Fieldnotes from the organizers of the food insecurity community-oriented event “Let’s Move Beyond Charity!”: Challenges, opportunities, and learnings

Irena Knezevic; Myriam Durocher; Tabitha Robin

doi:10.15353/cfs-rcea.v13i2.767

Fieldnotes from the organizers of the food insecurity community-oriented event “Let’s Move Beyond Charity!”

Challenges, opportunities, and learnings

Authors

Irena Knezevic Carleton University School of Journalism and Communication https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9544-8681
Myriam Durocher University of Amsterdam https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6801-6365
Tabitha Robin The University of British Columbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2123-4485

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v13i2.767

Keywords:

food insecurity, food charity, community-academia dialogue, knowledge sharing, systemic change

Abstract

In 2024, our team organized the pan-Canadian, bilingual event, “Food insecurity: Let’s move beyond charity!” / “L’insécurité alimentaire : allons au-delà de la charité!”, which convened community and academic actors in a discussion of food insecurity in the country. In addition to serving as a space for knowledge exchange, the event anchored a broader set of collaborative efforts with the participating community groups, efforts that began well before the event and continued in the weeks that followed. In these fieldnotes, we report on our approach to this work, the importance of community-academia dialogue, and the challenges and opportunities for food security work in institutional contexts. Our observations suggest that community-engaged activities require a significant time and administrative commitment as well as careful navigation of institutional obstacles. Such efforts, however, are justified by the value of community expertise when discussing issues of significant social importance.

Author Biographies

Irena Knezevic, Carleton University School of Journalism and Communication

(white immigrant) is with the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University, where she studies food and communication.

Myriam Durocher, University of Amsterdam

(she/her; white francophone settler) is a SSHRC-funded postdoctoral researcher affiliated with the Departmentof Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands). Her research interests revolve around critically addressing thefood, health, social and environmental injustices and power relationships that permeate Western biomedicalized food cultures andapproaches to health and bodies.

Tabitha Robin, The University of British Columbia

(St. Peter’s/settler) is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia who studies Indigenous food systems.

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Published

2026-08-27

How to Cite

Knezevic, I., Durocher, M., & Robin, T. (2026). Fieldnotes from the organizers of the food insecurity community-oriented event “Let’s Move Beyond Charity!”: Challenges, opportunities, and learnings. Canadian Food Studies La Revue Canadienne Des études Sur l’alimentation, 13(2), 5–13. https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v13i2.767

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Issue

Vol. 13 No. 2 (2026): Finding Allies

Section

Field Reports / Narratives

License

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