Group Workshops

FoodShare’s Community Learning & Engagement team offers cooking workshops for teams in the private, public and non-profit sectors who are interested in learning more about the connections between food, social justice and community engagement.

Cook-a-long Food Justice Workshops:

A learning and unlearning series from FoodShare in partnership with Care/Of

In partnership with Care/Of, we’ve launched a set of workshops that are part team-building, part anti-oppression training. This unique workshop series bring groups together to prepare a meal and ask folks to consider the role they play in the food system.

Through a lens of food justice, each workshop gives participants an opportunity to explore principles of anti-oppression, justice and anti-racism in their own lives, and the world around them. Going beyond diversity, equity and inclusion training which focuses on getting folks a seat at the table of power, these workshops encourage participants to ask challenging questions about who controls the table and why folks haven’t been afforded a seat to begin with. Each workshop explores themes of systems of oppression, power and privilege, and intersectionality, and can be completed individually or as a set of three.

Groups receive step-by-step cooking instructions and a guided discussion that encourages them to cook along while learning and unlearning things about the way different forces – like settler-colonialism, racism, fatphobia, and structural poverty – shape how and what we eat.

There are three workshops in the series — choose one or take them all!

Register now or learn more below.

Workshop Themes

Let’s Put Race on the Table

Black folks in Canada are almost two times more likely to experience food insecurity than white folks. Why? This workshop unpacks systemic racism as it shows up in our food system. In this session, your team will participate in anti-racist learning activities exploring how anti-Black racism and settler-colonialism shape our interactions with food at every level – through policies, institutions, interpersonal relationships, and day-to-day experiences. Through a lens of intersectionality, this workshop prompts participants to critically examine their own relationships with food. We’ll dive deep into these interconnections between food justice and racial equity while learning to make some homestyle Jamaican comfort food from scratch.

Fairness Across the Food Chain

Do you know where your food comes from? Whose hands harvested your produce? This workshop explores different sites of oppression and exploitation – of both land and people – along the food chain. Through facilitated conversations, your team will do a deep dive into the environmental and social impacts of our food system, asking questions like: Who holds power and privilege along the food chain? Who doesn’t? How can we transform the food system into an equitable and just one? We’ll also talk about changes we can make at home to work toward a fairer food system, putting this into practice as we learn how to make ‘empty-the-fridge’ Chinese dumplings or quick pickles as a way of reducing food waste.

Body (Liberation)-Building

Did you know that the roots of fatphobia can be traced back to the Transatlantic Slave Trade? This workshop examines how weight stigma and fatphobia shape our relationships with food. Guided conversations about intersectionality will help your team understand what white supremacy, transphobia, and ableism have to do with body policing – encouraging participants to consider their own biases and assumptions about people’s bodies and food choices. While we talk about why all bodies are worthy and have the right to exist as they are, you’ll be guided step-by-step through baking some sweet treats that you can share with your loved ones – or keep for yourself!

How it works

Key Details

• Duration: 2.5-hour virtual session (potential for in-person, please contact us to coordinate)
• Group Size: Up to 30 people
• Platform: Zoom, or your preferred video conferencing platform
• Ingredients: A box packed with the workshop’s recipe ingredients (yields 4 adult servings) will be delivered to participants’ doorsteps within GTA delivery radius

Learning Outcomes

• Learn about anti-racism and anti-oppression frameworks
• Discover the interconnections between food justice and racial justice
• Learn how to engage and participate in food-justice based conversations
• Gain knowledge about the inequities in our city’s food system and learn what you can do to positively contribute
• Build social connection across colleagues and stimulate team cohesion

Costing

Corporates, parent groups and large non-profits
For those with dedicated continuing professional development, staff wellness and equity, diversity and inclusion budgets please contact us for a quote. Your payment allows us to subsidize this program for grassroots organizations and small non-profits with limited resources.

Grassroots organizations and small non-profits
For those with limited resources you can register for these workshops on a sliding scale. In this case teams source their own ingredients while engaging in the same hands-on cooking and learning opportunities. Please contact us to let us know which workshop(s) you are interested in or for more information.

About Care/Of: Care/Of produces online cultural experiences and workshops for remote workforces. Built through an arts and culture lens with organizational psychology principles, the programs are designed to build stronger teams while creating opportunities for local artists and chefs.