Abstract

A ‘food movement’ effectively working to further the values of food as a commons and as public good and explicitly seeking to strengthen the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in food policy-making and governance is gaining ground in Canada. This social movement assembles a disparate array of CSOs, Indigenous food sovereignty advocates, fair-trade businesses, and sus tainable and just food system advocates (including academics) from each of Canada’s thirteen provinces and territories (Wittman et al., 2011; Levkoe, 2015). Koç et al. (2008) define the CSOs involved as primarily “community-based not-for-profit organizations working for the public interest independently of governments and the market place” (p. 125), though many of these CSOs are actually funded by various levels of government and often seek to influence government policies. As of 2005, Canada’s food movement connects nationally under the auspices of a “pan-Canadian alliance” called Food Secure Canada (FSC). ¹ From 2007 to 2011, this movement organized under the banner of food sovereignty to develop a “People’s Food Policy”.