Jul 19, 2020
Technology is changing all aspects of the food system, including how smaller-scale farmers and food producers connect with different markets. In this episode of Handpicked, Dr. Theresa Schumilas describes her work as the Director of Open Food Network Canada, an open source software platform designed to help producers and eaters build better and more sustainable food systems. You’ll hear about how justice and fairness can inform an activist approach to coding and how non-proprietary software is contributing to food sovereignty in Canada and beyond. Using Open Food Network as an example, Dr. Shumilas explains how software platforms are helping smaller scale producers reimagine their operations by centring community, open source legal protections, and peer-to-peer learning.
Contributors
Co-Producers & Hosts: Amanda DiBattista & Laine Young
Sound Design & Editing: Adedotun Babajide & Laine Young
Research Assistants: Chiamaka Okafor-Justin & Jake Bernstein
Guests
Click the links to learn more
Theresa Schumilas
Support & Funding
Wilfrid Laurier University
The Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems
Balsillie School for International Affairs
CIGI
Music Credits
Keenan Reimer-Watts
Resources
Moving Beyond Acknowledgments- LSPIRG
Whose Land
Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems
Open Food Network Canada
The Open Food Network Global Project
Open Food Network Global Discussion Community
Building Back Better: Infrastructure investments for a greener, more resilient and sustainable country
Racial Justice and Food Systems Resources
Justice in June
Black Women on Black Food Sovereignty Panel, presented by FoodShare Toronto
“When you’re Black, you’re at greater risk of everything that sucks”: FoodShare’s Paul Taylor on the links between race and food insecurity
Seed Change Words From Our Chair: We cannot talk about food without talking about racism
Black Food Insecurity in
Canada, Melana Roberts
Connect with Us:
Email: Handpickedpodcast@WLU.ca
Twitter: @Handpickedpodc
Facebook: Handpicked Podcast
Glossary of Terms
Commons
Cultural and natural resources that
belong to everyone and that
are not privately owned. The
Commons can include resources that are in physical and/or digital space, are
non-proprietary, and are cared for by a community. The Commons is
an important concept in many disciplines, including political
ecology, economics, philosophy, law, and the humanities, among
others. The Commons can be legally protected, as in, for example,
Creative Commons or Open Source licencing
Community Supported
Agriculture (CSA)
Community supported
agriculture (CSA) is a food
sharing model in
which people buy a
share of a farm and then
pick up their dividend as a harvest share every
week. Consumers make a
commitment to take their share, which could be
anything from a particular farmer/producer, and to share the
risk of the
harvest with that
farmer.
Data
Sovereignty
The right of people to have access to
and power over the data and information associated with their
lives, work, or communities.
Food sovereignty
"Food Sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems."
Global Food
Commons
Natural, cultural, and digital resources
shared with a global community of food actors. For example, Open
Food Network includes a global community of coders creating and
sharing code and educational experiences to better their
platform.
Informal Economy of Food
Economies of food that emphasize “personal relationships, trust, and non-market values, which are inherently challenging to define and often impossible to quantify.” Informal economies of food are “spaces for non-traditional forms of innovation as well as opportunities for deep insights into social relationships, cultural meanings, and environmental values . . . and challenge us to think of economic systems in far more complex ways than mainstream economic theory would propose.”
Open
Source
A non-proprietary legal
protection that ensures ownership in the commons. Data,
information, code, genetic code, etc. may be
deemed Open Source.
Open Source
Data
A legal protection that ensures that
data that is owned and available for use to everyone in a
particular community. In the case of Open Food Network, all users
have access to all code associated with the platform but must make
any alterations or new code available to all other
users.
Peer-to-Peer
Learning
Informal learning among members of a
community, often based on the concepts of sharing and
justice. Peer-to-peer
learning may take place through
forums, mentorship, or other means.
Platform
Digital infrastructure or framework for
different kinds of exchange. For example, Open Food Network is a
platform that enables digital food hubs, shops, or farmers
markets.
Producer
A food enterprise which makes, grows,
bakes, cooks, or
produces food which it can
supply to other businesses for sale.
Production
Management
The management of goods, knowledge,
technology, employees, money, etc.
associated with being a producer.
Sharing
Economy
“An
umbrella term that describes a wide range of economic activities
that have been made possible by technology. Two well-known digital
platforms have captured markets in transportation (Uber) and
short-term accommodations (Airbnb), but sharing economy businesses
are emerging in nearly every sector of the
economy. . .
. The common element
is that they enable individuals to “share” their personal assets or
skills. This sharing involves renting personal assets or providing
services for a fee through an online
application.”
Supply
Chain
All of the components of a
system—including organizations, producers, suppliers, people,
resources, activities, information, and infrastructures—that get a
product to a consumer.
Sustainable Food
System
Food systems that are “socially just,
support local economies; are ecologically regenerative, and foster
citizen engagement.”
Discussion Questions