Purpose

We have recently undergone a strategic visioning process and as a result, we have developed a new strategic direction that focuses more meaningfully on food sovereignty.

Food sovereignty is a powerful and innovative concept that was coined in 1996 by La Via Campesina, the global movement of peasants and food producers, to describe their vision of a better food future. La Via Campesina defines food sovereignty as “the right of Peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.”

In other words, food sovereignty puts food producers, democracy and justice at the centre of our food systems. It recognizes food as a fundamental human right and a public good, not as a commodity. Achieving food sovereignty requires disrupting systems of power in our food system, and ensuring that peoples and communities have access to the resources required for food production.

This lens informs the ongoing development of our programs, ensuring that each program can enhance access (to food itself but also to resources like land, seeds, water), build community connection, promote education and empowerment, and foster resiliency for both individuals and communities.

Key Action #1: Food Sovereignty

• Develop a public engagement and awareness strategy centred on food sovereignty

Key Action #2: Access to Food

• Increase access to and understanding of good food in our community by employing a food sovereignty lens.
• Facilitate increased production of local food and create opportunities for land access
• Foster meaningful partnerships that align with our values
• Develop and facilitate knowledge and skill-sharing programs
• Ensure programs and services cross socio-economic and cultural boundaries
• Advocate for and develop policies that support resilient food systems

Key Action #3: Equity, Diversity, Inclusion

• Commit to equity, diversity, inclusion, and cross-community engagement
• Define and develop language that directs Loving Spoonful towards meaningful EDI within programming

Key Action #4: Define our Role in the Community

• Understand barriers to participation within our programs and organization
• Formalize values of diversity, equity, and inclusion within programming
• Facilitate opportunities for greater community interaction

We are a Good Food Organization

Loving Spoonful holds a membership with Community Food Centres Canada- we are a Good Food Organization. As a GFO, our organizational strategy is to build leath, belonging, and social justice through the power of food. All GFOs (there are more than 400!) are connected by our shared alignment with Good Food Principles:

• Take action from the individual to the systemic level.
  We work to create many entry points for community members: from meeting basic needs to empowering people to choose, grow, and cook good food, to creating opportunities to get involved with the big-picture issues that affect our community.
• Invest in the power of good food.
  We strive to make good food a priority and to provide food through our programs that is delicious, healthy, sustainably produced, and pleasurable to eat.
• Create an environment of respect and community leadership.
• Meet people where they’re at.
  We avoid making assumptions about community members’ skills and goals. And we work with them toward the changes that they want to make, focusing on celebrating achievements big and small along the way.
• Aim high for our organization and our community.
  Our programs are designed based on current research and the growing body of knowledge from the community food sector. To stay accountable to our community, we are committed to measuring and communicating the impact of our work.

We support the National Farmers Union

Loving Spoonful is a supporter of the National Farmers Union, a voluntary national farm membership organization that works on:

• Ensuring family farms are the primary unit of food production;
• Promoting environmentally-safe farming practices;
• Giving women equal voice in shaping farm policy;
• Working for fair food prices for both farmers and consumers;
• Involving, educating, and empowering rural youth for a better future;
• Building healthy, vibrant rural communities;
• Ensuring an adequate supply of safe, nutritious food for Canadians

With our focus on local food system transformation, the work being done by the NFU on shaping agricultural and social policy in Canada resonates deeply. We want to show solidarity with progressive farmers in Canada, and align ourselves with folks working for people’s interests against corporate control of our food system. Our Community Training Farm has a membership with the NFU.

Our Membership with the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario

The EFAO brings farmers together so they can learn from each other and improve the health of their soils, crops, livestock and the environment, to steward resilient ecological farms. Through farmer-to-farmer training and networking opportunities, EFAO supports farmers to build resilient ecological farms while helping to create a community among members. EFAO also empowers farmers to generate and share practical knowledge and innovations that advance our understanding of ecological, organic and regenerative farming.

Loving Spoonful is a member of the EFAO because we align our organizational work with others who envision a world where thriving ecological farms are the foundation of our food system; where agriculture protects the land, water and soil; increases biodiversity; mitigates climate change; and cultivates resilient, diverse, and equitable communities.