June 15-18, 2025, Orillia Ontario
The Common Ground Food Forum is a key project of the Common Ground Network.
Food is inherently social, involving people in every stage—including how it is produced, processed, distributed, consumed, and disposed of, and who is involved at every step. Because of this, shifting agriculture, fisheries and food systems toward sustainability and equity requires a deeper understanding of history, values, inequalities, and relationships.
Building a bigger table: Strengthening our relations will bring four key food networks–the Common Ground Network, Food Secure Canada, the Canadian Association for Food Studies, and Food Communities Network–together in a forum focused on understanding the social relations necessary for transitioning and transforming Canada’s agriculture, fisheries and food systems to be equitable and sustainable.
Specifically, building a bigger table will bring academic researchers together with agriculture and food systems actors, including civic/community organizations, government, industry organizations, and Indigenous and settler communities, to share knowledge, forge and strengthen connections across disciplines and sectors, and seed new collaborations in food systems research and action.
The Forum will feature individual paper presentations, organized panels, roundtables, plenaries, keynote speakers, workshops, poster sessions, and an Exploration Gallery, all organized around four ‘pillars’ of social relations that underpin the Common Ground Network’s work.