On December 2, the Toronto Youth Food Policy Council will be holding a community meeting with speakers Chris Ramsaroop from Justicia for Migrant Workers, Jenn Pfenning from Pfenning’s Organic Farm, and Ed Dunsworth, Researcher and Activist to continue the conversation on migrant labour issues that we touched on last year.
We also have been given the opportunity to share the Milagros for Migrants installation, this collaborative multi-media exhibit from Dr. Deborah Barndt & Min Sook Lee honours Ontario’s Migrant Farm Workers and explores the relationship between food and labour justice and places migrant workers’ issues in the broader context of global corporate agriculture.
Please join in, please invite your friends, and anyone else that might be interested in this topic.
Speaker Bios
Chris Ramsaroop – Justicia for Migrant Workers
Chris Ramsaroop is a representative of the organization, Justicia for Migrant Workers, which is a volunteer-driven collective, committed to organizing with and for migrant workers – irrespective of their status in Canada.
Jenn Pfenning – Pfenning’s Organic Farm
Jenn Pfenning started sorting and packing vegetables on the family farm back in the 1990s. Over the years, she has developed a keen sense of farming the land organically and running the business with her husband Ekk and brother-in-law Wolfgang Pfenning. Jenn spends most of her time in the office now working with valued customers.
Her focus is on marketing, advertising and human resources which also include supervising the temporary foreign workers taking part in the seasonal agricultural worker program at Pfenning’s farm.
In addition to the family business responsibilities, Jenn currently finds time to be a director on the boards of Foodshare Toronto, the National Farmers Union-Ontario Waterloo-Wellington Chapter and Vice-Chair/ Farmer Rep. for the Organic Council of Ontario
Ed Dunsworth – Researcher and Activist
Ed Dunsworth is an independent researcher and activist focused on the issue of temporary foreign labour. He worked with migrant farm labourers in the non-profit sector from 2009-12 and recently completed a master’s degree in history at Queen’s University.
Event Details
Doors open at 5:30 pm, so come early and check out the exhibit.
The meeting will begin at 6:00 pm
Room 310, Metro Hall (55 John St)
