New SSHRC-Funded Project that explores the Historical Roots of Food Crises

Historian Elizabeth Vibert has launched a new SSHRC-funded project that explores the historical roots of food crises. The Four Stories About Food Sovereignty project also looks at how vulnerable communities can build local and regional governance of sustainable food systems in the context of climate crisis.

The project team held a week-long workshop in early September that brought together food producers, sustainable food-system advocates, and academics from Indigenous, refugee and farming communities in Colombia, Jordan, South Africa and T’Sou-ke First Nation on Vancouver Island.

"It was amazing. It exceeded my expectations," Vibert says. 

Participants discussed shared histories, most pressing current challenges, and the research path forward. Hosted by T’Sou-ke Nation, highlights included a hike (pictured above) and canoe journey with Chief Gordon Planes and plant specialist Christine George to learn about native foods and medicinal plants.

Vibert is project director of the interdisciplinary team of UVic and international scholars. Vibert will co-direct a documentary film about historical and contemporary food crises with UVic Fine Arts Professor Maureen Bradley. The team held a full-house public event on Sept. 5 at UVic called "Cultivating Resilient Communities through Food Action: A Transnational Conversation."

Watch a video that captures the launch of Four Stories About Food Sovereignty.