Research Paper: Advancing Food Sovereignty for the Black Community in Canada
- Tinashe Manolo
- Jun 3
- 7 min read
Executive Summary
Food insecurity among Black communities in Canada is not a matter of scarcity, but of systemic exclusion. Despite living in a country with agricultural abundance, Black Canadians face higher rates of food insecurity, limited access to culturally appropriate foods, and negligible representation in agribusiness ownership. Food sovereignty—a rights-based approach rooted in self-determination and cultural integrity—offers a pathway for sustainable, long-term food justice. This paper explores the structural roots of food insecurity, identifies high-potential provinces for Black-led agribusiness, and situates local food sovereignty initiatives within the context of global supply chain fragility and rising food protectionism. The case is made for a bold national policy shift to support land access, infrastructure investment, and education tailored to Black communities. In doing so, Canada can not only correct historical inequities but also future-proof its food system against geopolitical and climate-induced shocks.
1. Introduction & Problem Statement
In Canada, food insecurity is disproportionately experienced by racialized populations—most acutely by Black communities. According to PROOF (2020), 1 in 3 Black households experiences food insecurity, a rate that far exceeds the national average of 1 in 10. This inequality persists even when accounting for education and employment, revealing the structural and racialized nature of food access disparities. Food is not just a nutritional need—it is a cultural right, an economic foundation, and a site of identity.
However, Canada's food system—dominated by vertically integrated corporations, supply-managed industries, and import-heavy supply chains—marginalizes Afro-Caribbean food traditions and excludes Black communities from land, capital, and decision-making. This alienation is compounded by rising food prices, global trade wars, and climate-related disruptions in supply chains.
Food sovereignty is not merely about growing food locally; it is about reclaiming control, honouring ancestral knowledge, and building economic resilience. This paper proposes that the implementation of food sovereignty principles by and for Black communities in Canada is essential, overdue, and strategically feasible.
2. Literature Review and Context
2.1 Food Sovereignty: A Justice-Centered Framework
Originating from the global peasant movement La Via Campesina, food sovereignty emphasizes democratic control over food systems, ecological sustainability, and cultural appropriateness (Patel, 2009). In the North American context, Black-led food justice movements, such as Detroit’s D-Town Farms and Soul Fire Farm in New York, have adapted these principles to center racial justice and land reparations (White, 2018).
In Canada, the Toronto Black Food Sovereignty Alliance (TBFS) has outlined a comprehensive action plan emphasizing community gardens, cooperative farming, seed sovereignty, and culturally appropriate food provisioning. However, the scale remains localized due to lack of systemic funding, policy integration, and land access.
2.2 Structural Inequities in the Canadian Agrifood System
According to the 2021 Census of Agriculture, over 97% of Canadian farm operators are white, with Black farmers accounting for less than 0.1%. Moreover, Black communities are underrepresented in every node of the food value chain—from processing and distribution to retail ownership and policy governance. These exclusions are rooted in settler-colonial land regimes, anti-Black racism in financial institutions, and the lack of culturally specific agricultural education.
2.3 Cultural Food Disparities, Health Inequities, and Import Dependence
Access to culturally appropriate food is not only a matter of identity but also a fundamental determinant of health. The limited availability of traditional African, Caribbean, and Afro-Latinx food staples in mainstream Canadian grocery supply chains contributes to dietary displacement—where Black individuals are forced to substitute familiar, nutrient-dense foods with high-sodium, ultra-processed, or nutritionally inadequate alternatives. This contributes directly to health disparities that disproportionately affect Black Canadians.
Diet-Related Health Disparities in Black Communities
A growing body of research links dietary acculturation—the process by which immigrants adapt to mainstream diets—to increased risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Studies show that Black Canadians experience higher rates of hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, and obesity compared to the general population (Veenstra & Patterson, 2016). According to Public Health Ontario (2021), Black adults in Ontario are 1.5 times more likely to develop hypertension and 2 times more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than white adults. These disparities are not genetically driven but shaped by social determinants—including income, neighborhood food access, and the inability to access culturally familiar, nutrient-rich foods like dark leafy greens, legumes, tubers, and fish stews.
Example: Traditional West African and Caribbean diets are rich in fibre, complex carbohydrates, omega-3 fatty acids, and phytonutrients. When access to ingredients such as callaloo, pigeon peas, or cassava is restricted or unaffordable, Black individuals often resort to Western diets high in saturated fats, processed starches, and sugars—contributing to the early onset of diet-related chronic illness (Nnorom et al., 2019).
Food Environment and Access Barriers
Many Black Canadians reside in urban neighborhoods categorized as “food deserts” or “food swamps”—areas with limited access to affordable, fresh food and an over-concentration of fast food and convenience stores. In Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax, research by the Wellesley Institute and the Centre for Urban Health Solutions has found that predominantly Black and racialized neighborhoods are systematically underserved by full-service grocery stores. This spatial injustice is a major contributor to inadequate nutritional intake and increased reliance on imported and processed foods.
Import Dependence and Fragility
Most culturally appropriate foods consumed by Black communities in Canada—such as yams, plantains, breadfruit, okra, and scotch bonnet peppers—are imported from countries in the Global South, including Ghana, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and Colombia. According to a 2022 market analysis by the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, over 82% of such imports are at high risk of price volatility due to climate change, global shipping disruptions, and foreign exchange shocks. For example, after Hurricane Dorian in 2019, plantain prices in Ontario rose by over 45% due to Caribbean supply shortages.
Furthermore, the rise of protectionist trade policies in the wake of global economic nationalism—exacerbated by events such as Brexit, NAFTA renegotiations, and India’s recent export bans—raises concerns about the future availability and affordability of these essential food items (OECD, 2023).
The Health Imperative for Food Sovereignty
Given this convergence of health risk and food system fragility, Black food sovereignty becomes not just a cultural or economic imperative but a public health intervention. Culturally appropriate diets grounded in ancestral knowledge and local production have been shown to improve dietary adherence and long-term health outcomes. Community-controlled food systems rooted in agroecology and cultural specificity offer pathways to address NCDs through prevention rather than pharmaceutical dependence.
Supporting Case Study: The Hope Blooms initiative in Halifax operates a youth-run garden that incorporates African Nova Scotian culinary traditions and grows ingredients used in healthy, culturally inspired salad dressings sold locally. Evaluations by Dalhousie University found improved nutritional literacy, lower BMI scores, and enhanced psychosocial well-being among youth participants (Hope Blooms Annual Report, 2022).
3. Hypothesis and Regional Agribusiness Opportunity Mapping
Hypothesis
If Black communities in Canada are resourced to establish food sovereignty initiatives in agro-climatically strategic provinces, then long-term access to culturally appropriate, affordable, and sustainable food will increase, reducing reliance on vulnerable global imports and addressing systemic racial inequities in food access.
Best Provinces for Agribusiness Development
Province | Rationale | Supporting Data |
Alberta | Affordable peri-urban land, strong greenhouse industry, low population density | Farmland values: CAD $3,600/acre (FCC, 2024); 300 frost-free days in Lethbridge |
Ontario | Largest Black population, progressive urban agriculture policies, growing food justice movement | Black population: 600,000+ (StatsCan, 2021); Toronto’s UrbanHensTO pilot |
Nova Scotia | Historic Black settlements with community land potential; local food movement alignment | North Preston and Cherry Brook land co-ops; NS Food Policy Council active |
Case Study: Afri-Can Food Basket (Toronto)Founded in 1995, this community-led initiative delivers weekly food boxes of culturally relevant produce and operates community greenhouses. Despite high impact, scaling remains difficult due to insecure land tenure and limited provincial funding.
4. The Trade-Off Debate: Importation vs. Domestic Production
Counterargument: Cost-Efficiency of Imports
Critics argue that it is more cost-efficient to import culturally appropriate food from climate-advantaged regions than to produce it in Canadian greenhouses or limited-season fields. They cite comparative advantage theory and note that domestic production may not meet demand due to weather constraints and high labor costs.
Rebuttal: The Cost of Fragility and Dependency
This argument ignores the hidden costs of dependency. With global supply chains increasingly weaponized through tariff wars (e.g., U.S.–China, Canada–India tensions) and subject to geopolitical unpredictability, the cost of inaction is rising. The OECD (2023) projects that food trade disruptions will increase by 35% over the next decade due to climate shocks and nationalism. Moreover, localized production creates jobs, fosters economic resilience, and reduces carbon emissions.
Example: A greenhouse co-op in Calgary produces okra at CAD $2.10/lb compared to imported okra at $3.25/lb (after tariffs and seasonal scarcity). While upfront capital costs are higher, net benefits in price stability, employment, and community control offset the investment within five years (Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, 2023).
5. Strategic Recommendations
Establish the National Black Agrifood Sovereignty Fund (NBASF). A federally backed fund of $200M over 5 years, co-managed by Black-led organizations, to finance land acquisition, infrastructure, and capacity-building projects.
Black Land Access and Reclamation Framework Legislate land grants, lease-to-own agreements, and land trust arrangements prioritizing Black communities, modeled after Indigenous land restitution models in British Columbia.
Create Regional Cultural Agritech HubsPartner with academic institutions (e.g., Dalhousie, UofA, Guelph) to establish research and training centers focused on culturally relevant crops, urban agriculture, and smart farming.
Integrate Food Sovereignty into Federal Trade and Health PoliciesEnsure Health Canada and Global Affairs include food sovereignty metrics in their strategic plans, recognizing culturally appropriate food access as a determinant of public health.
Mandate Racial Data Disaggregation in Agri-StatisticsExpand Statistics Canada datasets to include racialized ownership, crop distribution, and funding outcomes to track equity progress in agribusiness.
6. Conclusion
Canada is at a crossroads. As climate volatility, geopolitical realignment, and domestic inequality converge, the need for resilient, inclusive, and culturally anchored food systems has never been more urgent. Food sovereignty offers a comprehensive response—not only as a strategy for food security but as a justice project, an economic development engine, and a cultural renaissance for Black communities. Provinces like Alberta, Ontario, and Nova Scotia hold unique promise for pilot projects that can transform national policy. What is needed now is the political courage to recognize that food is not just a commodity, but a right—and that Black Canadians deserve to define, produce, and own their own food futures.
References
Patel, R. (2009). Food Sovereignty. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 36(3), 663–706.
Statistics Canada. (2021). Census of Population and Census of Agriculture.
Tarasuk, V., & Mitchell, A. (2020). Household Food Insecurity in Canada, 2017–18.PROOF.
Toronto Black Food Sovereignty Alliance. (2021). The Black Food Sovereignty Plan.
White, M. (2018). Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement. UNC Press.
Nnorom, O., Findlay, N., & Raphael, D. (2019). “Race, Racism, and the Health of Black Canadians: A Scoping Review.” Canadian Journal of Public Health, 110(3),320–332. https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-018-0216-6
Public Health Ontario. (2021). Health Equity in Chronic Disease: Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Ontario.
Veenstra, G., & Patterson, A. (2016). “Food Consumption Patterns and Cardiovascular Disease Risk among Black and White Canadians.” CanadianJournal of Cardiology, 32(10), 1252.e9–1252.e14.
Agri-Food Analytics Lab. (2022). Cultural Food Supply Chain Vulnerabilities in Canada. Dalhousie University.
OECD. (2023). Global Agricultural Trade and the Risks of Protectionism.
Hope Blooms. (2022). Annual Impact Report. Halifax, NS.
Alkon, A., & Agyeman, J. (2011). Cultivating Food Justice: Race, Class, and Sustainability. MIT Press.
Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute. (2023). Localizing FoodSystems in a Changing Climate.
Deloitte Canada. (2023). Canadian Food Price Report.
Farm Credit Canada. (2024). Farmland Values Report.
FAO. (2023). Global Food Import Costs Soar Amid Climate Disruptions.
OECD. (2023). Agricultural Outlook 2023–2032
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