Transitioning to health promoting and locally sourced, sustainable food supply for Canada.
About this event
Join RSI for a series of weekly, one-hour action learning speaker webinars during the month of May 2022.
Designed for action learning, the speaker series will feature a diversity of topic related leaders and experts recognized for their innovative, inclusive and systems thinking in advancing food security and climate resiliency in Canada to get their views on the future of food in a time of great change.
About the Speakers:
Dr. MacRae is a sought-after expert on health-promoting and sustainable food and agriculture systems. He writes and speaks extensively on these themes in the academic and popular press; and. consults to government, business and NGOs, and teaches at York. He has a PhD from McGill.
Brenda Hsueh is a Chinese Canadian organic farmer who has been farming at her 40 acre farm, Black Sheep Farm, since 2009. She spent over a decade working in the financial industry in Toronto, before pursuing her dream of regenerative agriculture. Over the years, she has been joined at the farm by her partner, Skyler, and their daughter Emma. They grow organic vegetables for CSA members on a no-till vegetable plot, and practice intensive managed sheep grazing on 20+ acres of pastures. The rest of the farm is planted to trees, and has a pond for amphibious life and all those needing a watering hole. The priority for the farm is to increase biodiversity and habitat, sequestering carbon by keeping living roots in the ground, while also producing nutritious and flavourful food for the farm’s community. Brenda is also working with Farmers for Climate Solutions to roll out their Farm Resilience Mentorship program (FaRM) as there is so much potential for climate change mitigation, and maybe even reversal, if agriculture starts to make some major shifts.
Matt is a systems-thinker working on environmental, conservation and sustainability problems. He works across disciplines - including biodiversity, ecosystem science and agriculture – to develop new urban agriculture technologies. He has worked for Environment Canada, consulted internationally and researched widely in academia. He applies his broad experience to developing insights and solutions that can enable a greener and more resilient future. He has a PhD in Ecology from McMaster University and an MSc in Marine Science from University of Otago, New Zealand.
Why now? Why a Systems Approach?
Over 5.6 million Canadians live with food insecurity, hunger and poverty every day of their lives! With the impacts of Covid-19, rising inflation and climate change across the supply chain, the actual number of people living with hunger is likely a lot higher than what’s reported.
The 2022 Food Price Report for Canada forecasts a 5% to 7% increase in food prices in 2022, the highest in its 12-year history. This translates to an annual cost of food of $14,767 for the average Canadian family – an increase of $966 over 2021.
This is a highly concerning figure for Canada’s most vulnerable people. There is more than enough food produced to nourish every Canadian, but over 50% of our produce gets wasted. There are clear systemic challenges that need to be explored. These complex supply dynamics are shifting rapidly.
It is a complex, interconnected problem that needs to be explored, understood and addressed with a futures lens and systems approach.