With the arrival of International Women’s Day, the Toronto Youth Food Policy Council is recognizing a few (of the many) women that have had a strong and lasting influence in Toronto’s food scene. Some of the city’s most beloved and highly acclaimed community gardens, soup kitchens, restaurants, bakeries, and cafés are founded and/or operated by women, including Newcomer Kitchen, Chubby’s Jamaican Kitchen, and Barbershop Patissierie.
Despite the strides and heights that women have reached in the Canadian food industry, it still remains an uneven playing field. Women have always been underrepresented in culinary spaces and this has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Women often find it difficult to access capital and funding due to the institutional and structural barriers that exist and pre-exist. Research suggests that women receive fewer loans with lesser value when compared to male-owned businesses, and are also subjected to paying higher rates. This discrepancy is amplified for women of marginalized populations; in 2020, female-led start ups were granted approximately 2.3 per cent of funding, while women of colour received less than one per cent.
However, there is still a bright and shining light at the end of the tunnel as there are various women in the Toronto food community that are
not only leading the way, but they are the very backbone. So let’s recognize and celebrate their accomplishments, craft, dedication, innovation, and intelligence in this space.
Lori Stahlbrand
Dr. Lori Stahlbrand is a leading food policy analyst, known for her diverse range of experience as an academic (currently as Professor of Food Studies at George Brown College), works as a food policy
specialist with the City of Toronto, and as a non-profit leader. After joining George Brown College in 2019, she co-developed the Honours Bachelor of Food Studies, which is the first of its kind in Canada. Lori has worked extensively with businesses along the food chain – from farmers and processors to chefs, foodservice managers and retailers. Her areas of expertise include local and sustainable food systems, food procurement, food and cities, food and equity, food policy councils, and citizen engagement on food-related issues. While a non-profit leader, Lori was key in implementing the first and largest local and sustainable food purchasing program at a Canadian university, at the University of Toronto. Lori is experienced in working collaboratively with many stakeholders, providing strategic analysis and policy advice.
For more on Dr. Stahlbrand: https://www.georgebrown.ca/bio/lori-stahlbrand
Charlene Ellis
Charlyn Ellis is a Black woman, mother, writer, poet, earth worker, and activist who has been growing food in, with, and amongst communities for over twenty years. She has supported the establishment of Emmett Communal Garden, seniors programming, and Black Sovereignty and food access work. She has been a staple of the York South–Weston community, working in the region for over ten years.
Emmett Community Garden as it was called, when it began in 2004, is a direct result of a paper written and researched by Punam Khosla in 2003 titled, “If Low Income Women of Colour Counted in Toronto”, which pointed out the disparity between income, employment, housing neighbourhood segregation and how this affected women especially women of colour. The garden was to be a space for women that would break isolation, engage women around growing, eating, and surviving. The original women’s plot, the Cross Cultural Women and Girls Space Plot, represents this notion as it contains herbs that are medicine especially for women. Emmett Communal Garden hopes to continue addressing issues of food insecurity in the community, also health and soul healing in partnership with the land.
Charlyn Ellis writes, grows food and helps. Charlyn has been growing food in, with and amongst communities for over twenty years and has supported Emmett Communal Garden since 2009, as an active abolitionist activist for over 25 years.
For more on the Emmett Communal Garden:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIbcxb
t2d3U / https://www.instagram.com/emmettcommunalgarden/
Béatrice Lego
Dr. Béatrice Lego served as the University of Toronto Scarborough’s (UTSC) Campus Farm Coordinator between 2018 and 2024, responsible for providing administrative support to manage the teaching and pedagogical farm projects. In this capacity, she assisted with site visits, experiential learning content production, and the farm’s overall operation. A stalwart for the initiative, Béatrice engaged with farm users, including administrators, faculty, staff, and students, with contagious passion. Her creativity shines when curating engaging experiential learning opportunities for the community. With a PhD in Polymer and Surface Chemistry from the Université de Montréal, and certifications in permaculture design and advanced social systems design from the Permaculture Women’s Guild, Béatrice’s academic background informs her innovative approach to the Campus Farm initiative, which she has been involved with since its inception in 2018.
For more on Dr. Lego: https://sdg.utoronto.ca/people/beatrice-lego/
Jacqueline Dwyer
Jacqueline Dwyer is a farm manager and co-founder of the Toronto Black Farmers Collective, Afro-Indigenous Food Security Festival, and The Collective Group. She is a passionate community organizer/farmer with a goal to grow “clean” food. The Toronto urban farm is located at Downsview Park on Keele Street and Sheppard Avenue West with a partner site at the Country Heritage Park in Milton. Veteran and new volunteers including toddlers, preschoolers, young moms, seniors, and youth can be found busily preparing, tilling and harvesting and/or inquiring how to get involved. She wants to see all generations of people within the African diaspora realize affordable foods, create food sustainability, and create a stronger sense of community. Jacqueline loves to hold sprout workshops, as well as sharing her knowledge around food justice.
For more on Jacqueline and the Toronto Black Farmers and Food Growers Collective: https://blackfarmersto.wixsite.com/tbcfg
Michelle Lee
Michelle opened Kimchi Korea House in September 2012 in downtown Toronto, with her nephew Jin helming the kitchen as Chef.
As she was growing up in the rural mountains of Sunchang county in the Jeolla province of South Korea, Michelle learned how to make kimchi and other Korean recipes from her mother. When she first immigrated to Canada in the 1980s, good Korean restaurants were hard to find and finding good kimchi proved an even more difficult challenge. After working in restaurants and the hospitality industry for over three decades, Michelle and Jin were committed to creating a space where they could share Korean comfort foods close to their hearts with others.
Whether you’re sweating over a bowl of spicy pork bone soup or sharing a bottle of soju while eating a seafood pancake with friends, Kimchi Korea House is the space to discover how Korean food can change your life.
For more on Michelle and Kimchi Korea House: https://www.kimchikoreahouse.ca/