Strategic Framework: 2023 – 2026

Our Vision

A province where everyone can eat with joy and dignity.

Our Mission

To advance everyone’s right to food in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Pathways

We accomplish our mission by:

Advocating

Goals:

  • Meaningful reductions in food insecurity

  • Establishment of a universal school food program

  • Increased local food procurement from public institutions

  • Strengthened food sovereignty of Indigenous communities

  • Evidence-based action on the climate crisis within our food systems

Organizing

Goals:

  • Established and visible networks at the community, regional, provincial, and national levels to support collective action

  • Ample, accurate, timely, and accessible information about NL food systems

  • An emergency food sector that is more equitable and oriented towards poverty reduction

  • Food system players convene regularly to think critically, plan, and celebrate

Taking Action

Goals:

  • Well-developed programming and infrastructure to support access to affordable, local, and cultural foods

  • Retailers identified and engaged in action to reduce food insecurity

  • Food First NL providing diverse supports (financial and in-kind) for local food initiatives

  • Food security embedded in municipal strategies, programs, and policies

  • Resources available to support thriving, sustainable school food systems

Valuing People

Goals:

  • Food policy and programs that are meaningfully informed by lived experience

  • Food First NL a leader in progressive and inclusive HR policies and procedures

  • Equity embedded in all aspects of Food First NL’s work

Equity

Food First NL recognizes that systemic barriers related to gender, race and ethnicity, Indigeneity, ability, physical and mental health, age, and socio-economic status limit or prevent people’s equal access to power and resources within society. In order to address these barriers within our own organization and broader community, Food First NL is committed to practicing equity in all aspects of our work. Food First NL understands equity as an ongoing practice. Therefore, this statement is a starting point to a continual process of self-assessment and learning.

Our Guiding Principles

Honesty and Accountability: To shift systems of inequity internally and externally, we must be honest about what those systems look like, where the gaps and flaws are, and what it would take to overcome them. This will sometimes mean having challenging conversations, changing course, and taking risks. It also means being accountable for our own choices and mistakes.

Provincial Impact: We support action that makes a positive impact across the whole province, but also recognize that the food system functions differently throughout Newfoundland and Labrador and place-based voices and solutions are also important.

Supporting Indigenous Food Sovereignty and Leadership: We recognize the deep damage that colonialism has done to Indigenous food systems and support Indigenous communities in their work to reclaim sovereignty over them.

Amplifying Community Strengths: Prioritizing community-based knowledge, engagement, and decision-making is a crucial part of meaningful and sustainable change. We work to emphasize and enhance the strengths in our communities.

Collaboration: We know that our mission can only be achieved in partnership with many others and so we take a welcoming and inclusive approach. We are open to participating in and fostering non-traditional, cross-sector collaborations.

Ways of Knowing and Communicating: We recognize that the issues we engage with are complex and not experienced the same by everyone. We strive to include many perspectives, by valuing traditional knowledge, lived experience, quality and current research and data, diverse engagement strategies, and out-of-the-box thinking.

Appreciation and Celebration: We recognize the immense efforts that have come before, particularly from equity-deserving groups, to improve our food system locally and beyond. We celebrate the milestones and achievements of our movement today. We do this work because we believe a better food system is possible.

Accountability, Transparency, and Implementation

The implementation of this Strategic Framework will be guided by these deliverables:

  • An annual work plan and budget that lays out objectives and indicators for each of our goals

  • A partnership framework used to assess partnerships against our values and goals

  • A communications plan and style guide that aligns our communications with this framework

  • An equity lens that asks key questions about how equity shows up in our decisions and direction

  • An outreach strategy that lays out how we support and connect with folks working on food

  • An evaluation plan with standards and tools for evaluation of common organizational activities

We are committed to reporting back to our community with an annual community update and associated report that reports on progress on our strategic goals, outlines our funding and spending, and provides an overview of our day-to-day work. We also commit to sending out regular newsletters and to always being open to questions and challenges from the community about our work and our priorities.

Our strategic framework is also available as a PDF. For an alternate format or for more information, please contact hello@foodfirstnl.ca