Raising awareness and advocating change: The work of Nova Scotia food security NGOs

Abstract

Although Nova Scotia nongovernmental organiza­tions (NGOs) have been working on local food security for many years, there is limited research that has analyzed their activities and impacts. Employing the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations' (FAO) four dimensions of food security—food availability, food access, food utilization, and food stability—to guide data collec­tion and analysis, we examined the work of nine Nova Scotia NGOs through document analysis, media analysis, and interviews with NGO repre­sentatives. We categorized the findings according to two broad themes of raising community aware­ness and conducting research/policy advocacy, and two more focused themes of partnerships and funding. We then discussed the rich array of food security “orientations” throughout the province, spanning community food security, household food insecurity, food justice, food sovereignty, and policy work. We found that the FAO’s four crite­ria, based as they are on larger scales (e.g., the national level), could not easily capture the myriad commu­nity-level food security work in Nova Sco­tia. We did note, however, that at the subnational level, indicators point to the continued dominance of the agri-food system in the province. We suggest that the relations forged by the food security NGOs with local universities and civic organiza­tions could be reinvigorated in the post-COVID era with longer-term, joined-up sustainable food policy approaches coupled with institutional mapping of key actors.