BY: AYESHA KHAN
To the joy of many Black Food Justice activists and service providers in Ontario, the Toronto Black Food Sovereignty Plan has just been approved by Toronto City Council in early October. The first of its kind in North America, the plan has been in development for 2 years by grassroots activists and city staff.
According to the University of Toronto, Black households in Toronto are 3.5 times more likely to be food insecure. The plan is designed to address the persistent problem of food insecurity among the Black community in a culturally appropriate way that gives Black communities agency around their own food access.
Leading the fight for food sovereignty in the Black community for a quarter century has been Anan Lololi of the Afri-Can Food Basket. Based in Toronto’s Northwest corner, Anan has been having conversations behind closed doors for years which are now reaching the public realm. Founded by himself and a colleague named Tafari, the Afri-Can Food Basket began with a culturally sensitive food bank and expanded to church gardens, backyard gardens, and other creative independent ways to grow and source food. Their work and advocacy centred around an important theme: access to land.
Anan Lololi of the Afri-Can Food Basket. Photo credit: Anan Lololi
“The strength of our city is in diversity, so where are the Black farmers?” Poses Anan regarding the discrepancies of growers, and the predominantly settler-dominated imagery of farming in Ontario. “They don’t have access to land. One of main areas we are encouraging is to develop city-supported, Black led initiatives dedicated to address food insecurity.”
Lololi argues that food insecurity, experienced at an alarming rate by Black children especially, contributes to many social ills as nutritionally deprived youth cannot function properly in schools. “Anti-Black racism has negatively impacted the key social determinants of health. Food is the single most important thing: our substance, to humankind. There is nothing more important than food. We don’t want young people going to rob people. We want healthy youth, with healthy behaviours.”
Anan declares himself to be working for a just and equitable society, and his long track record of both advocating for and providing service to marginalized people across the City demonstrates exactly this. When the Afri-Can Food Basket started a Working Group to meet and discuss ways to address the glaring injustices, it quickly caught the attention of the City of Toronto’s Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit. After sitting in on many meetings and conversations, the plan was thoughtfully developed.
“We all have rights, but they don’t mean as much as they should without programs.” Opined Winston Husbands, longtime volunteer with the Afri-Can Food Basket and member of the working group. “Unless we have some commitment, the promise of those rights turns out to be bigger than the actual reality of experience. The plan begins from that place. It sets out priorities that the city can pursue, to work with Black communities.”
Bashir Munye, chef, food justice activist and advisor for the Toronto Food Policy Council was involved in the creation and outreach of the plan as well, in addition to years of research on the topic with organizations such as OMAFRA and Ontario Trillium Foundation. He speaks of the need for such a plan to not only include marginalized voices, but to consider the environment a stakeholder as well.
“People should eat food that’s medicine for them. We must ensure the system of food is a circular economy, from the farm, to table, to compost, and back to the farm.” Offered Munye. “I am a strong believer that a system built over 400 years is not going to change overnight. This is a marathon, not a race.”
Bashir Munye is a longtime food sovereignty activist and researcher. Photo credit: Bashir Munye
The Toronto Black Food Sovereignty Plan aims to encourage different levels of stakeholder involvement, with opportunities to participate, volunteer and receive produce. The plan will inspire crucial action being taken at the policy-making level, but will also result in life-changing access to supplies for families and service providers on the ground.
“What this plan means for local non-profits who have been doing this work, is increased access to resources to foster new innovative means to better serve our community, in addition to supporting ownership of our local food systems” explained Joyce Nyamadi, Community Developer of the women-led Society for the Living Food Bank in Jane and Finch.
“When we talk about food security, we often forget that it goes beyond access to food and includes access to affordable, nutritious, culturally appropriate and sustainable foods. The Black Food Sovereignty Plan will assist in getting back to this, with the goal of sustainably improving the health and quality of life of the Black community.”
The Society for the Living Food Bank is a pillar of Toronto’s largely racialized and underserved Jane Finch community, and has been working with Lololi’s Afri-Can Food Basket to grow fresh produce for food bank clients.
Though the critical issue of Black food insecurity in Toronto is far from being fixed, measurable policy actions inspired by grassroots leaders such as the Toronto Black Food Sovereignty Plan are important steps towards what Anan Lololi has deemed “a just and equitable society.”