The goal of the Common Ground Food Forum is to bring together food system actors coast-to-coast-to-coast, for meaningful connection and shared visioning. This forum allows the opportunity to connect people, research, and action across food systems to strengthen our shared work and move us closer to the food future we want.

PROGRAM DETAILS

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Legend:
Common Ground Network (CG)
Canadian Association for Food Studies (CAFS)
Food Communities Network (FCN)
Food Secure Canada (FSC)

Monday, June 15, 2026

Grounding/Planting

Purpose: To ground ourselves in the focus of the conference, in prioritizing Indigenous knowledge, and land based challenges

10 AM - 11:30 AM	Campus Food-system Adventure with Jacob Kearey-Moreland Meet at main entrance to Simcoe Hall
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Registration with Grab and Go lunch (Osri Family Learning Commons)
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM	Opening Session – Introductory themes, welcome, traditional opening (Rooms OA1033 & OA1022)
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM	Plenary – Indigenous Food Sovereignty (Rooms OA1033 & OA1022)
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM	Break
Room	OA1022	OA2018	OA1033	OA2019
3:00 PM - 4:30 PM	Presentations – Strengthening the equity and sustainability of Canada's food systems; The value of immigrant food security, cultural food access, and entrepreneurial innovation		Presentations – Foodways perspectives	Presentations – Land grabs, land-trusts and land-tenure
4:30 PM - 5:00 PM	Break
Room	OA1022	OA2018	OA1033	OA2019
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM	Panel – Looking East: Food systems organizing in Atlantic Canada	Panel – Setting the table together: Collaboration Led by PWLE	Presentations – Immigrant experience in the Canadian food system	Presentations – Indigenous Food sovereignty
6:30 PM - 9:30 PM	Evening Feast Welcome, connection to Indigenous land, grounding (All participants welcome)

Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Connecting

Purpose: To connect to each other, to networks, and connect the discussions

8:30 AM - 10:00 AM	Plenary Connecting to the work of the Common Ground Food Forum Host Networks (Rooms OA1033 & OA1022)
10:00 AM - 10:30 AM	Break				Learning Experience – Meet in front of Simcoe Hall for bus pickup at 10:10 am (10:10 am - 12:30 pm) - Sharing Place Food Centre (off-site)
Room	OA1033	OA2018	OA1022	OA2019
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM	Panel (CG) – People and land: From financialization to land tenure alternatives	Panel –Lessons from our food movement Elders: voices from 50 years of food movements in Canada	Presentations – School Food: National Updates and Revealing Potential for Food System Transformation	Workshop –Sharing skills, supporting sovereignty: A workshop for growing capacity, culture, and community
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM	Lunch & Learn – Beyond tokenism in academia	LUNCH
Room	OA1033	OA2018	OA1022	OA2019	OA2015
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM	Panel (CG) – Deepening relations with local food systems, food producers, and food itself	Panel (FCN) – From parallel paths to shared practice: Connecting local food system practitioners	Workshop – Young and emerging actors brainstorm session: keeping systemic change on the agenda	Panel – To sustain: Urban and periurban agriculture as part of a zero-emissions food system	Poster Sessions
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM	Break
Room	OA1022	OA2018	OA1033	OA2019	OA2014
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM		Workshop – Tending the soil of community, propagating change	Presentations – Food system equity and agency	Presentations –Community-based and participatory food system research methods	Common Ground Pillar Meeting: Rural-Urban Relations
5:00 PM- 6:00 PM	Break
Evening	CAFS Dinner and Social – Featuring book launch, awards presentations, and 'Journey of wine' workshop (6:00PM - 10:00PM, off-site) *ticketed event

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Pruning

Purpose: To identify areas to collaborate (to streamline efforts), to discuss/identify tension points (prune misunderstandings/controversial issues)

MAKE SURE TO CHECK OUT:
Live recording of Dignity and Joy: A podcast from FoodShare.
Collective reflections on building a bigger table to strengthen our relations
(10:30 am – 5:00 pm – Osri Family Learning Commons)
Click here for more details

8:30 AM - 10:00 AM	Plenary – Food Systems Tensions, Challenges, and How We Work Together (Rooms OA1033 & OA1022)
10:00 AM - 10:30 AM	Break					Learning Experience: Rama Community Farm Meet in front of Simcoe Hall for bus pickup at 10:10 am (10:10 am - 12:30 pm)
Room	OA1033	OA2018	OA1022	OA2019	OA2015
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM	Presentations – How we land: Racialized gardeners negotiating settler identities and treaty responsibilities	Panel – The good, the bad, and the ugly of complex collaborations	Presentations – Campus food systems	Workshop - Senses and making sense: Documenting culinary memories through participatory art-based method	Workshop- We Eat Together: Beyond tokenism in academia
Room		OA2014
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM	LUNCH	Workshop - From insight to action: Advancing our shared food network priorities through collective deliberation (Hosted by CAFS)	LUNCH
Room	OA1033	OA2018	OA1022	OA2019
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM	Presentations – Feminist and intersectional food studies	Workshop – Exploring a local chapter model for CAFS	Presentations – Critical food pedagogy and food justice movements (Part 1)	Presentations –Community-based programs: Challenges and opportunities
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM	Break
Room	OA1033	OA2018	OA1022	OA2019
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM	Panel (CG) –Bridging the rural-urban divide: the potential of food hubs and food distribution infrastructures for system transformation	Presentations – Explorations in food system technology advances	Presentations – Critical food pedagogy and food justice movements (Part 2)	Workshop –Showing up for farmers: Collaboration and solidarity across research, policy, and advocacy
5:00 PM	Break
Evening	FSC Education Session – A just transition roadmap for Canada’s food system (5:15 PM start Room OA2019)				Film Screening & Discussion – The Hand that Feeds Us (7:00 PM - 10:00 PM - Room OA1022)

Thursday, June 18, 2026

Growing

Purpose: To grow/deepen discussions, advocacy efforts (e.g. bringing things to the government level), partnerships

8:30 AM - 10:00 AM	Plenary (FCN) – The Current Global Moment and Local Food Resilience (Rooms OA1033 & OA1022)
10:00 AM - 10:30 AM	Break
Room	OA1033	OA2018	OA1022	OA2019
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM	Presentations –Transitions in Canadian agriculture	Roundtable (CG) – Canada and the world: Asserting Canadian leadership in building more just and sustainable global food systems	Panel (FSC & CAFS) – From public grocery stores to social supermarkets	Presentations – Dreaming of a better tomorrow: Optimism for food system change
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM	Lunch
Room	OA1033	OA1022	OA2018	OA2019
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM	Presentations – Alternative food systems and social economies	Panel Addressing Northern food systems challenges through agroecology	Panel – Basic income and the future of food: Strengthening social relations for a just and sustainable food system	Presentations – Food policy
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM	Break
Room	OA1033	OA2018	OA1022	OA2019	OA2014
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM	Panel – Building a bigger table for food sovereignty and solidarity	Panel – Law and policy solutions to food loss and waste	Presentations – Corporate concentration and food system financialization	Presentations – Food system governance	Common Ground Pillar Meeting: People and Land
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM	Closing Reception

In addition to the program outlined above, the Common Ground Food Forum will also include:

– Connection corner: Open networking and refreshment space
– Internal: Common Ground pillar meetings