End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
By 2030, SDG 2 seeks to end all forms of hunger and malnutrition, and achieve year-round food security, particularly among children. This involves promoting sustainable agriculture and equal access to land and markets. EUC research has engaged in community and policy-focused studies of sustainable and equitable food systems, both locally and globally.
Creating food sovereignty through rematriation, land sharing, and relationship building
Sarah Rotz approaches the food system through questions of environmental justice and food sovereignty. The goal of her research is to facilitate Indigenous rematriation and reconnection to land at the grassroots level, as well protecting the rights of agricultural workers. This initiative brings together Indigenous and settler peoples with the goal of putting Indigenous land connections at the forefront of food systems.
Rethinking our Food Systems
The Earth to Table Legacies project, led by Professor Emeritus Deborah Barndt, focuses on food justice and food sovereignty. The project examines how the industrial food system compromises our health and the survival of the planet, while simultaneously deepening systemic inequity, racism, and poverty. This research seeks to restore relationships that have been lost through industrial agriculture and a corporate global food system that treats food as a commodity in the market. The goal is to re-establish food as a life-sustaining medicine, with deep cultural and spiritual meaning.
EUC Community Gardens
The EUC maintains two natural spaces on the York University Keele Campus that provide open, free access to all York and local community members: the HNES Native Plant Garden and the Maloca Community Garden. Plots at the Maloca Community Garden are free to anyone interested in planting, cultivating, and harvesting their own natural garden. In this way, Maloca promotes food security and community connections.
Sustainable Food Security in Northern Ghana
The research of EUC PhD candidate Balikisu Osman investigates how smallholder farming households implement coping, adaptation, and insurance practices against climatic shocks and how they shape their food availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability throughout the year, especially during the hungry months in Northern Ghana. Ultimately, this project helps support the Government of Ghana, development organizations, and private sector investors in developing resilient and innovative solutions to climate change and food insecurity.
Food policy for Canada
Rod MacRae’s research focuses on programs and policies to support the transition to health-promoting and sustainable food and agriculture systems in Canada. His work supports community-led projects for local and Indigenous food production systems to help improve food security in Canada's territories, as well as strengthening the social capital of stakeholders.
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