"Every land has its own seed.”
Jordanian activist Fatima Obeidat opened a recent workshop on Vancouver Island with these provocative words.
Obeidat, founder of Kananah Organization, which shares sustainable food practices with poor urban and Syrian refugee women in Jordan, joined participants from communities in Colombia, Jordan, South Africa and T’Sou-ke First Nation to launch the four-year, SSHRC-funded Four Stories About Food Sovereignty (FSAFS) project.
The phrase became a refrain for the international group of food producers, sustainable food system advocates, and academics from Indigenous, refugee and farming communities who gathered on the island this September to shape FSAFS. The new UVic-led project examines the historical roots of food crises, while trying to understand how vulnerable communities can gain decision-making power over the food they eat and how they access it.
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Image via Miguel Ramirez Boscan.