Episode 16: Collective Recollections; Food Histories and Food Futures in the Kingston Region
Channel: Ehtv Canada
Date: 2012-06-26

History for the Future of Food in Kingston, Ontario: Planting Seeds for Collaboration
Sinead Earley, Hannah Johnston, Tyler Masses, Miguel Hahn and Shawn Rivoire

The short video Collective Recollections: Food Histories and Food Futures in the Kingston Region was compiled as 'teaser', indicative of what the larger food history project (made possible by the 5th Annual NiCHE Call for Projects) hopes to achieve. A series of shorts will be produced over the course of 2012, amongst other public outreach initiatives in Kingston. 

Kingston, Ontario, has a long history as a vibrant and diversified agricultural region. There has been a recent surge of interest within the city and its surrounding communities, expressed by those curious to explore and document food histories. Local food system advocacy has fueled numerous determined and highly successful community movements - from food justice organizations such as Loving Spoonful, to farmer education, training and support programs such as the NFU New Farm Project, and has transformed the region into a locus of political activism during the Save Our Prison Farms national campaign. Alongside local farm and food system supporters, is a growing body of students and teachers dedicated to "action research": a method of learning guided by philosophies of public engagement. They foster an attentive and compassionate approach to the mobilization of knowledge, with the hopes of making a difference in and for communities. 

Planting Seeds for Collaboration explores what happens at the intersection of action research and food and asks how historical-geographical knowledge might engage with and support the practical efforts of organizations working to rebuild the Kingston region's capacity to feed itself - sustainably, equitably, and healthfully. Much of this enthusiasm has risen out of previously sponsored NiCHE projects, such as the Activism and the Archives project directed by Jamie Linton (Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Queen's University). Our work will continue to support creative practices that connect archival adventuring (meaning both the use of previously compiled archives and the generation of new collections) with actions devoted to social and environmental change.