The Gateway Community of Practice convenes folks throughout the traditional Indigenous territories of so-called* BC who share a passion and practice around work centering:
- Household food insecurity and poverty reduction
- Indigenous Food Sovereignty, anti-racism, food justice, and decolonization in the food system
- Local food policy and governance
- Community food action, network and movement building
*So-called BC?
We refer to the colonial place called British Columbia as so-called BC recognizing that BC was and remains colonially imposed upon traditional unceded sovereign Indigenous land. It is on these territories that the collective food work held by the folks who come to the CoP happens.
We draw from this work which defines CoPs as:
Groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. Introduction to community of practice, Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
It is easy to seem disheartened when we approach one small facet of this work in the context of complexity. It might not seem we’ve come so far but in historical context, have actually managed to build larger networks that address this complexity. This work is all about bringing people together to influence and change systems but often the people coordinating these networks do so in isolation. The BC Food Security Gateway and Community of Practice is our community garden, a place to gather, learn and share with one another. Melanie Kurrein, Manager of Food Security, Provincial Health Services Authority
A CoP consists of a Domain (our shared interests), Community (those we have relationships and interact with), and Practice (our shared repertoire of resources, experiences, stories, tools, approaches).
Our Domain
Currently our shared areas of interest for the BC Food Security Gateway CoP are:
- Household food insecurity and poverty reduction
- Indigenous Food Sovereignty, anti-racism and decolonization in the food system
- Local food policy and governance
- Community food action, network and movement building
Conversations are emergent and respond to our member’s interests and priorities.
Our Community
We welcome people working towards community food security/food sovereignty, who participate in network building around food in their communities (like food policy councils or food action networks) and who are enthusiastic to share conversation and learning with their peers on the above domain areas. We currently have a mixed membership of non-profit, network, grassroots, and regional health authority members.
Our Practice
We meet online via Zoom for a monthly video call. These calls are facilitated to encourage conversation and shared learning. They are not typical webinars. Members also connect via a listserv and we share our posts, stories and resources here on the Gateway and on Twitter.
Members share stories, information, knowledge and experience, discuss news and developments, identify gaps in policy and practice, and cooperate on shared goals and strategies.
We encourage and support CoP members to contribute to the CoP in various ways as needs, learning goals and opportunities emerge; members have co-facilitated monthly calls, collaborated on toolkits and enjoy connecting outside of the calls and meeting up in person when possible.
About Joining the Sessions
A live auto-generated transcript and closed captioning will be available. We expect there are access needs not met by this container and invite you to let us know how the CoP sessions could be more accessible as we continually work on our access, inclusion, and disability justice practices.
🗩 Facilitators will be inviting spoken participation, use of the Zoom chat function, breakout groups, and Google Jamboard.
Come with something to write with.
We’ll have a short break about midway through.
Recommended to join from computer with a microphone and headphones.
If calling in is most accessible to you please do and let us know ahead of time if you can.
Recent Sessions
✳️ November CoP with the White Noise Collective: Embodied Practice for Racial Justice
✳️ October CoP Dignified Food Access and Peer Support
✳️ September CoP with Colin Dring: Rest, Care, Identity, Joy, and Stamina in Food Justice Work
❄️January’s Winter Circle with Secwepemc Elder Uncle Mike Arnouse
👟 February’s Peer Learning Shift and Share
April’s Food Justice Advocacy, Collective Action & Movement Organizing Conversation