Our commitment to truth and reconciliation

Feed Ontario recognizes the historical impact  of colonization, including its intersection with food insecurity.

 

 

Land acknowledgement

Feed Ontario acknowledges that we are situated on the traditional and ancestral territory of many nations and that the land, we call Ontario, is located on the home of many diverse Indigenous, First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge the historical impacts of colonization on Indigenous peoples, including the historical and ongoing intersection of food security with the legacy of colonialism.

Our statement on Indigenous food sovereignty

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The Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that colonialization in Canada resulted in the involuntary intrusion of external policies and practices into Indigenous ways of life, drastically affecting individual and communal control of local food systems. Harvesting, hunting, gardening, and most cultural and spiritual practices were regulated or banned. The resulting loss of access to and practice with Indigenous foods has eroded community knowledge about food and relationships with food, weakening cultural resilience and local health and food security.

We wish to emphasize our commitment beyond rhetorical gestures of inclusion and commit to continually work to build strong relationships and community resilience together, with Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples alike. We invite you to reflect on the unique connection that Indigenous peoples have had with this land for thousands of years and on the relationship with the ecology that provides all we need for life.

Food sovereignty is generally understood as a shift away from food commoditization and a shift towards culturally appropriate systems and policies that places an emphasis on peoples’ autonomy. By extension, Indigenous food sovereignty demands responsibility and requires action of us all to repair and strengthen relationships to Indigenous homelands that have been eroded by colonialism, globalization and neoliberal policies.

We recognize that food sovereignty furthers restoration and reconciliation in Canada.

Additional resources

Please also consult the following resources as you further seek to understand the impact on these lands:

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Learn about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action and find tools to create your own ReconciliACTION plan.

Native Land is an app to help map Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages.

A guide to Indigenous land acknowledgement.

“It’s our turn now, long overdue. Let us hold a giveaway for Mother Earth, spread our blankets out for her and pile them high with gifts of our own making...Whatever our gift, we are called to give it and to dance for the renewal of the world. In return for the privilege of breath.”

Robin Wall Kimmerer

Braiding Sweetgrass