Exploring Activist Perspectives on Indigenous-settler Solidarity in Toronto's Food Sovereignty Movement

In Canada, Indigenous and ally scholars have called upon food movements to reimagine approaches to food system change in ways that confront settler colonialism and support Indigenous struggles for land and sovereignty. Engaging with critical Indigenous and food sovereignty scholarship, this project explores how nine settler food activists in Toronto are responding to these calls. Findings suggest that some Toronto food activists are actively working to build solidarity with Indigenous peoples by (un)learning and building relationships. However, few organizations seem to be prioritizing Indigenous initiatives or conversations around settler colonialism in their public media, implying that participants’ efforts may be in the minority among Toronto food organizations. Ultimately, settler food sovereignty movements must do more to reckon with the coloniality of food movement work, relinquish settler claims to define food systems on stolen lands, and push for structural changes towards permanent redistribution of power and land to Indigenous peoples.