Open Collections

Ardila, Lizeth

University of British Columbia

Despite their foundational role in global food systems, IBPOC communities face disproportionate food insecurity and poverty. In Winnipeg, Indigenous Peoples, newcomers, and racialized communities are at greater risk of poverty, limiting food access. Winnipeg's inner-city poverty rates are higher amongst Indigenous People, recent immigrants, visible minorities, and people with disabilities – 49.2%, 36.6%, 27.3% and 34.8%, respectively. In response, many Winnipeg grassroots projects, such as Alternative Food Organizations (AFOs), have emerged and contributed to efforts to meet the needs of diverse communities. Despite the good intentions and works of AFOs in Canada, the discourses and leadership that shape them tend to lack the diversity of the communities they serve and are led mostly by white settlers. IBPOC, despite their disproportionate burden of food insecurity and structural racism in the food system, have shown agency in determining alternative foodways to feed their communities yet their knowledges and voices remain at the margins of AFOs. Information on the importance of diversity in food leadership and its impacts on addressing urban food insecurity and other cultural needs in Winnipeg is unknown. Guided by Indigenous methodologies and based on decolonial and food justice theory, this study uses surveys and interviews to capture the experiences of IBPOC individuals and allies working within AFOs. The results reveal disparities in representation and leadership and impacts of those such as decreased IBPOC retention rates, lower job satisfaction, and reduced well-being of IBPOC staff members, suggesting that fostering diverse leadership and centring the voices and knowledges of IBPOC in AFOs, could provide a path forward to creating just, inclusive, equitable, culturally and community appropriate food system.

Text

2024-11-21

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/89701

Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/