About Us
Vision Statement
We envision a world where all people have the agency, dignity, and right to access food of their own choosing. In this vision, all people can define a food system that upholds justice, equity, food sovereignty and ecological balance.
Mission Statement
The Vancouver Food Justice Coalition works collaboratively to ensure people's right to food through shared analysis, understanding and learning, relationship building and action. We stand and work with those most impacted by inequitable food systems to dismantle systems of oppression and to build a just food system where all people and life can thrive.
Indigenous Food Sovereignty Statement
We acknowledge we live, work and organize on the traditional and unceded lands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səl’ilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) peoples. We honour Indigenous knowledges, and that decentering colonial perspectives is an ongoing and collective process of learning and unlearning.
We recognize how worldviews profoundly shape the way we understand our interdependence with life and land. Indigenous teachings in particular bring us into a renewed relationship with the land and food that includes our responsibility to protect and care for the land and waters.
We also acknowledge the ongoing and genocidal impacts of colonial, racist, and capitalist resources extraction systems, including settler and contemporary agricultural systems, on Indigenous communities. Systematic colonial violence, including destruction and theft of the land and waters, is among the most significant barriers to Indigenous food sovereignty, resulting in Indigenous communities experiencing the highest levels of food insecurity in "Canada”.
The Vancouver Food Justice Coalition includes members who are both non-Indigenous and Indigenous. Those of us who identify as settlers or newcomers continue to learn about this on-going history of colonialism which can only be reversed through land back, reparations, rematriation, self-determination and food sovereignty.
We therefore commit to cultural humility and authentic allyship with Indigenous communities and uphold their rights to define, defend, and develop their own Indigenous food systems on Indigenous lands.
Equity Statement
"Equity strives for human liberation in its totality, empowering individuals and communities to reclaim their agency, control their destinies, and design their own futures based on their own terms and knowledge systems....It is about centeredness, validation, legitimation, and recognition. It is about representation." (George J Sefa Dei).
Equity is necessary to ending food insecurity and achieving well-being for all.
The Vancouver Food Justice Coalition acknowledges the many historical and on-going forms of injustice that create barriers to accessing nutritious food. Indigenous and racialized peoples, people living with disabilities, single adults, solo-parent women-led households, newcomers, students and youth experience food insecurity rates two to three times higher than the national average.
We are committed to examining and confronting the systems of power and discriminatory practices that drive this inequity and oppression, including our own food practices that may perpetuate our complicity in such systems. We are committed to anti-racist and anti-oppressive organizing and practice, and are resolute in our work to transform an unjust food system into one that is responsive and accountable to all impacted communities.
We know that equity thrives when centered around those most impacted by injustice and that we must work harder to ensure that we follow the lead of those with lived and living experience of injustice through authentic and reciprocal partnerships in dismantling systems that undermine food security.
We accept that this work will demand of us increased resourcing, capacity, accountability and showing up in order to undertake the necessary work of advocacy, political action and movement building required to build the equitable and just food system that we envision.
Unity Values
1. Nutritious Food as a Human Right
We uphold dignified access to nutritious, culturally relevant, and sustainable food as a basic human right for all.
2. Sacred Responsibility to the Land and Life
We uplift Indigenous worldviews and knowledge recognizing our sacred obligation to protect the land and all life, acknowledging the interconnectedness and interdependence of all beings.
3. Justice, Equity & Sovereignty in Food Systems
We seek a future where food systems are just, equitable, and sovereign, empowering all people to thrive regardless of their life circumstances.
4. Dismantling Structural Oppression
We recognize that true food systems change requires addressing the deeper structural systems of oppression that perpetuate inequality and food insecurity.
5. Uplifting Lived Experiences
We strive to center the voices and solutions of those most impacted by food insecurity, measuring success through their engagement and leadership.
6. Collaboration & Inclusivity
We strive for meaningful participation, continuous learning and collaboration between individuals and organizations, recognizing that collective effort and understanding across diverse systems and communities is essential for change.
7. Bold & Creative Action for Change
We embrace diverse political strategies and commit to bold, flexible and creative action, moving us beyond words to tangible change.
8. Care & Intentionality
We recognize the urgency of hunger but strive to shift our mindsets towards a way of working that honours slow, thoughtful and intentional ways of being.
9. Celebration & Joy
We embrace joy, celebration, and cultural sharing, acknowledging that food is a key ingredient to fostering social connection, nutrition and mental health.
