Food Security, Sovereignty, and Indigenous Food Systems

Food Security

When all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and preferences for a healthy life.

Polycrisis

Multiple global crises occurring simultaneously and interacting with one another (e.g., climate change, pandemics, geopolitical conflict).

Food System

The interconnected social, economic, environmental, and political processes involved in producing, distributing, consuming, and disposing of food.

Industrial Food System

Large-scale food production system characterized by monocultures, processing, extensive transportation, packaging, and global distribution networks.

Monocrop

Growing a single crop species repeatedly on the same land over time.

Neoliberalism

Political and economic ideology emphasizing free markets, entrepreneurial freedom, limited government intervention, and greater reliance on the private sector.

Community Food Security

A framework where residents access safe, nutritious, culturally appropriate food through systems that promote self-reliance and social justice.

Availability

Having enough safe and nutritious food available for the population.

Accessibility

Being able to physically and economically obtain food without barriers.

Adequacy

Food is nutritious, safe, and culturally appropriate.

Acceptability

Food aligns with cultural values and is produced in socially and environmentally sustainable ways.

Agency

Having power and influence over food choices, food systems, and food-related decision making.

Food Secure

No income-related issues accessing food.

Marginal Food Insecurity

Worrying about food running out or having limited food choices.

Moderate Food Insecurity

Compromising food quality or quantity because of financial constraints.

Severe Food Insecurity

Skipping meals or reducing food intake due to lack of money.

Structural Racism

Systemic processes and institutions that produce unequal outcomes for racialized groups.

Settler Colonialism

Historical and ongoing systems that shape unequal access to land, resources, and opportunities.

Cultural Food Insecurity

Difficulty accessing foods that are culturally familiar, meaningful, or important to one's identity.

Ethnocultural Vegetables

Vegetables that play important roles in specific cultural cuisines and traditions.

Food Desert

An area where affordable and healthy food is difficult to access due to distance, transportation, or other barriers.

Food Access Approach

Reformist strategy focused on providing food through food banks, meal programs, and food drives.

Alternative Food System Approach

Community-based effort to create alternatives to the mainstream food system and increase food literacy and self-sufficiency.

Mutual Aid Approach

Grassroots, community-led support systems that operate outside traditional capitalist structures.

Food Sovereignty Approach

Movement advocating people's right to healthy, culturally appropriate food and control over food systems.

Food Sovereignty

The right of people and communities to define, control, and shape their own food and agricultural systems.

Self-Determination (Food Sovereignty)

Communities making their own decisions about food production, distribution, and consumption.

System Redesign

Addressing underlying structures and barriers that create food insecurity rather than only treating symptoms.

Capacity Building

Developing knowledge, skills, and resources that help individuals and communities become more food secure.

Emergency Relief

Immediate food assistance that addresses hunger but does not change underlying systems.

Food Ladder: Catching

Emergency supports that help people facing immediate food crises.

Food Ladder: Capacity Building

Programs that strengthen skills, confidence, and access to food resources.

Food Ladder: Self-Organized Community Change

Community-led actions that create long-term systemic improvements in food access and equity.

Second Harvest

Canadian organization that rescues surplus food and redistributes it to community organizations.

The SEED (Guelph)

Community-driven initiative focused on food access, inclusion, and alternative food systems.

Food Not Bombs

Mutual aid organization distributing free food while advocating for social change.

Cafe Gozhoo

Apache initiative using traditional foods and cultural practices to support wellness and cultural reconnection.

The People's Farm

Project helping Apache communities reconnect with traditional foods, farming, and culture.

Intertribal Bison Cooperative

Initiative to restore buffalo herds and Indigenous food sovereignty.

Ekow Ashun Stone

Speaker who highlighted cultural food insecurity and the importance of growing culturally relevant foods for immigrant and racialized communities.

Apache Food Sovereignty

Reconnecting communities with traditional foods, harvesting practices, and cultural identity.

Buffalo Restoration

Effort to rebuild Indigenous health, culture, and self-sufficiency through the return of buffalo.

Yurok Salmon Sovereignty

Connection between salmon, culture, health, community well-being, and Indigenous rights.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)

Knowledge developed by Indigenous peoples through generations of interaction with local environments, including food harvesting, stewardship, and sustainability practices.

Salmon Sovereignty

The ability of Indigenous communities to maintain access to salmon as a culturally, spiritually, and nutritionally important food source.

Buffalo Restoration

Efforts to return buffalo to Indigenous lands to support ecological restoration, cultural revitalization, and food sovereignty.

Food Colonialism

The disruption and replacement of traditional Indigenous food systems through colonial policies, displacement, and imposed diets.

Commodity Foods

Government-provided processed foods that often replaced traditional foods in Indigenous communities.

Food as Medicine

The idea that traditional foods contribute to physical, cultural, emotional, and community health.

Culturally Relevant Food

Food that reflects a person's cultural traditions, preferences, and identity.

Food Alienation

Feeling disconnected from one's culture because traditional foods are unavailable or inaccessible.

Ethnocultural Food Production

Growing crops that meet the dietary and cultural needs of specific cultural groups.

Cultural Appropriateness

The extent to which food aligns with cultural values, customs, and traditions.

Immigrant Food Security

Food security issues unique to newcomers, including cost barriers, language barriers, and limited access to familiar foods.

Food Rescue

Collecting edible surplus food that would otherwise be wasted and redistributing it to those who need it.

Surplus Food Redistribution

A strategy that redirects excess food from businesses and farms to community organizations.

Community Kitchen

A program where participants cook together, learn skills, and increase access to affordable meals.

Community Garden

Shared growing space that improves local food access, education, and community connections.

Food Literacy

Knowledge and skills related to selecting, growing, preparing, and understanding food.

Band-Aid Solution

A temporary response that addresses symptoms of food insecurity while leaving root causes unchanged.

Charitable Food Model

An approach relying on donations and food charity rather than systemic change.

Dependency Critique

The argument that long-term reliance on emergency food programs does not reduce underlying poverty.

Symptom vs. Cause Approach

The distinction between addressing immediate hunger and addressing the social conditions that create hunger.

Food Miles

The distance food travels from producer to consumer.

Local Food System

A food system emphasizing shorter supply chains and local production.

Supply Chain

The network involved in food production, processing, transportation, and retail.

Food Waste

Edible food lost during production, distribution, retail, or consumption.

Resilience

The ability of a food system to withstand disruptions such as climate change, pandemics, or economic crises.

Food Justice

A movement focused on addressing inequitable access to healthy and affordable food.

Racialized Communities

Groups that may experience unique food security barriers due to systemic inequalities.

Equitable Food Access

Ensuring all people have fair opportunities to obtain healthy food regardless of income or identity.

Food Citizenship

The idea that individuals have rights and responsibilities within food systems.

Grassroots Organizing

Community-led efforts to create local food system change.

Second Harvest Food Rescue Model

Focuses on reducing food waste while increasing food access through redistribution.

The SEED's Community Approach

Combines food access with dignity, inclusion, and community participation.

Food Not Bombs Philosophy

Views hunger as a political issue and uses mutual aid rather than charity.

Cafe Gozhoo Model

Integrates traditional Indigenous foods with wellness and cultural reconnection.

Intertribal Bison Cooperative Goal

Restoring buffalo herds while strengthening Indigenous food sovereignty.

Why is food insecurity considered a systemic issue?

Because it is largely driven by poverty, inequality, policy decisions, and social structures rather than a simple lack of food.

Why are food banks criticized by some scholars?

They address immediate hunger but often fail to address the root causes of food insecurity.

Why is agency considered important in food security?

People need not only access to food but also influence over how food systems operate.

Why is cultural food access important?

Food contributes to identity, belonging, community connection, and cultural continuity.

Why is food sovereignty different from food security?

Food security focuses on access to food, while food sovereignty focuses on control over food systems.