Reflections on the TYFPC April Community Meeting
Our April Community Meeting focused on the topic of “Empowering Food Social Enterprises” and we had a wonderfully diverse panel including Kevin Lee from Scadding Court Community Centre; Katie German from FoodShare; Stephanie Lao from Petit Nuage in Scadding Court’s Market 707; Tinashe Kanengoni from African Food Basket and UnAppreciated Urban Soil Health; as well as Vanessa Ling Yu from caterToronto.
The intent was for our community meeting to highlight the work of a local partner, in this case Scadding Court Community Centre, advocating for the inclusion of youth in food policy conversations in the city. We were able to have a tour of the Scadding Court facilities, including their new aquaponics set up, which proved to be a big hit, before moving into a panel discussion on the nature of food social enterprise opportunities in Toronto. Snacks were provided by Cookie Martinez, Gushi Foods, and Souppe Shoppe, vendors based in Market 707, Scadding Court’s container market which has animated the space along Dundas Street east of Bathurst.