What’s Race Got to Do With It:

Food, Diversity and Inclusion 

 
 

Tuesday, April 29th

 
As part of FSC’s emerging Food Justice Network, we heard from two food justice thinkers and activists discussing food, diversity, and inclusion and how it relates to their work.

The Webinar

Presenters
 

UTCHA SAWYERS

Food Justice and Community Food Animation, FoodShare, Toronto. FSC Board Member.
 
With over 15 years of devotion to social justice activism work within communities of colour and low-income communities both locally and internationally, Utcha Sawyers brings to the table a pollinated grassroots approach to the ever growing Food Justice and Food Sovereignty movement that has been building momentum over Toronto's food action movement. Utcha is an International Advisory Board Member and Local Empowerment Group (LEG), and sub-committee Chair for Growing Food Justice Initiative (GFJI), an international organization leading the Food Justice movement globally to dismantle racism in across food systems. She also chairs, consults, and facilitates on a variety of cross-community food justice, food democracy, and food sovereignty initiatives both local and globally. With an education and employment journey in Employment Resource Development and Afri-Carribean Studies Utcha continues to support and advocate for marginalized communities with great emphasis on growing equality, and a just local, national, and international food systems. Today Utcha collaborates with a dynamic network of agencies, institutions, resident leaders, grassroots organizations and city partners to engage, inspire, and provide empowerment tools for all communities impacted by food injustice. As the Food Justice & Community Animation Manager at FoodShare Toronto, she joins the organizations collective effort to support communities as they blow life into food projects across the GTA and beyond.
 
MALIK YAKINI
Founding member and Executive Director,  Detroit Black Food Security Network and D'town Farm co-founder.
 
Malik Yakini is a founder and executive director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, which operates a seven-acre farm in Detroit. Along with DBCFSN he spearheaded efforts to establish the Detroit Food Policy Council, which he also chaired. Yakini was a member of the Michigan Food Policy Council, and serves on the steering committee of Undoing Racism in the Detroit Food System. From 1990 to 2011 he was executive director of Nsoroma Institute Public School Academy, one of Detroit’s leading African-centered schools. Yakini was honored as Administrator of the Year by the Michigan Association of Public School Academies in 2006, and served on the board of directors of Timbuktu Academy of Science and Technology from 2004 to 2011. He is also CEO of Black Star Educational Management. Yakini is dedicated to working towards identifying and alleviating the impact of racism and white privilege on the food system, and contributing to the development of an international food sovereignty movement. He has presented at numerous national conferences on food justice and implementing community food security practices. Yakini is also featured in the book Blacks Living Green and the movie Urban Roots, and is currently a Food and Community Fellow for the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
 
Food Sovereignty
Discrimination and Oppression
Indigenous Food Matters
Webinar date: 
Tuesday, May 13, 2014 - 9:30pm
Network group: 
Food Justice
Region: 
All Canada