Sustainable Food Systems in Canada

In 2021, a team of IISD experts completed an internal exercise that sought to map out a path for sustainable food systems in Canada, drawing insights from key stakeholders across Canada’s food system while reflecting on our own work on these topics at the international level. The goal was to imagine what future work in this area might look like: what policy questions need answers, what research themes might serve to structure our work, and what stakeholders are already active or emergent in this space.

The results showed that we could contribute policy-focused research that looks at how domestic and international objectives and efforts align and diverge. We could also help fill a gap by looking at the social issues around sustainable food systems in Canada, complementing existing work on economic and environmental questions.

Our summary brief maps out our journey and findings, while our article summarizes some of the key lessons learned along the way. We have also developed five infographics that map out the key dimensions of where this work could go: agriculture and greenhouse gas emissions, land and soil health, water use, the impact of COVID-19, and international trade.