Indigenous Food Circle

The Thunder Bay and Area Food Strategy (TBAFS) worked to bring together local food stakeholders to take a coordinated approach to building healthy, sustainable, and equitable food systems through research, planning, policy, and program development. Members represent farmers, public institutions, small businesses, and non-profit organizations. The council members are conveners and activators who collaboratively implement the priorities of the Thunder Bay Food Charter to develop and monitor a healthy, equitable, and sustainable food system. Despite its many successes, before 2016, the TBAFS had no formal engagement from Indigenous peoples or organizations.

With a unique opportunity to explore food as a tool for reconciliation and resurgence, the TBAFS came to understand the Indigenous engagement gap and that Indigenous perspectives are an essential element in the future of Thunder Bay’s food system. It was also recognized that meaningful partnerships must be built on Indigenous peoples’ self-determination and significant efforts to strengthen strained Indigenous-settler relations. In 2016, the Executive of the TBAFS began to focus more directly on developing partnerships with Indigenous leaders and organizations to better understand the needs of Indigenous peoples, along with the barriers and opportunities to engagement.

These efforts supported the development of the Indigenous Food Circle. The initial aim of the Indigenous Food Circle was to reduce Indigenous food insecurity, increase food self-determination, and establish meaningful relationships with the settler population through food. To do this, it was vital to better understand food-related needs and issues that have an impact on Indigenous peoples and settler relations. The Indigenous Food Circle was given a mandate to establish a collaborative platform to support food-related initiatives developed by and for Indigenous organizations in the Thunder Bay region.

Based on initial consultations and meetings with Indigenous-led organizations in the Thunder Bay region, the following six objectives emerged in Phase I of the project:

1. To build meaningful relationships among Indigenous-led food organizations in the Thunder Bay region.
2. To support, connect, and coordinate Indigenous Food Circle members with food related initiatives and opportunities.
3. To establish a space for Indigenous people to share information and develop solutions to address immediate needs and decolonize the food system.
4. To bring awareness to Indigenous organizations and the food-related work they are involved with.
5. To build relationships between Indigenous-led organizations and settler-led organizations.
6. To support an inclusive process and supportive network, in order to guarantee that Indigenous engagement and decolonization work happens effectively in the city of Thunder Bay.

Read more about the Indigenous Food Circle in the full Indigenous Circle—Phase I Draft Report and the Indigenous Food Circle Annual Report for 2018–19.

Since publishing these reports, the Indigenous Food Circle has gone on to produce a number of publications, websites, and other projects. For more information, including videos and other documentation, see the Understanding our Food Systems project, the Lakehead University Sustainable Food Systems Lab, and the Indigenous Food Circle Facebook page.

Levkoe, Charles Z., Jessica McLaughlin, and Courtney Strutt. 2021. “Mobilizing Networks and Relationships Through Indigenous Food Sovereignty: The Indigenous Food Circle’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Northwestern Ontario.” Frontiers in Communication 6 (June). https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.672458.

Levkoe, Charles, Lana Ray, and Jessica Mclaughlin. 2019. “The Indigenous Food Circle: Reconciliation and Resurgence through Food in Northwestern Ontario.” Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, October, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2019.09B.008.