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Access to healthy, local and sustainable food for all is a collective priority in Quebec. However, with actors each having their own strengths and aspirations, it becomes important to generate linkages between actions at different scales and to accelerate mutual learning and collaboration between the various networks.
Launched in 2021, the Forum SAT (SAT stands for systèmes alimentaires territoriaux in French or territorial food systems in English) is a process of mobilisation and collaboration of different stakeholders and networks in favour of the implementation of territorial food systems throughout Quebec. The process brings together more than twenty partners: food systems rooted in their territories, national networks linked to food, nutrition and territorial development, research centres as well as support organisations and social entreprises.
Following a series of regional consultations and preparatory activities in 2022, the main Forum SAT event was held 15-16 november in Victoriaville and saw nearly 400 participants from across the province come together for two days of exchanges and co-creation. This first major gathering was a big success, allowing a broad and insightful exploration of actions that support the deployment of territorial food systems in the province. We invite you to read the event summary here (in French only at the moment).
The mobilisation of this vast coalition has since continued and the Forum SAT team is pleased to announce that the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation has extended its generous financial support into 2023. Thus, the Forum SAT can continue to be a rallying and convergence point for actors and stakeholders in healthy eating, the right to food and the socio-ecological transition of the food sector.
The Forum SAT’s approach aims to build a vision of territorial food systems that will be shared by actors and networks in favour of their deployment throughout Quebec. It is difficult to propose a single definition of territorial food systems, but some elements are essential to build a sustainable, inclusive and resilient food system:
Food systems are anchored in their territory, which can be local (their community, their neighbourhood), supralocal (several municipalities, the MRC [Regional county municipality], several MRCs) or regional. Exchanges and connections are created between the different territorial scales. Actors from different agri-food sectors interact and break down sectoral silos. The territorial approach adopts a global perspective necessary for structural changes.
Food systems are complex; they involve a multitude of actors in the food chain: production, processing, distribution, consumption, waste management and transport. These actors need to be considered in their specific roles, but also through their connections with each other. In turn, these actors are embedded in a web of external actors that also have a structuring role in territorial food systems, such as municipalities, the food industry and public authorities. It is therefore necessary to combine the knowledge of the different actors and to establish good communication between them in order to create a network of collaboration at the territorial level.
See the definition of a food system proposed by REPSAQ from the Encyclopedia of Food and Health.
In the face of the rapidity of climate change and the limits of the dominant agro-industrial system, the implementation of territorial food systems that combine societal responsibilities and sustainable development becomes essential to ensure greater local and regional food autonomy. Developed under different models depending on the region, territorial food systems share a common objective, that of contributing to increasing food autonomy and security for all in a perspective of social-ecological transition.
Watch the three videos (in French) on sustainable food systems, the ingredients for a food community, and the steps to set up a food community, produced by Vivre en Ville.
The Forum SAT team is pleased to invite you to the second national event of the initiative, which will take place on February 25-26, 2025, at the Saint-Hyacinthe Convention Center.
This webinar aimed to identify takeaways from food projects that necessitated the involvement of municipalities or RMCs. What are the opportunities and obstacles involved in mobilising town / city stakeholders? Vivre en ville first shared insights from their mandates and communities of practice, ahead of a panel of municipal representatives from 3 Quebec regions. In French.
TO WATCH THE RECORDING, IT'S HERE
This webinar invited us to examine the practice of organisations pooling food transports. Our partners at Collectif Récolte started the event by sharing insights about its opportunities and pitfalls. Representatives from four regions (Côte-nord, Québec City region, Montérégie-W and Montreal) then compared their experience rolling out such projects. In French.
TO WATCH THE RECORDING, IT'S HERE
Ahead of the first edition of the Forum SAT, a regional tour was conducted from June to October 2022, allowing the initiative’s team to meet with stakeholders from all 17 regions of Quebec.
Whether through workshops held in person or virtually, or by referring to documents produced during recent consultations with regional and local organizations, the Forum SAT gathered the needs, challenges, and successes of territorial food systems (TFS) in Quebec’s administrative regions. In collaboration with regional stakeholders, posters representing the TFS of each region were created to provide an overview during the national event in November 2022.
Thereafter, in order to deepen and update the information featured on the posters, the Forum SAT team worked with its regional partners to develop ten-page summaries. These summaries provide detailed insights 1by sector (production, processing, distribution, consumption, waste management, governance, as well as a cross-cutting section), highlighting the strengths and challenges of TFS. The content of these summaries is based on the expertise of local stakeholders and also draws from documentation related to TFS and its sectors. The drafting of these summaries spans from spring 2023 to spring 2025 (still ongoing).
The regional summaries were written in French, except for the summaries for Nord-du-Québec – Eeyou Istchee and Nord-du-Québec – Nunavik, which are also available in English.
The Forum SAT approach is financially supported by the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation.
1431 rue Fullum, Suite 209, Montréal, QC H2K 0B5
Florence Roy-Allard, co-coordinator
florence@forumsat.org
Laurence Deschamps-Léger, co-coordinator
laurence@forumsat.org
Gabrielle Payette-Bédard, responsible for regional mobilization
gabrielle@forumsat.org
