures, described as repeating social patterns often defined by established norms, institutions, social and power inequalities, and various ideologies, set the boundaries for the actions of individuals and social actors. Agency refers to the capacity of individuals, groups, or institutions to act independently and influence their social environment through free choices and deliberate actions (Sewell, 1992). Agency is not merely about freedom of speech or choice but also the capacity to act on desired objectives. Agency is about sovereignty. The concept of agency involves creating an enabling environment and removing barriers for people, communities, and countries to choose and set the conditions for a sustainable food system that fosters community self-reliance and social justice. The history and ongoing experiences of colonized peoples around the world illustrate that food security without sovereignty is impossible (Rotz et al., 2024).\r\n\r\nKey actors also have the agency to influence the processes, structures, and policies that enable or hinder food security in each region and jurisdiction. The actions of various social and institutional players, including traditional elites, political parties, unions, cooperatives, government bodies, and private ventures, directly or indirectly affect conditions in the food system, shape livelihoods, and determine food sovereignty and security within that social setting.\r\n\r\nFigure 1: 5As of Food Security according to the Centre for Studies in Food Security<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_27\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1024\"]\"Figure Figure 1: The five conditions of food security: availability, accessibility, adequacy, acceptability, and agency.[\/caption]\r\n

Unique Approach to Food Security<\/h3>\r\nFollowing its unique contribution to defining pillars of food security, a significant part of the Centre\u2019s research involved critically assessing the meanings of terms such as \u201cfood security\u201d, \u201cfood sovereignty\u201d, \u201cfood democracy\u201d, \u201csustainability\u201d, \u201cresilience\u201d and \u201cfood justice\u201d as articulated by different agencies and social and political actors. Focusing on the dominant structures, institutions, and practices of the agri-food system, CSFS approaches it as an integrated, interrelated whole, from field to table. It sees the food system as part of the broader societal dynamics, arguing that understanding food systems must involve other natural, social, historical, and economic dynamics, such as housing, transportation, education, finance, health, and the environment. CSFS members have studied the impacts of processes such as immigration, urbanization, industrialization, globalization, commodification, corporate concentration, and economic centralization. The consequences of social inequalities and different entitlements in terms of gender, class, indigeneity, race, ethnicity, and citizenship status have continued to shape a critical inquiry into discourses, policies, and practices of food security.\r\n\r\nThe CSFS has understood food insecurity as a problem particularly crucial for the most marginalized, most oppressed, and silenced segments of society. The fundamental cause of hunger is deprivation and poverty. In market economies, where food and other essentials of life are treated as commodities, food insecurity often affects those who lack access to land and other means of production. This includes those who cannot find work to support themselves and their families. This includes those who, despite having a job, do not earn enough to access essential services (e.g., housing, energy, transportation, health, education). Those who cannot work for various health reasons or cannot find work due to market conditions. Those who are marginalized because of their Indigeneity, race, gender, ethnicity, or refugee status. Additionally, people without citizenship rights and food sovereignty suffer food insecurity and hunger.\r\n

A Hub for Knowledge Production and Dissemination<\/h3>\r\nIn addition to research and education, the CSFS has initiated, supported, and promoted many spaces for dialogue and partnerships among academics, civil society, private organizations, and the public sector. In 2002, the Centre proposed a post-baccalaureate certificate, based on the pressing need for education and thoughtful reflection on issues of food security. The Certificate in Food Security (see Chapter 12 in this volume) pioneered education in food security from the perspective of the 5 A\u2019s in a food systems approach. Since 2003, the certificate has attracted students from around the world, building a growing international network of food security experts who continue to collaborate and learn from each other. For a very long time, it was the only program of its kind in North America and the only online program of its kind in the world. The Certificate helped pioneer both course content and delivery, transforming and accelerating research and knowledge in food security studies.\r\n\r\nThe Centre has hosted several national and international meetings, and engaged with food security initiatives at local, regional and global levels. Some key meetings hosted by the CSFS include: the International Conference on Sustainable Urban Food Systems in 1997 (Ko\u00e7 et al., 1999); Working Together Conference: Civil Society Input for Food Security in Canada in 2001 (Ko\u00e7 & MacRae, 2001); International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and CSFS Workshops on Urban Agriculture in 2004; Encounter in Food Security: Canada, Brazil, Angola in 2006; and the international conference Feeding Cities: Rural-Urban Connections and the Future of Family Farming in 2014.\r\n\r\nIn the late 1990s and early 2000s, the CSFS managed mailing lists for groups such as the Toronto Food Research Network, the Canadian Food Security Network, and Food Democracy to facilitate dialogue, share information, and promote joint action among Canadian civil society organizations working toward food security. These lists preceded two important organizations that the CSFS helped create: Food Secure Canada and the Canadian Association for Food Studies.\r\n\r\nFood Secure Canada (FSC), an alliance of organizations across Canada working together to advance food security and food sovereignty, was formed following the Working Together Conference at Ryerson University in 2001. CSFS Co-Director Mustafa Ko\u00e7 served as Chair of the Steering Committee during FSC's first year. The Centre hosted FSC\u2019s 9th Assembly in October 2016 at Ryerson University.\r\n\r\nThe Canadian Association for Food Studies (CAFS) was founded at Ryerson University in April 2005 to strengthen networks of food-focused researchers, practitioners, and community advocates through interdisciplinary food systems research and advocacy. As the publisher of the Canadian Food Studies journal, CAFS has become the leading Canadian organization in food studies. The Centre provided a home for CAFS in its formative years, and CSFS members Mustafa Ko\u00e7 (President) and Fiona Yeudall (Treasurer) served on CAFS's Executive Committee during the 2005-2008 term. Mustafa received the CAFS Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. CAFS had its Annual General Meeting at Ryerson University in 2017 as part of the Congress of the Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences. Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lawrence MacAulay, announced the federal government\u2019s commitment to a Food Policy for Canada at that meeting.\r\n\r\nThe CSFS has been an advocate of Indigenous and Black food sovereignty. Locally, the Centre has collaborated with and steadfastly supported the Afri-Can FoodBasket for 25 years, an initiative that led to the establishment of the Black Food Sovereignty Alliance, a leading voice and mobilizer in addressing food insecurity through processes that emphasize food justice, anti-Black racism, and sovereignty. The Black Food Sovereignty Alliance advocated for a strategy. It worked with the City of Toronto\u2019s Confronting Anti-Black Racism unit to build and launch the Black Food Sovereignty Plan, the first of its kind in Canada. It aimed at advancing food sovereignty issues affecting Black communities in the Greater Toronto Area and beyond (see Chapter 9 in this volume). The CSFS hosted the launch of the Black Food Sovereignty food strategy and food policy recommendations in 2023.\r\n\r\nOver the years, CSFS researchers have also worked with partners around the world and hosted many international scholars from Brazil, countries in Europe, Mexico, T\u00fcrkiye, and Vietnam. Of particular note has been the Centre\u2019s partnership with scholars, civil society organizations, and members of the public sector in Brazil, largely led by Cecilia Rocha, who served as the Director of the CSFS from 2005 to 2010 and again from 2019 to 2021. This collaboration has led to many mutual learnings (see Chapter 6 in this volume as an example) and the development of the Betinho Project, which celebrates the life and work of Brazilian activist Herbert \u201cBetinho\u201d de Souza (1935-1997), who lived in Toronto as a political refugee during the military dictatorship in Brazil in the 1970s. A separate book celebrating the 30th anniversary of the CSFS (Rocha & Moraes, 2026) presents a sample of themes developed by partners in the Betinho Project, illustrating Betinho\u2019s legacy of the fight for social justice and food security in Brazil.\r\n\r\nFigure 2: Timeline of Key Activities Related to the Centre for Studies in Food Security<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_28\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"721\"]\"Timeline Figure 2. Key milestones in the Centre for Studies in Food Security\u2019s history, from its founding in 1995 to the publication of two food security volumes in 2026.[\/caption]\r\n

III - Ongoing Challenges and Limitations in Promoting Equity and Justice<\/h2>\r\nThe Centre is a university institution, and it is prudent to recognize that higher education institutions emerged within colonial systems of power and continue to reflect neo-colonial structures, practices and ways of knowing that reproduce imbalances of power, influence, visibility and resource distribution. Higher-education institutions have a history of promoting European and North American worldviews and colonial logics as universal knowledge, while marginalizing African, Indigenous and other non-Western knowledge systems. This occurs through curricula that is dominated by Euro-centric intellectual traditions, a lack of representation from racialized scholars, limited attention to culture in research methods and teaching, and inadequate recognition or long-term resourcing of community knowledge (Husbands et al., 2026; Stein, 2022). Research is also often driven by the priorities of government and industry funders from the global North, and can be \u2018extractive\u2019 in nature.\r\n\r\nBothello & Bonfim (2025) explain that research is extractive when communities being studied receive little in return, and\/or there is inequitable sharing of data\/knowledge, professional, financial and reputational benefits, and\/or authority. They call for greater reciprocity, accountability, and community benefit within and across research and knowledge mobilization practices.\r\n\r\nOf course, universities and higher education institutions also serve as vital sites where colonialism and oppression are critically examined and challenged, and marginalized perspectives are acknowledged and amplified along with calls for greater social justice. As Enslin and Hedge (2024) summarize, higher education institutions have made efforts to decolonize their practices through revising curricula to include diverse knowledge traditions, interrogating institutional ties to land dispossession, slavery and other colonial projects; (talks of) divesting from socially and environmentally exploitative industries; and developing more equitable partnerships with communities and local leaders. They argue that real change requires going beyond curriculum modifications, and underscore the stronghold neoliberalism has on the strategies and budget allocations of contemporary universities, resulting in \u2018superficial\u2019, ad-hoc, or temporary attempts to strengthen equity and justice. Ahmed\u2019s seminal work warns that these kinds of initiatives can amount to little more than institutional performance while underlying power structures remain largely intact (2012).\r\n\r\nAcross Toronto Metropolitan University, where the CSFS is embedded, several strategies have been pursued simultaneously, ranging from short-term, ad hoc initiatives to more significant resource investments aimed at durable change. Examples include curriculum reforms, the creation of the Yellowhead Institute (an Indigenous-led research centre), dedicated funding for hiring Black and Indigenous faculty, well-focused programs for graduate and postdoctoral fellows, the creation of a Global Migration Institute, and renaming the university itself (which was formerly Ryerson after Egerton Ryerson, whose educational framework and recommendations heavily influenced the design of Canada\u2019s Indian residential school system).\r\n\r\nThe CSFS has directed resources and support to the Black Food Sovereignty Alliance by providing student co-op or intern positions to build capacity, providing office space, creating affiliate memberships for Black community leaders, and advocating for access to library and other university resources, such as conference space and tech support. The Centre also advocated for university funding to support a Food Policy Fellow position, providing a salary stipend, research resources, and event support to a community leader and scholar within the Black Food Sovereignty movement. Notably, the resources secured could fund this position for only one year. The Centre has also channelled resources and advocated for greater university support of a catered launch event for the Black Food Sovereignty policy paper, which foregrounded Black community leadership and community engagement.\r\n\r\nWhile such forms of support are important and have their benefits, Black and Indigenous communities continue to be relegated to precarious, impermanent positions with short-term, uncertain resourcing. Or, in the case of long-term hiring and resource commitments, individuals are often brought into workplace cultures that place much of the \u201cequity and justice portfolio\u201d on faculty who are already experiencing and living the consequences of systemic injustices. As Husbands and colleagues (2026) have argued, merely hiring Black scholars into a system that remains fundamentally anti-Black may challenge the salience of those scholars\u2019 commitment to Black communities \u2013 they progress through a reward system built on individual accomplishment (i.e., grants and publications) disconnected from the wellbeing and welfare of Black communities. Husbands and his co-authors argue that community-based and community-led institutions, movements, and networks must also be appropriately and equitably resourced through mechanisms that ground expertise in collective self-determination. This approach will support Black scholars and community stakeholders to collaboratively champion the ideas and interventions instrumental to achieving health and wellbeing among Black communities. In other words, systems that train and support researchers must be redesigned as investments in community health and wellbeing rather than simply as investments in universities and research that thwart Black people\u2019s wellbeing (Husbands et al., 2026). The universities in which research centres and institutes are embedded must better account for how their structures, governance and budgeting practices continue to sustain the effects and consequences of coloniality, capitalist exploitation and related inequalities (Enslin & Hedge, 2024).\r\n

IV \u2013 About This Volume<\/h2>\r\nWe are proud to share with you, our readers, the outcome of many hours of writing, revising, consulting, and collaborating that brought this project to fruition. Our aim is to provide an accessible introduction for students who are new to the study of food security, while also inviting established researchers, educators, and practitioners to engage with diverse and emerging perspectives on food security in Canada.\r\n\r\nThe Chapters in this volume offer a glimpse into the myriad areas of research, perspectives, and approaches to understanding food security represented in the work of members of the Centre for Studies in Food Security. Across these contributions, authors trace histories, confront points of contention, highlight persistent injustices, and identify strategies that have been\u2014or could be\u2014used to advance a more socially just and equitable society. At times, these conversations are uncomfortable; in some instances, they are contradictory. Yet, the Chapters across this volume largely read as companion pieces, complementing and challenging one another while bringing a diversity of voices and perspectives to conversations about food security in Canada.\r\n\r\nSection 1: Debating Food Security<\/strong> examines food security as a contested concept whose shifting definition reflects broader transformations in global systems and competing visions of how food systems should be governed. Chapter 1: Changing Discourses of Food Security<\/strong><\/em>, by Mustafa Ko\u00e7, unpacks how food security has been a key concept in defining the conditions of food provisioning in modern market economies. This Chapter examines the evolution of food security as a discourse that legitimizes institutional practices and the social consequences of the food system. By reviewing changes in the social and political organization of modern capitalist societies and corresponding changes in the food system in the 20th Century, the Chapter demonstrates how shifts in food security\u2019s definition reflect shifting priorities across global economies. Chapter 2: A Table for All: Reimagining \u201cCulturally Appropriate Food\u201d Through an Interdisciplinary Dialogue<\/strong><\/em>, by Yukari Seko and Jennifer Brady, examines the concept of \u201cculturally appropriate food\u201d in relation to food security. This chapter shows that while the term is increasingly recognized in policy and practice, it is often treated as a supplementary concern for culturally \"othered\" populations rather than a core dimension of food security. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives from health communication and dietetics, this Chapter challenges the assumption that dominant Anglo-European foodways are culturally neutral. Instead, they argue that food practices and policies are culturally situated and shaped by relations of power, including race, class, gender, migration, and ability.\r\n\r\nSection 2: Food Policy and Practice<\/strong> examines how public policy can effectively address food insecurity and transform food systems. Chapter 4: Policy Instrument Considerations for Food System Change<\/strong><\/em>, by Rod MacRae, unpacks a wide range of policy instruments for shaping markets, influencing behaviour, establishing legal frameworks, and advancing public policy objectives. This Chapter examines the classic dilemmas of policy instrument choice and design, exploring the trade-offs that influence effectiveness across a range of intervention strategies. It argues that meaningful food system transformation requires coherent mixes of complementary policy instruments tailored to complex social, environmental, and economic objectives, rather than reliance on isolated or voluntary measures. Chapter 5: From Charity to Justice: Using Arts-based Knowledge Mobilization and Research Creation for Effective Food Insecurity Solutions<\/strong><\/em>, by Elaine Power, Amanda White, Jennifer Brady, Jennifer Black, and Dian Day, recognizes that evidence alone rarely drives policy change and that there is a need to reshape public narratives to build support for structural solutions to food insecurity. Drawing on theories of policy change, political economy, and knowledge mobilization, the Chapter proposes arts-based knowledge mobilization (ABKM) and research-creation as innovative strategies for reframing public understandings of appropriate responses to food insecurity from charity to justice. Chapter 6: How Brazil\u2019s National School Food Programme Aligns with the Six Principles Announced in Canada\u2019s First National School Food Policy<\/strong><\/em>, by Cecilia Rocha, Luciene Burlandy, Roseane Sampaio and Patr\u00edcia Camacho Dias, illustrates how comprehensive, rights-based public policies can simultaneously improve food security, public health, local economies, and social equity. Using Brazil's National School Food Programme as an example, the chapter shows how school food initiatives in Canada can improve child nutrition, while also strengthening local food systems and advancing broader social, environmental, and economic policy goals. Brazil's experience offers valuable lessons for implementing Canada's emerging national school food programme.\r\n\r\nSection 3: Community Action and Representation<\/strong> foregrounds the voices, knowledge, and leadership of communities historically marginalized within food systems scholarship, policy, and practice. Chapter 7: Decolonial and Intersectional Dimensions of Food Security in the 21st Century<\/strong><\/em> by Ryan Antonio, Louise Huneault, Andrea Moraes and Gertrude Omoro demonstrates the enduring value of using an intersectional and decolonial lens to examine food security in the 21st century. This chapter examines food agency through the historical and contemporary experiences of Black and Indigenous peoples; questions contemporary measurements of poverty and food insecurity and their implications for senior women; and explores the complexity of food insecurity among transgender communities in Canada. Chapter 8: Haudenosaunee Worldviews of Food Sovereignty, Governance and Security: Towards More Just and Sustainable Food Systems<\/strong><\/em>, by Sandra Juutilainen, Deyowidront (Teri) Morrow, Jennifer Yessis, Rhona M. Hanning, Bonnie Freeman and Samridhi Sharma, explores Haudenosaunee perspectives on food sovereignty, governance, and food security. Drawing on interviews with community leaders from Six Nations of the Grand River, and using a strengths-based qualitative approach informed by Two-Eyed Seeing, the Two Row Wampum research paradigm, and the Five Rs of Indigenous research, this Chapter examines how community-led food initiatives contribute to healing, cultural continuity, and self-determined food systems. Chapter 9: Towards Food Sovereignty for Black Communities in Toronto: Rights, Self-determination, and the Pursuit of Justice,<\/strong><\/em> by Mayet Zegeye, Anan Lololi, Queen Zawditu Selassie, and Winston Husbands, demonstrates how Black communities in Canada experience exceptionally high rates of food insecurity, yet their experiences are often marginalized within mainstream discourses about food policy and research. This Chapter argues that food insecurity among Black communities is embedded within a social system that undermines Black people\u2019s wellbeing broadly. Drawing on the history of the Afri-Can FoodBasket (AFB), the Chapter traces the evolution of Black-led responses to food insecurity in Toronto from emergency food access initiatives to a broader movement for food sovereignty. Chapter 10: Evolving Food System Challenges, Opportunities and Understandings for Supporting Immigrant Wellbeing and Inclusion<\/strong><\/em> by Jenelle Regnier-Davies & Sara Edge demonstrates that immigrants in Canada experience disproportionately high rates of food insecurity, yet discussions of immigrant food security have traditionally emphasized vulnerability, settlement challenges, and barriers to food access. This chapter argues for a broader perspective that recognizes the assets, agency, and innovations immigrant communities contribute to local food systems. Drawing on contemporary literature and two community-based case studies from Toronto's inner suburbs\u2014the Rexdale Community Hub and the Scarborough Food Security Initiative\u2014the chapter examines how immigrant-serving organizations are reshaping food system governance through culturally responsive, community-led initiatives.\r\n\r\nLastly, Part 4.<\/strong> Advancing Food Security Through Teaching, Research, and Public Engagement<\/strong> highlights the Centre's enduring contributions through two initiatives that embody its commitment to innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and community engagement. Chapter 11: Learning About Green Roof Design and Farming in Toronto<\/strong><\/em>, by June Komisar, examines the evolution of rooftop agriculture in Toronto, highlighting how policy, design, education, and research have enabled productive green roofs. Focusing on Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) as a case study, the chapter traces the development of rooftop farming from early architectural proposals and municipal green roof policies to the establishment of the TMU Urban Farm as a living laboratory for research, teaching, and community engagement. Chapter 12: The Certificate in Food Security: Teaching Agents of Change<\/strong><\/em>, by Joe Nasr, unpacks the history of the Certificate in Food Security at Toronto Metropolitan University as the first university-level program dedicated to food security as a comprehensive, interdisciplinary field of study. This chapter traces the Certificate's origins, evolution, and enduring impact over more than two decades, highlighting institutional partnerships, pedagogical innovations, and collaborative curriculum development that enabled the creation of a pioneering educational program grounded in the Centre for Studies in Food Security's 5As of food security.\r\n

V \u2013 Final Words<\/h2>\r\nWe aimed to complete and release this book to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Centre for Studies in Food Security (CSFS), which took place in 2025. Our original call for contributions generated more submissions than we could accommodate in a single book, leading to the development of two volumes: (1) Rethinking Food Security in the 21st Century: Contemporary Trends, Policy and Agency<\/em> and (2) Agency for Food Security in Brazil: Social Mobilization, Participation and Public Policy<\/em>.\r\n\r\nThroughout its history, the CSFS has accomplished a great deal with relatively few resources, and developing these books was no exception. Published by the CSFS through TMU Pressbooks, these two volumes are a testament to the energy, commitment, and generosity of the colleagues, friends, students, and allies who have sustained the Centre over the past 30 years. Completing them took many months of work and considerable unpaid labour, and we are deeply grateful to everyone who contributed their time, knowledge, and care to the process.\r\n\r\nAs editors, we established the themes and format of the volumes and supported contributors from submitting their initial abstracts in the summer of 2024 through publication in the fall of 2026. We organized collaborative book-writing sessions for each volume, providing opportunities to discuss chapter ideas, identify connections across contributions, and collectively consider the broader aims of the books. Authors also participated in a peer-review process, reading one another\u2019s chapters and providing constructive feedback to their fellow contributors. The chapters were finalized in winter 2025\/2026, followed by about six months of editing and copyediting. We did not seek to impose a single perspective on contributors; rather, the chapters reflect their varied professional backgrounds, lived experiences, areas of expertise, and unique insights. The CSFS has always been more than any one person, project, or perspective; it is the sum of the people and relationships that have shaped it. These volumes reflect that same spirit.\r\n\r\nOver the past 30 years, the CSFS has created spaces for collaboration, debate, research, learning, and action, and we have been fortunate to work alongside many remarkable people. There is much to celebrate; we cannot claim that three decades of collective labour have produced a food-secure world. Many of the challenges that motivated the creation of the CSFS remain, while new and increasingly complex challenges continue to emerge.\r\n\r\nThese two volumes therefore look both backward and forward. They offer readers insights into what has been learned and accomplished over the past three decades while also asking what will be required to advance food security in Canada, Brazil, and beyond. Climate change, economic instability, artificial intelligence, war, displacement, and natural disasters will continue to reshape food systems and create new challenges in the decades ahead. Yet these challenges also underscore the importance of collective action, critical scholarship, community knowledge, and public engagement that have characterized the CSFS since its beginning.\r\n\r\nAs we mark 30 years of the Centre for Studies in Food Security, we hope these volumes contribute to that ongoing work. Above all, we hope they encourage continued collaboration toward a more peaceful world, just and sustainable food systems, and the realization of healthy, culturally appropriate, and sufficient food for all.\r\n

References<\/h2>\r\nAhmed, S. (2012). On being included: Racism and diversity in institutional life<\/em>. Duke University Press.\r\n\r\nAnderson, L., & Um, S. G. (2017). Food in institutional settings in Ontario: Health equity perspectives [PDF]<\/em><\/a>. Wellesley Institute.\r\n\r\nBC Centre for Disease Control. (2022). Defining food security and food insecurity in British Columbia: Process background<\/em>.<\/a>\r\n\r\nBlay-Palmer, A., & Ko\u00e7, M. (2016). Imagining sustainable food systems: The path to regenerative food systems. In Imagining sustainable food systems<\/em> (pp. 223\u2013246). Routledge.\r\n\r\nBothello, J., & Bonfim, L. (2025). Marginalized communities and the problem of research extraction<\/a>. Journal of Management Studies, 62<\/em>(1), 526\u2013532.\r\n\r\nCass, A. R., & Charlton, K. E. (2022). Prevalence of hospital-acquired malnutrition and modifiable determinants of nutritional deterioration during inpatient admissions: A systematic review of the evidence<\/a>. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 35<\/em>(6), 1043\u20131058.\r\n\r\nChappell, M. J. (2018). Beginning to end hunger: Food and the environment in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and beyond<\/em>. University of California Press.\r\n\r\nContenta, S. (1986, March 14). \u2018Frightening\u2019 level of hunger in Metro MPP claims<\/em>. Toronto Star, A1.\r\n\r\nCouncil of Canadian Academies. (2014). Aboriginal food security in Northern Canada: An assessment of the state of knowledge [PDF]<\/em><\/a>. Expert Panel on the State of Knowledge of Food Security in Northern Canada.\r\n\r\nCSFS. (n.d.). The 5As of food security<\/a>. <\/em>Centre for Studies in Food Security.\r\n\r\nEdmonton\u2019s Food Bank. (2021). A look back at Canada\u2019s first food bank<\/em><\/a>. Edmonton's Food Bank.\r\n\r\nEnslin, P., & Hedge, N. (2024). Decolonizing higher education: The university in the new age of empire<\/a>. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 58<\/em>(2\u20133), 227\u2013241.\r\n\r\nFAO. (2006). Food security: Policy brief [PDF].<\/a> <\/em>FAO Agricultural and Development Economics Division.\r\n\r\nFood Banks Canada. (2025). HungerCount 2025<\/em><\/a>. Food Banks Canada.\r\n\r\nFoodShare. (n.d.). FoodShare is born<\/em><\/a>. FoodShare.\r\n\r\nGarofalo, S. N. (2023). Food security advocacy and activism among post-secondary students: A case study of Lakehead University<\/em> [Master\u2019s thesis, Lakehead University]. Lakehead University Knowledge Commons.\r\n\r\nHusbands, W., Antabe, R., & James, C. E. (2026). Black emancipation and the burden of Canada\u2019s HIV epidemic among Black communities<\/a>. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities<\/em>.\r\n\r\nIPES (2025). Fuel to fork: What will <\/em>i<\/em><\/a>t take to get fossil fuels out of our food systems?<\/a><\/em>International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems.\r\n\r\nKo\u00e7, M. (2025). The Centre for Studies in Food Security and 5As<\/em><\/a>. Food Politics.\r\n\r\nKo\u00e7, M., & MacRae, R. (Eds.). (2001). Working together: Civil society working for food security in Canada<\/em><\/a>. Media Studies Working Group, Toronto Metropolitan University.\r\n\r\nKo\u00e7, M., MacRae, R., Mougeot, L. J. A., & Welsh, J. (Eds.). (1999). For hunger-proof cities: Sustainable urban food systems<\/a>. <\/em>International Development Research Centre.\r\n\r\nKushmerick-McCune, B., Ingel, S. N., Bauer, C., & Rudes, D. S. (2024). Hunger, health, and harm: Perceptions of prison food, medical care, and well-being. In Handbook on contemporary issues in health, crime, and punishment<\/em> (pp. 258\u2013273). Routledge.\r\n\r\nLang, T., Barling, D., & Caraher, M. (2009). Food policy: Integrating health, environment and society<\/em>. Oxford University Press.\r\n\r\nLapp\u00e9, F. M., & Lapp\u00e9, A. (2002). Hope\u2019s edge: The next diet for a small planet<\/em>. Tarcher\/Putnam.\r\n\r\nLoopstra, R., & Tarasuk, V. (2015). Food bank usage is a poor indicator of food insecurity: Insights from Canada<\/a>. Social Policy and Society, 14<\/em>(3), 443\u2013455.\r\n\r\nMonteiro, C. A., Louzada, M. L., Steele-Martinez, E., Cannon, G., Andrade, G. C., Baker, P., Bes-Rastrollo, M., Bonaccio, M., Gearhardt, A., Khandpur, N., Kolby, M., Levy, R., Machado, P., Moubarac, J.C., Rezende, L., Rivera, J., Scrinis, G., Srour, B., Swinburn, B., Touvier, M. (2025). Ultra-processed foods and human health: The main thesis and the evidence<\/a>. The Lancet, 406<\/em>(10520), 2667\u20132684.\r\n\r\nNeufeld, H. T. (2021). Evolving understanding of traditional foods: Integrating individual knowledge and community practice. In M. Ko\u00e7, J. Sumner, & A. Winson (Eds.), Critical perspectives in food studies<\/em> (3rd ed., pp. 45\u201358). Oxford University Press.\r\n\r\nOstry, A. S. (2011). Nutrition policy in Canada, 1870\u20131939<\/em>. UBC Press.\r\n\r\nPeople\u2019s Food Commission. (1980). The land of milk and money: The national report of the People\u2019s Food Commission [PDF]<\/em><\/a>. Between the Lines.\r\n\r\nPiaskoski, A., Reilly, K., & Gilliland, J. (2020). A conceptual model of rural household food insecurity: A qualitative systematic review and content analysis<\/a>. Family & Community Health, 43<\/em>(4), 296\u2013312.\r\n\r\nPower, E. (2008). Conceptualizing food security for Aboriginal people in Canada<\/a>. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 99<\/em>(2), 95\u201397.\r\n\r\nRiches, G. (2002). Food banks and food security: Welfare reform, human rights and social policy. Lessons from Canada?<\/a> Social Policy & Administration, 36<\/em>(6), 648\u2013663.\r\n\r\nRocha, C., & Moraes, A. (Eds.). (2026). Agency for food security in Brazil: Social movements, participation and public policy<\/em>. Toronto Metropolitan Pressbooks.\r\n\r\nRockstr\u00f6m, J., Thilsted, S. H., Willett, W. C., Gordon, L. J., Herrero, M., Hicks, C. C., . . . DeClerck, F. (2025). The EAT\u2013Lancet Commission on healthy, sustainable, and just food systems<\/a>. The Lancet, 406<\/em>(10512), 1625\u20131700.\r\n\r\nRotz, S., Levkoe, C., Stiegman, M., Ko\u00e7, M., Singh, I., Ajl, M., Al Masri, Y., & Podur, J. (2024). From Palestine to Turtle Island: Food as a weapon of colonialism and tool of liberation<\/a>. Canadian Food Studies\/La Revue canadienne des \u00e9tudes sur l\u2019alimentation, 11<\/em>(3), 43\u201364.\r\n\r\nSchneider, K. R., Remans, R., Bekele, T. H., Aytekin, D., Conforti, P., Dasgupta, S., . . . Fanzo, J. (2025). Governance and resilience as entry points for transforming food systems in the countdown to 2030<\/a>. Nature Food, 6<\/em>(1), 105\u2013116.\r\n\r\nScrinis, G., Popkin, B. M., Corvalan, C., Duran, A. C., Nestle, M., Lawrence, M., Baker, P., Monteiro, C., Millett, C., Moubarac, J. C., Jaime, P., & Khandpur, N. (2025). Policies to halt and reverse the rise in ultra-processed food production, marketing, and consumption<\/a>. The Lancet, 406<\/em>(10520), 2685\u20132702.\r\n\r\nSecond Harvest. (2025, January 30). Understanding food security in Canada: The Five A framework<\/em><\/a>. Second Harvest.\r\n\r\nSewell, W. H., Jr. (1992). A theory of structure: Duality, agency, and transformation<\/a>. American Journal of Sociology, 98<\/em>(1), 1\u201329.\r\n\r\nStein, S. (2022). Unsettling the university: Confronting the colonial foundations of US higher education<\/em>. Johns Hopkins University Press.\r\n\r\nTarasuk, V., St-Germain, A. A. F., & Loopstra, R. (2020). The relationship between food banks and food insecurity: Insights from Canada<\/a>. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 31<\/em>(5), 841\u2013852.\r\n\r\nThe Lancet Regional Health \u2013 Americas. (2022). Unhealthy school meals: A solution to hunger or a problem for health?<\/a> The Lancet Regional Health \u2013 Americas<\/em>, 16, 100413.\r\n\r\nUnited Nations. (1975). Report of the World Food Conference, Rome, 5\u201316 November 1974<\/em><\/a>. United Nations.\r\n\r\nWelsh, J., & MacRae, R. (1998). Food citizenship and community food security: Lessons from Toronto, Canada<\/a>. Canadian Journal of Development Studies\/Revue canadienne d'\u00e9tudes du d\u00e9veloppement, 19<\/em>(4), 237\u2013255.\r\n\r\nWinson, A. (2021). Supermarkets, high schools, and pseudo foods: The role of obesogenic food environments in promoting a Canadian health crisis. In M. Ko\u00e7, J. Sumner, & A. Winson (Eds.), Critical perspectives in food studies<\/em> (3rd ed., pp. 192\u2013209). Oxford University Press.","rendered":"

Introduction<\/h2>\n

The idea for this book emerged as part of the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Centre for Studies in Food Security (CSFS, or \u201cthe Centre\u201d), situated in the global city of Toronto, Canada\u2019s largest and most diverse metropolis. The Centre was established in 1995, shortly before the dawn of the 21st century, to address growing concerns about hunger and malnutrition in Canada and worldwide. A project emerging from a collaboration between Jennifer Welsh of the School of Nutrition and Mustafa Ko\u00e7 of the Sociology Department at Ryerson University[1]<\/sup><\/a>, the Centre quickly attracted other researchers, students, and food activists. Over the years, the Centre has grown its network and impact alongside the unfolding of the first quarter of the 21st Century, an era marked by explosive digital transformation and innovation, unprecedented connectivity and globalization, escalating geopolitical conflict, climate change, a global pandemic, mass migration, polarizing social movements, calls for truth and reconciliation, and ongoing and deepening inequalities.<\/p>\n

In this introduction, we describe the historical context in which the Centre emerged (section I), as well as its main contributions to research, education, policy, community action, and dialogue on food security in Canada (section II). We then consider pervasive challenges and ongoing limitations facing research centres, universities, and higher education institutions in promoting equity and justice (section III). The chapters in this volume, introduced in section IV, reflect the breadth of CSFS members\u2019 research interests and impacts, as well as the multidisciplinary nature of food security as an object of study. We close this introductory chapter (section V) by reflecting on the Centre\u2019s 30-year legacy, the ongoing challenges facing food security, and the collective efforts of those who have contributed to the Centre and our publishing endeavours.<\/p>\n

I – Historical Context of the Centre for Studies in Food Security Launch<\/h2>\n

Food security, as a policy framework adopted by various international organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), helped define the objectives of the new Centre for Studies in Food Security (CSFS), whose members aimed at working towards a just, sustainable, and healthy food system for all. As discussion of food provisioning conditions in modern market economies emerged around the mid-1970s (United Nations, 1975), food security became a key policy objective at the local, national, and global levels, as well as an analytical framework that guided research agendas. As detailed in Chapter 2 in this volume, the concept of food security (or access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food) is complex and evolving with multiple understandings and related priorities.<\/p>\n

Rising concerns about global inequalities, demographic pressures, and changing consumption patterns in the developing world have prompted scrutiny of long-term food security. The optimism of the post-WWII period gave way to a new era of free market liberalism in the 1970s.\u00a0 Neoliberal policies resulted in a decline in industrialization and the relocation of industrial production to countries with lax labour and environmental regulations and lower wages. Growing unemployment and cuts to social programs contributed to higher unemployment rates, rising poverty levels, and food insecurity. A recession began to affect the Canadian economy in the late 1970s. Worried about unemployment, declining farm income, and rising food prices, community organizers established the People’s Food Commission in 1977. The Commission’s final document, The Land of Milk and Money (People\u2019s Food Commission, 1980), reflected increasing concerns about the decline of family farming, corporate concentration in the agri-food sector, rising food prices, and structural problems within the food system.<\/p>\n

In 1981, Canada’s first food bank, the Edmonton Gleaners Association, opened in Edmonton (Edmonton\u2019s Food Bank, 2021). The first food bank in Toronto, the Daily Bread Food Bank, began operations in 1983. By 1985, there were 94 food banks across Canada. The Canadian Association of Food Banks (later, Food Banks Canada) was established in 1988 (Riches, 2002). Since then, and despite their intended role as temporary emergency responses, food banks have become a growing presence in the lives of many Canadians.\u00a0The 2025 HungerCount Report recorded 2,165,776 visits to 2,725 food banks in March 2025 (Food Banks Canada, 2025). Compared with March 2019 figures, food bank visits increased by 99.37%. These reports are revealing, although they may represent only a portion of Canada’s food-insecure population.<\/p>\n

By 1985, one in six people in Toronto were living in poverty (FoodShare, n.d.), and the crisis was worsening. With the support of Mayor Art Eggleton, FoodShare Toronto was established to donate surplus food to those in need. In 1986, the Toronto Star newspaper quoted MPP Richard Johnston stating, \u201c\u2026 hunger in Metro Toronto has reached \u2018frightening\u2019 proportions and is a glaring indictment of Ontario’s social assistance programs\u201d (Contenta, 1986, A1). It went on to quote that when Second Harvest (a program aimed at rescuing surplus food and diverting it to those who need it) first started last April, they distributed 1,133 kilograms (2,500 pounds) of food a month. Less than a year later, the group’s 40 volunteers distributed 22,675 kilograms (50,000 pounds) of food in February (Contenta, 1986, A1).<\/p>\n

In 1987, the Food System Seminar Series was created, bringing together academics from York University, the University of Toronto, and Toronto Metropolitan University (then named Ryerson Polytechnic Institute). The Seminar often hosted researchers from other parts of Canada and the world. As an example, Tim Lang, founder of the London Food Commission in the UK, visited Toronto to contribute to discussions and actions aimed at addressing food security issues (FoodShare, n.d.). Later, in 1997, Tim Lang would be the keynote speaker at the CSFS International Conference on Sustainable Urban Food Security.<\/p>\n

Created by Toronto City Council in 1990, the Toronto Food Policy Council (TFPC) was proposed as a vehicle for \u201cfood citizenship\u201d (Welsh & MacRae, 1998). The goals of the TFPC were \u201cto address both social justice and sustainability issues, and to provide a mechanism for \u2018food democracy\u2019 or \u2018food citizenship\u2019, which emerges from people\u2019s active participation in shaping the food system, rather than by accepting the system as passive consumers\u201d (Welsh & MacRae, 1998, p. 238). Its first coordinator, Rod MacRae, played a crucial role in highlighting the city’s food policy issues. TFPC discussion papers advocated systematic, capacity-building approaches to address food challenges and enhance food security. Jennifer Welsh, from the School of Nutrition at Ryerson University, served as the first Community Co-Chair of TFPC from 1990 to 1992.<\/p>\n

The CSFS emerged from this history. It was inspired by the work of the People\u2019s Food Commission years earlier, as well as the discussions at the TFPC and at the Food Systems Seminar Series. Its founding members were also driven by a growing concern with the spread of food insecurity in Canada and around the world. Jennifer Welsh was one of its co-founders, and Rod MacRae became one of its first associate members. In the following years, the TFPC and the CSFS collaborated closely, with several other CSFS members also serving on the TFPC. The Centre\u2019s long-standing partnerships with researchers, policymakers, and community organizers throughout Toronto, Canada, and worldwide have shaped much of its research and educational activities over the years.<\/p>\n

II \u2013 CSFS’ Main Contributions<\/h2>\n

Since its inception, the Centre for Studies in Food Security has supported research, professional practice, and community action to enhance food security. Its focus has been on the unique organization and challenges of urban and metropolitan food systems, and on how these systems are interconnected with rural communities, the agricultural sector, and the broader global food system. It has taken a multidisciplinary and systemic approach to the social justice, environmental sustainability, health, and socio-cultural aspects of food security.<\/p>\n

Pillars of Food Security: The 5As Approach<\/h3>\n

One of the key contributions of the CSFS has been developing a unique approach to identifying the essential dimensions of food security, identified as the pillars. Pillars refer to mutually distinct, yet interdependent foundational dimensions that together define a complex concept, such as food security. Based on definitional distinctions and emphases on the essential conditions that constitute food security, different organizations have used different pillars of food security. One of the most common models since 2006 was the four pillars of food security used by FAO (2006). Up until the 2020s, FAO\u2019s pillars of food security (availability, access, utilization, and stability) remained the most widely accepted understanding of the concept.\u00a0Food access<\/strong> is the ability of individuals to obtain food for a nutritious diet through their entitlements, the resources and rights (legal, economic, social, and traditional) available to them within their community. Utilization<\/strong> means the body’s ability to benefit from food, which depends not only on diet quality but on non-food factors such as clean water, sanitation, and healthcare. Finally, stability<\/strong> requires that access to adequate food be consistent over time and not be undermined by sudden shocks such as economic crises, climate change or recurring conditions such as seasonal scarcity (FAO, 2006).<\/p>\n

While embracing FAO\u2019s definition of food security, CSFS adopted a somewhat different approach in identifying the key pillars of food security. The CSFS\u2019s 5As approach includes availability, accessibility, adequacy, acceptability, and agency (CSFS, n.d.). CSFS never claimed intellectual ownership of the 5As model and preferred to develop it collectively with its allies and other researchers (BC Centre for Disease Control, 2022; Chappell, 2018; Council of Canadian Academies, 2014; Garofalo, 2023; Ko\u00e7, 2025; Piaskoski et al., 2020; Second Harvest, 2025).<\/p>\n

According to the CSFS 5As approach, availability<\/strong> refers to the need for sufficient, assured, and dependable food supplies within a community or society. It has been the focus of all food security discussions since the post-World War II era. Food availability includes adequate production, storage, and distribution. Historically, ensuring food supply has been challenging due to various natural, societal, and external factors. Natural factors, such as weather conditions and earthquakes, along with social disruptions like wars and financial crises, can undermine a society\u2019s ability to maintain sufficient food supplies.\u00a0Availability is a macro-level concept that ensures food is accessible for a specific region or jurisdiction, not just for a household. Food availability depends on numerous factors, including crop production, livestock farming, fisheries, aquaculture, pollination, and climatic conditions such as rainfall levels. It also considers the availability of other inputs, such as fertilizers, storage capacity, food loss and waste, and internal and international trade flows. Many critiques of the productionist paradigm (Lapp\u00e9 & Lapp\u00e9, 2002) argue that the main problem in achieving food security is not a lack of food availability but issues of access.<\/p>\n

Accessibility<\/strong>: The distribution and access to food are vital aspects of food security. Inequities have caused significant entitlement issues that mirror disparities in class, gender, ethnicity, race, and age, as well as gaps in national and regional development both within and between societies. Even in developed economies, inequalities in food access contribute to food insecurity among marginalized populations. Many observers argue that the main cause of food insecurity in modern society is not a lack of availability but rather the social inequalities that prevent people from accessing \u201clife goods,\u201d such as food, housing, education, transportation, and healthcare. Therefore, addressing accessibility requires considering not only the availability of food but also the factors that hinder certain members of society \u2014 including women, the working poor, racialized and ethnic minorities, the elderly, and people from specific regions \u2014 from obtaining food or forcing some to compromise their diets to afford other essential needs. Famines, wars, and trade embargoes can create availability challenges, but they also limit access for large segments of the population. Even in extreme situations, accessibility is rarely an issue for the privileged.<\/p>\n

Acceptability<\/strong>: Food security implies culturally acceptable foods and distribution systems that uphold human dignity while respecting social and cultural norms. As a vital part of human health and well-being, food and foodways embody humanity’s rich social and cultural diversity. Although all definitions of food security highlight availability and accessibility, acceptability is a less-recognized cultural and ethical aspect of food security discussions. This element can also be crucial when addressing food assistance, whether through charitable organizations like food banks or international food aid programmes. Numerous studies show that only 25-30 percent of food-insecure people use food banks and often leave certain items on the sidewalk, as they prefer not to consume them, even when hungry (Loopstra & Tarasuk, 2015; Tarasuk et al., 2020). Food security should not be limited to obtaining enough calories; it also requires access to foods that are culturally familiar and acceptable. For Indigenous peoples, barriers to accessing traditional foods have adversely affected their health and well-being (Power, 2008; Neufeld, 2021). Acceptability also presents challenges in institutional diets, such as those in hospitals (Cass & Charlton, 2022), schools (The Lancet Regional Health \u2013 Americas, 2022), and prisons (Kushmerick-McCune et al., 2024), where \u201ccheap\u201d food often leads to poor health outcomes and significant waste (Anderson & Um, 2017).<\/p>\n

Adequacy<\/strong>: Adequacy refers to a food system that provides nutritious and safe foods to support overall health. Food is a key factor in human health. In this context, food security means not just the availability and accessibility of food, or enough calories, but safe and nutritious options that promote health and wellbeing. Food safety and nutritional quality are among the most important factors in various food policies throughout the 20th century (Lang et al., 2009; Ostry, 2011). Despite this recognition, supermarkets and school food environments are full of highly processed pseudo foods (Monteiro et al., 2025; Scrinis et al., 2025; Winson, 2021). Adequacy also includes the sustainability and resilience of production and distribution systems to ensure long-term food security; protect growers, workers, and eaters from harmful practices; protect biodiversity; and respect nature and all life forms (Rockstr\u00f6m et al., 2025; Schneider et al., 2025). Environmental challenges such as climate change, water scarcity, land degradation, and environmental pollution threaten food security (Blay-Palmer & Ko\u00e7, 2016).\u00a0Overreliance on fossil fuels is another fragility of the food system, given its environmental consequences and supply chain vulnerabilities. Fossil fuels are used in every segment of the food chain as fuel for machinery, fertilizers, pesticides, plastic packaging, ultra-processed foods, transportation and processing (International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems [IPES-Food], 2025).<\/p>\n

Agency<\/strong>: The question of structure and agency has been a central focus of sociology. Structures, described as repeating social patterns often defined by established norms, institutions, social and power inequalities, and various ideologies, set the boundaries for the actions of individuals and social actors. Agency refers to the capacity of individuals, groups, or institutions to act independently and influence their social environment through free choices and deliberate actions (Sewell, 1992). Agency is not merely about freedom of speech or choice but also the capacity to act on desired objectives. Agency is about sovereignty. The concept of agency involves creating an enabling environment and removing barriers for people, communities, and countries to choose and set the conditions for a sustainable food system that fosters community self-reliance and social justice. The history and ongoing experiences of colonized peoples around the world illustrate that food security without sovereignty is impossible (Rotz et al., 2024).<\/p>\n

Key actors also have the agency to influence the processes, structures, and policies that enable or hinder food security in each region and jurisdiction. The actions of various social and institutional players, including traditional elites, political parties, unions, cooperatives, government bodies, and private ventures, directly or indirectly affect conditions in the food system, shape livelihoods, and determine food sovereignty and security within that social setting.<\/p>\n

Figure 1: 5As of Food Security according to the Centre for Studies in Food Security<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Figure
Figure 1: The five conditions of food security: availability, accessibility, adequacy, acceptability, and agency.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unique Approach to Food Security<\/h3>\n

Following its unique contribution to defining pillars of food security, a significant part of the Centre\u2019s research involved critically assessing the meanings of terms such as \u201cfood security\u201d, \u201cfood sovereignty\u201d, \u201cfood democracy\u201d, \u201csustainability\u201d, \u201cresilience\u201d and \u201cfood justice\u201d as articulated by different agencies and social and political actors. Focusing on the dominant structures, institutions, and practices of the agri-food system, CSFS approaches it as an integrated, interrelated whole, from field to table. It sees the food system as part of the broader societal dynamics, arguing that understanding food systems must involve other natural, social, historical, and economic dynamics, such as housing, transportation, education, finance, health, and the environment. CSFS members have studied the impacts of processes such as immigration, urbanization, industrialization, globalization, commodification, corporate concentration, and economic centralization. The consequences of social inequalities and different entitlements in terms of gender, class, indigeneity, race, ethnicity, and citizenship status have continued to shape a critical inquiry into discourses, policies, and practices of food security.<\/p>\n

The CSFS has understood food insecurity as a problem particularly crucial for the most marginalized, most oppressed, and silenced segments of society. The fundamental cause of hunger is deprivation and poverty. In market economies, where food and other essentials of life are treated as commodities, food insecurity often affects those who lack access to land and other means of production. This includes those who cannot find work to support themselves and their families. This includes those who, despite having a job, do not earn enough to access essential services (e.g., housing, energy, transportation, health, education). Those who cannot work for various health reasons or cannot find work due to market conditions. Those who are marginalized because of their Indigeneity, race, gender, ethnicity, or refugee status. Additionally, people without citizenship rights and food sovereignty suffer food insecurity and hunger.<\/p>\n

A Hub for Knowledge Production and Dissemination<\/h3>\n

In addition to research and education, the CSFS has initiated, supported, and promoted many spaces for dialogue and partnerships among academics, civil society, private organizations, and the public sector. In 2002, the Centre proposed a post-baccalaureate certificate, based on the pressing need for education and thoughtful reflection on issues of food security. The Certificate in Food Security (see Chapter 12 in this volume) pioneered education in food security from the perspective of the 5 A\u2019s in a food systems approach. Since 2003, the certificate has attracted students from around the world, building a growing international network of food security experts who continue to collaborate and learn from each other. For a very long time, it was the only program of its kind in North America and the only online program of its kind in the world. The Certificate helped pioneer both course content and delivery, transforming and accelerating research and knowledge in food security studies.<\/p>\n

The Centre has hosted several national and international meetings, and engaged with food security initiatives at local, regional and global levels. Some key meetings hosted by the CSFS include: the International Conference on Sustainable Urban Food Systems in 1997 (Ko\u00e7 et al., 1999); Working Together Conference: Civil Society Input for Food Security in Canada in 2001 (Ko\u00e7 & MacRae, 2001); International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and CSFS Workshops on Urban Agriculture in 2004; Encounter in Food Security: Canada, Brazil, Angola in 2006; and the international conference Feeding Cities: Rural-Urban Connections and the Future of Family Farming in 2014.<\/p>\n

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the CSFS managed mailing lists for groups such as the Toronto Food Research Network, the Canadian Food Security Network, and Food Democracy to facilitate dialogue, share information, and promote joint action among Canadian civil society organizations working toward food security. These lists preceded two important organizations that the CSFS helped create: Food Secure Canada and the Canadian Association for Food Studies.<\/p>\n

Food Secure Canada (FSC), an alliance of organizations across Canada working together to advance food security and food sovereignty, was formed following the Working Together Conference at Ryerson University in 2001. CSFS Co-Director Mustafa Ko\u00e7 served as Chair of the Steering Committee during FSC’s first year. The Centre hosted FSC\u2019s 9th Assembly in October 2016 at Ryerson University.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Association for Food Studies (CAFS) was founded at Ryerson University in April 2005 to strengthen networks of food-focused researchers, practitioners, and community advocates through interdisciplinary food systems research and advocacy. As the publisher of the Canadian Food Studies journal, CAFS has become the leading Canadian organization in food studies. The Centre provided a home for CAFS in its formative years, and CSFS members Mustafa Ko\u00e7 (President) and Fiona Yeudall (Treasurer) served on CAFS’s Executive Committee during the 2005-2008 term. Mustafa received the CAFS Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. CAFS had its Annual General Meeting at Ryerson University in 2017 as part of the Congress of the Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences. Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lawrence MacAulay, announced the federal government\u2019s commitment to a Food Policy for Canada at that meeting.<\/p>\n

The CSFS has been an advocate of Indigenous and Black food sovereignty. Locally, the Centre has collaborated with and steadfastly supported the Afri-Can FoodBasket for 25 years, an initiative that led to the establishment of the Black Food Sovereignty Alliance, a leading voice and mobilizer in addressing food insecurity through processes that emphasize food justice, anti-Black racism, and sovereignty. The Black Food Sovereignty Alliance advocated for a strategy. It worked with the City of Toronto\u2019s Confronting Anti-Black Racism unit to build and launch the Black Food Sovereignty Plan, the first of its kind in Canada. It aimed at advancing food sovereignty issues affecting Black communities in the Greater Toronto Area and beyond (see Chapter 9 in this volume). The CSFS hosted the launch of the Black Food Sovereignty food strategy and food policy recommendations in 2023.<\/p>\n

Over the years, CSFS researchers have also worked with partners around the world and hosted many international scholars from Brazil, countries in Europe, Mexico, T\u00fcrkiye, and Vietnam. Of particular note has been the Centre\u2019s partnership with scholars, civil society organizations, and members of the public sector in Brazil, largely led by Cecilia Rocha, who served as the Director of the CSFS from 2005 to 2010 and again from 2019 to 2021. This collaboration has led to many mutual learnings (see Chapter 6 in this volume as an example) and the development of the Betinho Project, which celebrates the life and work of Brazilian activist Herbert \u201cBetinho\u201d de Souza (1935-1997), who lived in Toronto as a political refugee during the military dictatorship in Brazil in the 1970s. A separate book celebrating the 30th anniversary of the CSFS (Rocha & Moraes, 2026) presents a sample of themes developed by partners in the Betinho Project, illustrating Betinho\u2019s legacy of the fight for social justice and food security in Brazil.<\/p>\n

Figure 2: Timeline of Key Activities Related to the Centre for Studies in Food Security<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Timeline
Figure 2. Key milestones in the Centre for Studies in Food Security\u2019s history, from its founding in 1995 to the publication of two food security volumes in 2026.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

III – Ongoing Challenges and Limitations in Promoting Equity and Justice<\/h2>\n

The Centre is a university institution, and it is prudent to recognize that higher education institutions emerged within colonial systems of power and continue to reflect neo-colonial structures, practices and ways of knowing that reproduce imbalances of power, influence, visibility and resource distribution. Higher-education institutions have a history of promoting European and North American worldviews and colonial logics as universal knowledge, while marginalizing African, Indigenous and other non-Western knowledge systems. This occurs through curricula that is dominated by Euro-centric intellectual traditions, a lack of representation from racialized scholars, limited attention to culture in research methods and teaching, and inadequate recognition or long-term resourcing of community knowledge (Husbands et al., 2026; Stein, 2022). Research is also often driven by the priorities of government and industry funders from the global North, and can be \u2018extractive\u2019 in nature.<\/p>\n

Bothello & Bonfim (2025) explain that research is extractive when communities being studied receive little in return, and\/or there is inequitable sharing of data\/knowledge, professional, financial and reputational benefits, and\/or authority. They call for greater reciprocity, accountability, and community benefit within and across research and knowledge mobilization practices.<\/p>\n

Of course, universities and higher education institutions also serve as vital sites where colonialism and oppression are critically examined and challenged, and marginalized perspectives are acknowledged and amplified along with calls for greater social justice. As Enslin and Hedge (2024) summarize, higher education institutions have made efforts to decolonize their practices through revising curricula to include diverse knowledge traditions, interrogating institutional ties to land dispossession, slavery and other colonial projects; (talks of) divesting from socially and environmentally exploitative industries; and developing more equitable partnerships with communities and local leaders. They argue that real change requires going beyond curriculum modifications, and underscore the stronghold neoliberalism has on the strategies and budget allocations of contemporary universities, resulting in \u2018superficial\u2019, ad-hoc, or temporary attempts to strengthen equity and justice. Ahmed\u2019s seminal work warns that these kinds of initiatives can amount to little more than institutional performance while underlying power structures remain largely intact (2012).<\/p>\n

Across Toronto Metropolitan University, where the CSFS is embedded, several strategies have been pursued simultaneously, ranging from short-term, ad hoc initiatives to more significant resource investments aimed at durable change. Examples include curriculum reforms, the creation of the Yellowhead Institute (an Indigenous-led research centre), dedicated funding for hiring Black and Indigenous faculty, well-focused programs for graduate and postdoctoral fellows, the creation of a Global Migration Institute, and renaming the university itself (which was formerly Ryerson after Egerton Ryerson, whose educational framework and recommendations heavily influenced the design of Canada\u2019s Indian residential school system).<\/p>\n

The CSFS has directed resources and support to the Black Food Sovereignty Alliance by providing student co-op or intern positions to build capacity, providing office space, creating affiliate memberships for Black community leaders, and advocating for access to library and other university resources, such as conference space and tech support. The Centre also advocated for university funding to support a Food Policy Fellow position, providing a salary stipend, research resources, and event support to a community leader and scholar within the Black Food Sovereignty movement. Notably, the resources secured could fund this position for only one year. The Centre has also channelled resources and advocated for greater university support of a catered launch event for the Black Food Sovereignty policy paper, which foregrounded Black community leadership and community engagement.<\/p>\n

While such forms of support are important and have their benefits, Black and Indigenous communities continue to be relegated to precarious, impermanent positions with short-term, uncertain resourcing. Or, in the case of long-term hiring and resource commitments, individuals are often brought into workplace cultures that place much of the \u201cequity and justice portfolio\u201d on faculty who are already experiencing and living the consequences of systemic injustices. As Husbands and colleagues (2026) have argued, merely hiring Black scholars into a system that remains fundamentally anti-Black may challenge the salience of those scholars\u2019 commitment to Black communities \u2013 they progress through a reward system built on individual accomplishment (i.e., grants and publications) disconnected from the wellbeing and welfare of Black communities. Husbands and his co-authors argue that community-based and community-led institutions, movements, and networks must also be appropriately and equitably resourced through mechanisms that ground expertise in collective self-determination. This approach will support Black scholars and community stakeholders to collaboratively champion the ideas and interventions instrumental to achieving health and wellbeing among Black communities. In other words, systems that train and support researchers must be redesigned as investments in community health and wellbeing rather than simply as investments in universities and research that thwart Black people\u2019s wellbeing (Husbands et al., 2026). The universities in which research centres and institutes are embedded must better account for how their structures, governance and budgeting practices continue to sustain the effects and consequences of coloniality, capitalist exploitation and related inequalities (Enslin & Hedge, 2024).<\/p>\n

IV \u2013 About This Volume<\/h2>\n

We are proud to share with you, our readers, the outcome of many hours of writing, revising, consulting, and collaborating that brought this project to fruition. Our aim is to provide an accessible introduction for students who are new to the study of food security, while also inviting established researchers, educators, and practitioners to engage with diverse and emerging perspectives on food security in Canada.<\/p>\n

The Chapters in this volume offer a glimpse into the myriad areas of research, perspectives, and approaches to understanding food security represented in the work of members of the Centre for Studies in Food Security. Across these contributions, authors trace histories, confront points of contention, highlight persistent injustices, and identify strategies that have been\u2014or could be\u2014used to advance a more socially just and equitable society. At times, these conversations are uncomfortable; in some instances, they are contradictory. Yet, the Chapters across this volume largely read as companion pieces, complementing and challenging one another while bringing a diversity of voices and perspectives to conversations about food security in Canada.<\/p>\n

Section 1: Debating Food Security<\/strong> examines food security as a contested concept whose shifting definition reflects broader transformations in global systems and competing visions of how food systems should be governed. Chapter 1: Changing Discourses of Food Security<\/strong><\/em>, by Mustafa Ko\u00e7, unpacks how food security has been a key concept in defining the conditions of food provisioning in modern market economies. This Chapter examines the evolution of food security as a discourse that legitimizes institutional practices and the social consequences of the food system. By reviewing changes in the social and political organization of modern capitalist societies and corresponding changes in the food system in the 20th Century, the Chapter demonstrates how shifts in food security\u2019s definition reflect shifting priorities across global economies. Chapter 2: A Table for All: Reimagining \u201cCulturally Appropriate Food\u201d Through an Interdisciplinary Dialogue<\/strong><\/em>, by Yukari Seko and Jennifer Brady, examines the concept of \u201cculturally appropriate food\u201d in relation to food security. This chapter shows that while the term is increasingly recognized in policy and practice, it is often treated as a supplementary concern for culturally “othered” populations rather than a core dimension of food security. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives from health communication and dietetics, this Chapter challenges the assumption that dominant Anglo-European foodways are culturally neutral. Instead, they argue that food practices and policies are culturally situated and shaped by relations of power, including race, class, gender, migration, and ability.<\/p>\n

Section 2: Food Policy and Practice<\/strong> examines how public policy can effectively address food insecurity and transform food systems. Chapter 4: Policy Instrument Considerations for Food System Change<\/strong><\/em>, by Rod MacRae, unpacks a wide range of policy instruments for shaping markets, influencing behaviour, establishing legal frameworks, and advancing public policy objectives. This Chapter examines the classic dilemmas of policy instrument choice and design, exploring the trade-offs that influence effectiveness across a range of intervention strategies. It argues that meaningful food system transformation requires coherent mixes of complementary policy instruments tailored to complex social, environmental, and economic objectives, rather than reliance on isolated or voluntary measures. Chapter 5: From Charity to Justice: Using Arts-based Knowledge Mobilization and Research Creation for Effective Food Insecurity Solutions<\/strong><\/em>, by Elaine Power, Amanda White, Jennifer Brady, Jennifer Black, and Dian Day, recognizes that evidence alone rarely drives policy change and that there is a need to reshape public narratives to build support for structural solutions to food insecurity. Drawing on theories of policy change, political economy, and knowledge mobilization, the Chapter proposes arts-based knowledge mobilization (ABKM) and research-creation as innovative strategies for reframing public understandings of appropriate responses to food insecurity from charity to justice. Chapter 6: How Brazil\u2019s National School Food Programme Aligns with the Six Principles Announced in Canada\u2019s First National School Food Policy<\/strong><\/em>, by Cecilia Rocha, Luciene Burlandy, Roseane Sampaio and Patr\u00edcia Camacho Dias, illustrates how comprehensive, rights-based public policies can simultaneously improve food security, public health, local economies, and social equity. Using Brazil’s National School Food Programme as an example, the chapter shows how school food initiatives in Canada can improve child nutrition, while also strengthening local food systems and advancing broader social, environmental, and economic policy goals. Brazil’s experience offers valuable lessons for implementing Canada’s emerging national school food programme.<\/p>\n

Section 3: Community Action and Representation<\/strong> foregrounds the voices, knowledge, and leadership of communities historically marginalized within food systems scholarship, policy, and practice. Chapter 7: Decolonial and Intersectional Dimensions of Food Security in the 21st Century<\/strong><\/em> by Ryan Antonio, Louise Huneault, Andrea Moraes and Gertrude Omoro demonstrates the enduring value of using an intersectional and decolonial lens to examine food security in the 21st century. This chapter examines food agency through the historical and contemporary experiences of Black and Indigenous peoples; questions contemporary measurements of poverty and food insecurity and their implications for senior women; and explores the complexity of food insecurity among transgender communities in Canada. Chapter 8: Haudenosaunee Worldviews of Food Sovereignty, Governance and Security: Towards More Just and Sustainable Food Systems<\/strong><\/em>, by Sandra Juutilainen, Deyowidront (Teri) Morrow, Jennifer Yessis, Rhona M. Hanning, Bonnie Freeman and Samridhi Sharma, explores Haudenosaunee perspectives on food sovereignty, governance, and food security. Drawing on interviews with community leaders from Six Nations of the Grand River, and using a strengths-based qualitative approach informed by Two-Eyed Seeing, the Two Row Wampum research paradigm, and the Five Rs of Indigenous research, this Chapter examines how community-led food initiatives contribute to healing, cultural continuity, and self-determined food systems. Chapter 9: Towards Food Sovereignty for Black Communities in Toronto: Rights, Self-determination, and the Pursuit of Justice,<\/strong><\/em> by Mayet Zegeye, Anan Lololi, Queen Zawditu Selassie, and Winston Husbands, demonstrates how Black communities in Canada experience exceptionally high rates of food insecurity, yet their experiences are often marginalized within mainstream discourses about food policy and research. This Chapter argues that food insecurity among Black communities is embedded within a social system that undermines Black people\u2019s wellbeing broadly. Drawing on the history of the Afri-Can FoodBasket (AFB), the Chapter traces the evolution of Black-led responses to food insecurity in Toronto from emergency food access initiatives to a broader movement for food sovereignty. Chapter 10: Evolving Food System Challenges, Opportunities and Understandings for Supporting Immigrant Wellbeing and Inclusion<\/strong><\/em> by Jenelle Regnier-Davies & Sara Edge demonstrates that immigrants in Canada experience disproportionately high rates of food insecurity, yet discussions of immigrant food security have traditionally emphasized vulnerability, settlement challenges, and barriers to food access. This chapter argues for a broader perspective that recognizes the assets, agency, and innovations immigrant communities contribute to local food systems. Drawing on contemporary literature and two community-based case studies from Toronto’s inner suburbs\u2014the Rexdale Community Hub and the Scarborough Food Security Initiative\u2014the chapter examines how immigrant-serving organizations are reshaping food system governance through culturally responsive, community-led initiatives.<\/p>\n

Lastly, Part 4.<\/strong> Advancing Food Security Through Teaching, Research, and Public Engagement<\/strong> highlights the Centre’s enduring contributions through two initiatives that embody its commitment to innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and community engagement. Chapter 11: Learning About Green Roof Design and Farming in Toronto<\/strong><\/em>, by June Komisar, examines the evolution of rooftop agriculture in Toronto, highlighting how policy, design, education, and research have enabled productive green roofs. Focusing on Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) as a case study, the chapter traces the development of rooftop farming from early architectural proposals and municipal green roof policies to the establishment of the TMU Urban Farm as a living laboratory for research, teaching, and community engagement. Chapter 12: The Certificate in Food Security: Teaching Agents of Change<\/strong><\/em>, by Joe Nasr, unpacks the history of the Certificate in Food Security at Toronto Metropolitan University as the first university-level program dedicated to food security as a comprehensive, interdisciplinary field of study. This chapter traces the Certificate’s origins, evolution, and enduring impact over more than two decades, highlighting institutional partnerships, pedagogical innovations, and collaborative curriculum development that enabled the creation of a pioneering educational program grounded in the Centre for Studies in Food Security’s 5As of food security.<\/p>\n

V \u2013 Final Words<\/h2>\n

We aimed to complete and release this book to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Centre for Studies in Food Security (CSFS), which took place in 2025. Our original call for contributions generated more submissions than we could accommodate in a single book, leading to the development of two volumes: (1) Rethinking Food Security in the 21st Century: Contemporary Trends, Policy and Agency<\/em> and (2) Agency for Food Security in Brazil: Social Mobilization, Participation and Public Policy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Throughout its history, the CSFS has accomplished a great deal with relatively few resources, and developing these books was no exception. Published by the CSFS through TMU Pressbooks, these two volumes are a testament to the energy, commitment, and generosity of the colleagues, friends, students, and allies who have sustained the Centre over the past 30 years. Completing them took many months of work and considerable unpaid labour, and we are deeply grateful to everyone who contributed their time, knowledge, and care to the process.<\/p>\n

As editors, we established the themes and format of the volumes and supported contributors from submitting their initial abstracts in the summer of 2024 through publication in the fall of 2026. We organized collaborative book-writing sessions for each volume, providing opportunities to discuss chapter ideas, identify connections across contributions, and collectively consider the broader aims of the books. Authors also participated in a peer-review process, reading one another\u2019s chapters and providing constructive feedback to their fellow contributors. The chapters were finalized in winter 2025\/2026, followed by about six months of editing and copyediting. We did not seek to impose a single perspective on contributors; rather, the chapters reflect their varied professional backgrounds, lived experiences, areas of expertise, and unique insights. The CSFS has always been more than any one person, project, or perspective; it is the sum of the people and relationships that have shaped it. These volumes reflect that same spirit.<\/p>\n

Over the past 30 years, the CSFS has created spaces for collaboration, debate, research, learning, and action, and we have been fortunate to work alongside many remarkable people. There is much to celebrate; we cannot claim that three decades of collective labour have produced a food-secure world. Many of the challenges that motivated the creation of the CSFS remain, while new and increasingly complex challenges continue to emerge.<\/p>\n

These two volumes therefore look both backward and forward. They offer readers insights into what has been learned and accomplished over the past three decades while also asking what will be required to advance food security in Canada, Brazil, and beyond. Climate change, economic instability, artificial intelligence, war, displacement, and natural disasters will continue to reshape food systems and create new challenges in the decades ahead. Yet these challenges also underscore the importance of collective action, critical scholarship, community knowledge, and public engagement that have characterized the CSFS since its beginning.<\/p>\n

As we mark 30 years of the Centre for Studies in Food Security, we hope these volumes contribute to that ongoing work. Above all, we hope they encourage continued collaboration toward a more peaceful world, just and sustainable food systems, and the realization of healthy, culturally appropriate, and sufficient food for all.<\/p>\n

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Anderson, L., & Um, S. G. (2017). Food in institutional settings in Ontario: Health equity perspectives [PDF]<\/em><\/a>. Wellesley Institute.<\/p>\n

BC Centre for Disease Control. (2022). Defining food security and food insecurity in British Columbia: Process background<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

Blay-Palmer, A., & Ko\u00e7, M. (2016). Imagining sustainable food systems: The path to regenerative food systems. In Imagining sustainable food systems<\/em> (pp. 223\u2013246). Routledge.<\/p>\n

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Husbands, W., Antabe, R., & James, C. E. (2026). Black emancipation and the burden of Canada\u2019s HIV epidemic among Black communities<\/a>. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities<\/em>.<\/p>\n

IPES (2025). Fuel to fork: What will <\/em>i<\/em><\/a>t take to get fossil fuels out of our food systems?<\/a><\/em>International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems.<\/p>\n

Ko\u00e7, M. (2025). The Centre for Studies in Food Security and 5As<\/em><\/a>. Food Politics.<\/p>\n

Ko\u00e7, M., & MacRae, R. (Eds.). (2001). Working together: Civil society working for food security in Canada<\/em><\/a>. Media Studies Working Group, Toronto Metropolitan University.<\/p>\n

Ko\u00e7, M., MacRae, R., Mougeot, L. J. A., & Welsh, J. (Eds.). (1999). For hunger-proof cities: Sustainable urban food systems<\/a>. <\/em>International Development Research Centre.<\/p>\n

Kushmerick-McCune, B., Ingel, S. N., Bauer, C., & Rudes, D. S. (2024). Hunger, health, and harm: Perceptions of prison food, medical care, and well-being. In Handbook on contemporary issues in health, crime, and punishment<\/em> (pp. 258\u2013273). Routledge.<\/p>\n

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