“Food is at the heart of the transition!” – A look back at the 4th Espace Quartiers Conference
On May 23, a major meeting of the Espace quartiers was held under the title “Food Is at the Heart of the Transition: Collective Leverage for Food, Social, and Ecological Transition.” The goal was to focus not on our individual habits, but on what we can do collectively, at the neighborhood level, to ensure sustainable and healthy food for everyone.
More than 60 people attended this event, which was co-organized by Transition en commun (TeC), the Montreal Coalition of Neighborhood Roundtables (CMTQ), and the Montreal Food System Council (CSAM).
The evening began with a panel discussion moderated by Joakim Lemieux and David Kaiser, both members of TeC’s advisory board. Speakers from various backgrounds were invited to discuss the question: “How can we work together to achieve a just food transition?” We were thus fortunate to hear from:
- Karine Bernard and Sylvain Desjardins, citizen members of the Committee for Action and Reflection on Food Self-Sufficiency (CARAA) at Carrefour solidaire (Centre-Sud)
- Nicolas Braesch, Distribution Manager at the Community Food Bank (NDG)
- Marie-Hélène Paquet, Knowledge Sharing Manager—Food Challenge at Chemins de transition.
The panel was followed by small-group discussions led by Audray Fontaine (TeC) and Marie-Hélène Paquet. This allowed participants to share their thoughts on the topic and explore it in greater depth.
The second part of the event, presented by Marlies Trujillo Torres (TeC) and Anne-Marie Aubert (CSAM), focused on the importance of advancing existing food initiatives in Montreal and how we can collectively contribute to them.
In this regard, we were successfully testing a new format for the Neighborhood Space: “Espace Solutions,” which, inspired by co-development, aims to identify the needs of neighborhoods and address them collectively by creating a safe, horizontal space for sharing knowledge and expertise.
In this context, four initiatives and four challenges were explored.
- A community grocery store project in Ahuntsic was analyzed from the perspective of social diversity (presented by Daphné Le Templier, Solon).
- “The Forbidden Fruits,” a gleaning project in Montreal, explored ways to engage residents of outlying neighborhoods (presented by Hugo Martorell, a community activist).
- “Cultures solidaires,” a local vegetable farming and education project, sought to explore the sustainability of its model (presented by Véronique Larouche, Ville en vert).
- Le Café des Habitudes, a neighborhood business, explored how to break through isolation and find support once a business has already made the ecological transition (presented by Joanna Nisenbaum, owner).
Thank you to everyone who took part in this evening full of knowledge and inspiration!