By Courtney Strutt, Community Food Systems Coordinator, Food Action Network of Northwestern Ontario
The Food Action Network of Northwestern Ontario (FAN-NWO) stewards many keystone networks and initiatives of our community food systems. We use the term ‘community food systems’ to mean the interconnected people, places, relationships, and infrastructures that shape how food is accessed, shared, produced, and supported across our region. This includes (but is not limited to!):
- Low barrier food access services (i.e. food banks, daily meal programs, subsidized fresh produce)
- Food skill building programs (i.e. community kitchens, youth employment)
- School food (i.e. breakfast & lunch programs)
- Urban agriculture (i.e. community gardens)
Stewarding community food system networks means keeping an eye on the big picture of food insecurity trends and food access inequities, in both chronic and emergency contexts. This work requires civil society partners working cross-sectorally to address disparities through collaborative problem solving and collective advocacy on systemic food security issues.
Day-to-day, this looks like: building networks and relationships across our food access infrastructure; ensuring the system is prepared to address emergency food security situations through the Emergency Food Plan; and coordinating collaboration amongst partners on advocacy and creative solutions to food insecurity and food sovereignty. The vision underpinning this work is a connected, justice-focused community food system rooted in trust, collaboration, and resilience.
Currently, FAN-NWO stewards two key networks within the food access pillar of the Food Strategy, each playing an essential role in our community food systems.
Emergency Food Plan (EFP) Primary Partners
The Emergency Food Plan (EFP) for Thunder Bay is a civil society response to critical food access needs during an emergency. The EFP Primary Partner network provides input, direction, and in-kind resources to guide activation and stewardship of the EFP, through partnerships with 13 civil society organizations and institutions that hold critical infrastructure, resources, and knowledge. This group developed the EFP and continues to maintain and evolve it through an annual tabletop exercise (a simulated emergency to practice the plan), participation in working groups to improve key sections of the plan, and training on emergency food response roles.
Food Access Coalition (FAC)
The Food Access Coalition (FAC) is a network of 50+ local organizations working together to ensure everyone in Thunder Bay can access food with dignity and compassion on a regular basis. Members include service providers, community groups, and advocates who come together to share updates, strengthen coordination, and collaborate across the sector. They lead and/or participate in advocacy initiatives that address systemic food security issues and support the work of the EFP by sharing information about local food access needs and resources to support an emergency food mobilization.
Across these networks, there are many tangible benefits that have been created to strengthen our community food systems. These include:
- Emergency Food Plan for Thunder Bay, the first municipal-level plan of its kind in Canada!
- The Emergency Food Fund, a collaborative funding pot housed at the Thunder Bay Community Foundation to help finance coordinated emergency food response
- Where to Get Food in Thunder Bay brochure, an annually updated resource for where to get low barrier food (available on the TBDHU website)
Community Food Access Infrastructure Inventory, an internal directory to support emergency coordination and resource mappingCommunity food systems work may feel big picture, but it takes the everyday actions, knowledge, relationships, and resources of individuals and organizations to create impact and bring connection and collaboration to life!
If you would like to get involved with FAN-NWO, or find out more, please visit our website nwofood.ca, find us on social media (@nwofood), or sign up for our newsletter for updates on our work.
