(breakfast and lunch are served free of charge four days a week, and feed between 150-250). Second, The Stop strives to increase food skills, build community, and reduce isolation through food skills programs. These include large collectively-run community gardens, numerous community kitchens, an after-school program and more. Finally, recognizing that there are larger systemic issues at play, The Stop’s programs also focus on advocacy and civic engagement, through campaigns, initiatives and policy-work often focused on social assistance rates and income issues. Mazingira has similarly adopted this type of


comprehensive approach. NEFSALF fits within a triangle of initiatives (the others being housing and land distribution)


rather developed in an ad hoc fashion across the continent as a band aid solution at a time of economic recession. Today Canada is home to over 900 food banks, and every month serve an average of over 850,000 people (close to 40% of whom are children). While food banks have become a household term, many in the sector have grown to challenge the model, claiming that it acts as a “moral release valve”, allowing citizens and the government to turn away from larger policy change on the issue. The Stop has become one of the strongest voices


in advocating for more concrete solutions than food banks, and through its comprehensive model, includes community building and advocacy in its work. However, as a result of this context, many other food security and


Young urban farmers from Kenya, Canada, and South Africa participate in an International Youth Exchange on Urban Food Security with Rooftops Canada and the Mazingira Institute in Nairobi (2012).


which recognize the complexity and interconnections of the issues at hand. They likewise work at the individual and community levels, while placing a large emphasis on advocacy work. The four activity areas within each issue they tackle are: (1) inquiry & prototypes; (2) learning and training; (3) platforms and networks; and, (4) advocacy. To me, the difference in each organization’s approach


can be tied back to the context in which they have evolved. In North America, the response to hunger and poverty over the last 30 years has mostly been through the food banks. Food banks were never meant to solve hunger, but


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hunger-focused organizations in North America have evolved through this “charitable food” lens, shying away from advocacy and self-sufficiency and instead focusing on food distribution to the poor. Mazingira, on the other hand, has evolved its


programs in a context that does not include charitable food distribution, but rather focuses on agricultural entrepreneurship and building self-sufficiency, all within a culture of stronger political advocacy. While there are doubtless benefits and challenges to each model (and certainly one visit is far from enough to pass judgment),


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