Mobilization around food security within the Canadian Social Economy Research Partnerships

About the Network The Social Economy and Sustainability Research (SES/ESD) Network is the Atlantic Node of the Canadian Social Economy Research Partnerships (CSERP) —. one of six regional research centres across Canada, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), 2005-2010. [...] With specific focus on Winnipeg and Saskatoon, this research aims to assess the possibilities for expanding the social economy of local food as an alternative to the dominant global food system, and to assess the possibilities for improving local food security through the social economy. [...] The producer group that is the subject of this research self-identified as a social enterprise committed to increasing the profitability of production, building healthy communities and environment, and working toward a just and sustainable food system. [...] This project will: 1) develop a data base of purchasing policies in Canada; 2) analyze the origins of such policies (including the key factors that spurred/inhibited their introduction), and; 3) analyze the impact of the policies (on sales of fair and ethically traded products, on the functioning of the organizations adopting them, on public opinion, on contributing to the formation of legislation [...] The goal of this pilot project was to explore the potential of using an outreach garden to increase the food security of the youth.