Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation (2025)

21/01/2025

A review of The Political Economy of Agribusiness: A Critical Development Perspective

Nil Alt

Maria Luisa Mendonça's recent book, The Political Economy of Agribusiness: A Critical Development Perspective, challenges the idea that agribusiness is an inevitable evolutionary process. Using a Marxist perspective, the book examines the historical development and consequences of industrial agriculture, particularly in Brazil. The author focusses on the role of international financial capital in expanding sugarcane plantations for ethanol production, contributing to land grabbing, rural displacement and deforestation. Finally, Mendonça offers examples of rural resistance led by peasant and indigenous communities of Brazil and calls for sustainable and equitable agricultural practices, advocating for agrarian reform and food sovereignty.

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https://canadianfoodstudies.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cfs/article/view/711

20/01/2025

Optimizing stewardship of the land?
Digital agriculture and the ideology of optimization in Canadian policy and media discourse

Sarah Marquis

This research considers the ways in which digital agriculture (DA) technologies (like robotic machinery, big data applications, farm management software platforms and drones) fit into discourses of sustainable agriculture in the Canadian political and media landscape. To undertake this research, I conducted a discourse analysis of relevant government and media materials published between 2016 and 2022. What became evident was an ideology of optimization, which works to communicate that environmental sustainability needs to and will be optimized using DA technologies. I then consider how these findings are related to the federal fertilizer emissions reduction target, aiming to reduce emissions arising from fertilizer application in agricultural contexts by 30% below 2020 levels by 2030. I argue that discourse regarding this target deploys the ideology of optimization to keep current systems of fertilizer use in place, solidifying further the industrial and productivist paradigm of agriculture in Canada.

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https://canadianfoodstudies.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cfs/article/view/685

17/01/2025

Deadline today - Date limite aujourd'hui

Foundations, Evolutions, and Revolutions - Fondations, Évolutions et Révolutions

Presentation abstracts are due on January 17, 2025. Les résumés des présentations doivent être soumis avant le 17 janvier 2025.

Submit your abstract here:
Soumettez votre résumé ici:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScuVb4WK54z-XTPxMirU71aVNGTmJObDzh-yirMeBGkbcn-ag/viewform

Student Paper Awards in Food Studies - January 17, 2025. Via email [email protected]
Prix pour les articles étudiants en études alimentaires - 17 janvier 2025. Par courrier électronique [email protected]

16/01/2025

The Exploration Gallery is an experimental space at the CAFS Conference, first inaugurated in 2011 with three installations. It has since grown and ebbed, offering conference- goers an opportunity to share knowledge, experience, speculative ideas, emotions, and questions about food, food culture, and food systems. Serving as an informal meeting hub, break room, and contemplation space, the Gallery represents the ways in which food studies transcends and engages with more than the formalities of academic work on food. Submissions to the Gallery can include student posters, interactive installations, books and zines, slideshows and videos, two- or three-dimensional pieces, edible art, and other creative/design works.

Exploration Gallery submissions are due on January 31, 2025.

La Galerie d’exploration est un espace expérimental de la conférence de l’ACEA, inauguré en 2011 avec trois installations. Depuis, elle a évolué, offrant aux participants un lieu pour partager des connaissances, des idées spéculatives, des émotions et des questions sur l’alimentation, la culture alimentaire et les systèmes alimentaires. Fonctionnant comme un point de rencontre informel, une salle de pause et un espace de contemplation, la Galerie incarne les manières dont les études alimentaires transcendent les formalités académiques. Les soumissions pour
la Galerie peuvent inclure:
Affiches étudiantes
Installations interactives
Livres et zines
Diaporamas et vidéos
Œuvres en deux ou trois dimensions
Art comestible
Autres travaux créatifs ou de design

Les soumissions pour la Galerie d’exploration doivent être envoyées avant le 31 janvier 2025.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfIRHpHUGI6YaATgYGiiSIrV__e0bFCjwgXV8ObIaQPUWKCCQ/viewform

15/01/2025

VEUILLEZ DIFFUSER LARGEMENT

L’Association canadienne des études sur l’alimentation (ACEA) tiendra sa 19e assemblée annuelle, en collaboration avec la Fédération des sciences humaines, du 2 au 5 juin 2025, au George Brown College à Toronto, en Ontario.

Dans le cadre du thème général Fondations, Évolutions et Révolutions, les propositions peuvent inclure, sans s’y limiter : - les recherches de la prochaine génération - les systèmes alimentaires et l’équité - les systèmes alimentaires autochtones - le changement climatique - le travail et l’exploitation - le racisme et l’antiracisme - l’épistémologie alimentaire - la pédagogie alimentaire - les médias et communications - les arts, la culture, et la littérature - les pratiques hybrides et les approches transdisciplinaires de l’alimentation - la collaboration intersectorielle - la conception de processus et la spéculation Les formats de soumission incluent : - Présentations individuelles - Panels/ tables rondes organisés - Présentations éclairs - Affiches - Performances artistiques ou autres supports alternatifs - Ateliers - Démonstrations culinaires/arts culinaires.

Les résumés des présentations doivent être soumis avant le 17 janvier 2025.

https://foodstudies.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Fondations-Evolutions-et-Revolutions-ADP-FR.pdf

15/01/2025

PLEASE SHARE WIDELY

The Canadian Association for Food Studies (CAFS) will host its 19th annual assembly, in conjunction with the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, from June 2 to June 5, 2025, at George Brown College, Toronto, Ontario.

Within the broad theme of Foundations, Evolutions, and Revolutions, submissions may include, but are not limited to: - next-generation scholarship - food systems and equity - Indigenous food systems - climate change - labour and exploitation - racism and anti-racism - food epistemology - food pedagogy - media and communications - arts, culture, and literature - hybrid practice & transdisciplinary approaches to food - cross-sector collaboration - process design and speculation Submission formats include: - individual paper presentations - organized panels/round tables - lightning talks - posters - performance art or alternative mediums workshops - culinary arts/cooking demonstrations.

Presentation abstracts are due on January 17, 2025.

https://foodstudies.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Foundations-Evolutions-and-Revolutions-CFP-EN.pdf

14/01/2025

Foundations, Evolutions, and Revolutions

The Canadian Association for Food Studies (CAFS) will host its 19th annual assembly, in conjunction with the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, from June 2 to June 5, 2025, at George Brown College, Toronto, Ontario.

Presentation abstracts are due on January 17, 2025.
Student Paper Awards in Food Studies - January 17, 2025.
Exploration Gallery submissions are due on January 31, 2025.

https://foodstudies.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Foundations-Evolutions-and-Revolutions-CFP-EN.pdf

14/01/2025

Fondations, Évolutions et Révolutions

L’Association canadienne des études sur l’alimentation (ACEA) tiendra sa 19e assemblée annuelle, en collaboration avec la Fédération des sciences humaines, du 2 au 5 juin 2025, au George Brown College à Toronto, en Ontario.

Les résumés des présentations doivent être soumis avant le 17 janvier 2025.
Prix pour les articles étudiants en études alimentaires - 17 janvier 2025.
Les soumissions pour la Galerie d’exploration doivent être envoyées avant le 31 janvier 2025.

https://foodstudies.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Fondations-Evolutions-et-Revolutions-ADP-FR.pdf

13/01/2025

Colonial approaches in Canadian national food policy development
Carving out space for Indigenous partnership

Mary Coulas Carleton University (Official)
Gabriel Maracle

The Government of Canada has claimed that the relationship with Indigenous peoples, that of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people, is their most important relationship. The rhetoric around reconciliation and Indigenous-Crown relationships are a major directive within federal policy. Using the theoretical framework of discursive institutionalism, this journal article looks at how this approach has, or has not, shaped the development of a national food policy. Discursive institutionalism is critical to understanding the complex relationships and perspectives that are embedded within the development of national food policies. Looking at the reports, discourse, and actions of the federal government, this article highlights how Indigenous people continue to be seen as stakeholders, as opposed to partners in nation-to-nation relationships. This paper analyzing the government’s approach to food policy stresses that the government recognizes the importance of having a national food policy, as well as acknowledging that Indigenous people need to be a part of the process. Indigenous peoples are distinct peoples with inherent rights that must been recognized and supported by the Crown, and that understanding needs to be a part of all policies and laws that can impact Indigenous peoples and communities.

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https://canadianfoodstudies.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cfs/article/view/700

10/01/2025

Exploring activist perspectives on Indigenous-settler solidarity in Toronto’s food sovereignty movement

Taliya Seidman-Wright Taliya Seidman-Wright
Sarah Rotz Sarah Rotz

While food movements have increasingly taken up the framework of Indigenous food sovereignty in their work, settler food activists continue to define food systems on stolen lands. In this article, we explore whether and how food activists in Toronto are building solidarity with Indigenous peoples and movements in their work. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with food activists and content analysis of Toronto food organizations, we identify three main themes: (un)learning, relationship-building, and systemic constraints and visions for the future. Our findings reveal that many settler food activists are engaging in (un)learning processes, building decolonizing relationships, and supporting greater Indigenous leadership at their organizations. However, participants’ solidarity-building efforts are in the minority among food organizations more broadly, and there is significant work to be done to prioritize Indigenous struggles for land and sovereignty in food movement work. Further, NGO structure and function, corporatized and donor-centric funding models, and settler colonialism more broadly, significantly constrain the capacities of food organizations to align with Indigenous goals and visions. We argue that settler food activists have a responsibility to more deeply consider the role of food activism in upholding and challenging settler colonialism, to let go of settler claims to authority over food and knowledge systems on stolen lands, and to advocate for deeper systemic changes that redistribute power and resources to Indigenous peoples and Indigenous-led initiatives.

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https://canadianfoodstudies.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cfs/article/view/699

09/01/2025

From Palestine to Turtle Island
Food as a weapon of colonialism and tool of liberation

Sarah Rotz Sarah Rotz
Charles Levkoe
Martha Stiegman
Mustafa Koc
Indra Singh
Max Ajl
Yafa Al Masri
Justin Podur

This paper examines the historical and ongoing role of food as both a tool of colonization and a means of liberation, focusing on Palestine and Turtle Island (Canada). In Gaza, the latest wave of Israeli military violence, described by the UN as genocidal, uses food militarization and weaponization as key tactics of settler colonial control. These strategies, rooted in colonial and capitalist systems, have long been employed by settler states like Canada to suppress Indigenous populations. The destruction of food systems in Palestine is part of a broader attack on land sovereignty, reflecting similar patterns of colonial land theft and environmental devastation in North America. Gaza now suffers from extreme food insecurity and famine, exacerbated by large-scale environmental destruction. Despite this, food sovereignty remains a crucial aspect of resistance for Palestinians and Indigenous peoples across the world. This paper draws on a panel discussion organized by the Canadian Association for Food Studies/L’Association canadienne des études sur l’alimentation (CAFS/ACÉA), featuring insights from three scholars who connect food systems to colonialism and struggles for self-determination. The discussion underscores the importance of Indigenous movements and mutual aid networks in the fight for land, food, and cultural sovereignty. These localized struggles are part of a larger global resistance against imperialism and colonialism, illustrating the power of food sovereignty as a means of survival and liberation.

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https://canadianfoodstudies.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cfs/article/view/710

08/01/2025

Food and housing insecurity in Cambridge Bay
A closer look at the dynamics

Séraphin Guy Balla Ndegue
Caroline Hervé

The housing crisis and food insecurity are huge problems within Canadian Inuit communities, the particularly in Nunavut. However, the correlation between the two problems has been little addressed by anthropological researches. Based on data from interviews and observations collected at the Municipality of Cambridge Bay, and drawing on relevant literature, this article aims to analyze the complex dynamics that lead to food insecurity, overcrowded households and people experiencing homelessness.

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https://canadianfoodstudies.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cfs/article/view/664

07/01/2025

Foundations, Evolutions, and Revolutions

The Canadian Association for Food Studies (CAFS) will host its 19th annual assembly, in conjunction with the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, from June 2 to June 5, 2025, at George Brown College, Toronto, Ontario.

The deadline for submitting is extended until January 17.

Presentation abstracts are due on January 17, 2025.
Student Paper Awards in Food Studies - January 17, 2025.

Fondations, Évolutions et Révolutions

L’Association canadienne des études sur l’alimentation (ACEA) tiendra sa 19e assemblée annuelle, en collaboration avec la Fédération des sciences humaines, du 2 au 5 juin 2025, au George Brown College à Toronto, en Ontario.

Le date limite pour soumettre a été prolongée jusqu’au 17 janvier.

Les résumés des présentations doivent être soumis avant le 17 janvier 2025.
Prix pour les articles étudiants en études alimentaires - 17 janvier 2025.

https://foodstudies.info/news-conferences/upcoming-conference/

06/01/2025

Reflections from first-generation small-scale vegetable farmers

Richard S. Bloomfield Huron University
Deishin Lee

Renewal of the agriculture sector requires an influx of young farmers, either members of farming families or first-generation farmers. The latter face distinct challenges (Bloomfield, 2023; Magnan et al., 2023). This study seeks to understand some of their motivations and challenges in order to inform policy changes to support and encourage more first-generation farmers.
Agriculture has long been regarded in Canada as not only economically but also culturally significant. Yet less than 1% of the population are recognised as farmers by the latest census data (Statistics Canada, 2021). In the last three decades alone, Canada has net lost nearly 150,000 farmers and the average age of a Canadian farmer is now 56. Only 8.5% of Canadian farmers were under 35 in the last Agricultural Census, compared to 20% in 1991, and that percentage has been declining steadily since 1931 (Clapp, 2023; Magnan et al., 2022; Qualman et al., 2018; Statistics Canada, 2006, 2022). In particular, the number of young people from farming families staying in agriculture is declining. Several reports, including that of the Royal Bank of Canada Climate Action Institute, show that a majority of farmers do not have a succession plan in place although, within the next decade, 40% will retire (Yaghi, 2023). People from non-farming backgrounds find it difficult to enter the profession due to barriers that include prohibitive costs and lack of training. To ensure that Canada can feed its growing population, we must address the farmer shortage by understanding the experiences of new—particularly young—farmers.

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https://canadianfoodstudies.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cfs/article/view/657

20/12/2024

Please be advised that the Canadian Association for Food Studies will be closed for winter break from December 21, 2024, to January 5, 2025. We won’t be posting during this time. We hope you have a restful winter break! See you January 6th, 2025!

19/12/2024

Working with all nations and all relatives in feeding the future
Pathways to decolonial food governance and sustainable planetary health

Shaileshkumar Shukla Shailesh Shukla

Most unprecedented changes and challenges to planetary health that include earth and human health, are attributed to short-sighted policies and systemic barriers. Standardized and top-down approaches of development that often dominate through limited, persuasive, and extractive euro-centric perspectives often dominate in Turtle Island and most colonial regions of the world. Food and food-sustaining relatives (land, water, plants, animals, micro-habitats) which are central to planetary health, are negatively impacted and threatened by these human pressures, which have severe implications for our ability to feed current and future generations (FAO et al., 2023; Planetary Health Alliance, n.d.). Many international agencies (including those affiliated with the United Nations), food systems scholars, grassroots organizations, and community members are grappling with the very imminent challenges of addressing the alarmingly high level of food insecurity in Turtle Island (Council of Canadian Academics, 2014; Fieldhouse & Thompson, 2012) and the global South (Kuhnlein et al., 2013).

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https://canadianfoodstudies.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cfs/article/view/717

18/12/2024

Vol. 11 No. 3 (2024): Pathways to decolonial governance and planetary health

The cover image is a nod to the season and also to seventeenth-century still life painting, in which the lemon was a favoured object of study. Its placement in such scenes can be read variously. It is a symbol of luxury and longevity, pride and decay. It is also a souring agent.

The articles in this issue are equally attentive to the bitter and the sweet—the “pervasive and destructive […] colonial approaches to food system governance” that CFS editor Shailesh Shukla describes in his editorial, as well as the modes of resistance, the innovation, the (un)learning and relationship building that are happening concurrently as we work to change the way we regulate food production and distribution.

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https://canadianfoodstudies.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cfs/issue/view/38

18/12/2024

The Common Ground Network

Common Ground is:

- an emerging, coast-to-coast-to-coast, cross-disciplinary network
- built to elevate the expertise and work of those of us, in any discipline, using social science and/or humanities approaches or lenses in our research related to sustainability in agriculture, fisheries or food systems
- funded by SSHRC, in partnership with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, for 5 years
- hosted at Dalhousie University, with a governance team coast-to-coast

We are seeking to grow the network by inviting researchers who conduct research that aligns with and advances understandings of Common Ground’s basic assumption: that sustainable agriculture, fisheries, harvesting and food systems exist in dynamic relation with a host of other social systems and structures such as rural-urban economic and political relations, labour markets, trade, social inequality, struggles for sovereignty, transportation, (im)migration, culture, climate, and more.

If this sounds like you, please take this survey by January 15, 2025. (You can also preview the questions before you take it).

Survey at the bottom of the page: https://commongroundnetwork.ca/our-work/

Please share this opportunity with other academics in your network.

With the information gathered through the survey, Common Ground is developing a database of expertise to:

- Foster opportunities to participate in collaborative research in areas (Please see Our Work)
- Provide expertise into social science and humanities questions from all tiers of government (including AAFC, Fisheries, Canadian Food Policy Advisory Council), NGOs working at all tiers, and from the business sector.

By completing the survey, you will:

- Be listed in a members-only academic database by expertise
- Have access to the database of academic researchers
- Have access to a parallel database of NGO projects and community research
- Have access to a trainee database (to post and/or peruse job listings for RAships and post-doctoral fellowships)
- be invited to receive and contribute items to Common Ground newsletter (approximately 6 per year)

Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation

21/01/2025

20/01/2025

17/01/2025

16/01/2025

15/01/2025

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14/01/2025

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