What is Food Literacy?

Food Literacy is about having knowledge and skills relating to food. For example:

  • Knowing where your food comes from

  • Understanding the relationship between food, health and wellbeing

  • Knowing what constitutes a healthy and nourishing diet

  • Understanding the intersection between food, community and culture

CRFAIR & Food Literacy

Since the Food Literacy World Cafe held in 2015, CRFAIR has brought together organizations from around the region annually through a Food Literacy Roundtable. This effort is part of the Good Food 2025 collective impact strategy. The goals for the roundtable are to increase networking opportunities between people and organizations working in the area of food literacy, to share promising practices and research, to identify what we would like to learn more about, as well as to continue to align our efforts more strategically for greater impact.

The Food Literacy Working Group

The Food Literacy Working group brings together a number of leaders across sectors with an interest in promoting Food Literacy in the Capital Region. This newly formed group looks to help provide strategic direction around food literacy projects, metrics, and collaborations in the region. If you are interested in learning more or joining this working group, please contact Heidi Fink (heidi.fink@crfair.ca).

Food Literacy Discussions over a home-cooked meal at the Food Literacy Roundtable 2023

Food Literacy Resources

Food Literacy Food Connections Video x Educational Package 2021

The Food Security Connections Video, and it’s complementary Educational Resource package, are for students to learn about food insecurity, hear stories from people in our community and from individuals and organizations that are working to alleviate food insecurity through food justice efforts.

Learning Objectives:

  • Hear stories, the experiences of people who have not been able to access enough food for themselves and their families

  • Learn about why there are many people in our communities-- our friends, our neighbours, who cannot always get enough food and

  • Learn how we can work to address this together as a caring community.

Included in Education Resource Package:

  • Connections to curriculum

  • Worksheets and additional learning resources

  • Student Lesson Outline

Food is Connection Webinar Series 2021

In the final webinar series of the spring series, Food is Connection: Sharing Food Among Generations, we celebrated seniors/elders as food knowledge holders and how that knowledge is passed to younger generations. There is so much to learn and gain from sharing in food practices; the joy of growing, preparing, preserving, cooking and eating together.

Good Food for All Webinar Series

The Food Literacy Working Group hosted bi-weekly webinars in 2020. See below for past webinar recordings.

CRFAIR promotes healthy and sustainable food systems.  This considers our relationships with each other, and the land and waters of this region.  We endeavour to honour the land and its treaties by strengthening our relationship and responsibilities to them. We live and work on unceded Coast Salish Territories*, specifically of the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees) and Xwsepsum (Esquimalt) Nations here in the core area, the W̱SÁNEĆ Nations {W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip), BOḰEĆEN (Pauquachin), SȾÁUTW̱,(Tsawout) W̱SIKEM (Tseycum)} out on the Saanich Peninsula and Gulf Islands, to the west Sc'ianew (Beecher Bay), T’Sou-ke, and Pacheedaht, and MÁLEXEȽ (Malahat) and Pune’laxutth’ (Penelekut) Nations.

The presence of settlers (non-Indigenous peoples who live on these lands) is not neutral; it has had and continues to have devastating impacts on many aspects of life for Indigenous peoples. Many of our practices, including the seeds we plant, the ways we educate, and our methods of growing food came to these lands through the ongoing process of colonialism. Settler colonialism has suppressed local well-being by harming Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ food systems, whether they be land-based or of the sky and sea. We hold this understanding in our interactions and engagements with this land and its people. 

There is important work being done by many nations and allies to ensure the continued thriving of these food systems, communities, and knowledge systems. Those of us who are settlers need to recognize that our knowledge and way of doing things may not be the priority as we work towards food security for everyone in this region.

* The term Coast Salish is used to encompass a number of Indigenous peoples, including Esquimalt, Hul’qumi’num, Klahoose, Lekwungen, MALAXEt, Musqueam, OStlq’emeylem, Pentlatch, Scia’new (Beecher Bay), Sliammon, Shishalh, Skxwú7mesh-ulh Úxwumixw, Stó:lo, Straits, Tsleil-Waututh, T’Sou-ke, W̱SÁNEĆ, and Xwemalhkwu.