Episode 6

The True Cost of Food

Release Date: July 24, 2022

We examine how the unequal price of food starts with production. Our guest, Cheyenne Sundance, highlights the necessity of paying fair wages for farm work and explains how she is making small-scale farming a viable livelihood by following the steps towards food sovereignty for herself and the team at Sundance Harvest. We’ll dive into the tension between food prices and fair wages while getting into one of Sundance Harvest’s central goals of providing dignified work to people who have historically been shut out from an equitable place in agriculture. Small-scale farmers feed the world, so let’s make sure they are fairly compensated!

For more about Cheyenne and Sundance Harvest, check out the following links.

As always, a huge thank you to the National Farmers Foundation (NFF)

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Other Episodes in this series

Episode 1: Who Will Feed Us

Meet our host, Ayla Fenton, and three co-hosts: Stuart Oke, Aliyah Fraser, and Madeline Marmor. Together, they will introduce the podcast and set the scene:...

Episode 2: Corporatization of Agriculture

Join our talk about the corporatization and financialization of agriculture with Cathy Holtslander, National Farmers Union Director of Research and Policy. This episode gives us...

Episode 3: Land Access (Part One)

Learn about land access issues, specifically the financialization of growing/farm land with our guest Katherine Aske.  We’re going to clarify the difference between valuing land...

Episode 4: Land Access (Part Two)

Explore the issues of accessing land that are facing young farmers today. We’re thrilled to hear from Hannah Hunter and Natalie Childs of Agricola Cooperative...

Episode 5: Migrant Farm Labour and Building the Solidarity we Need

Go on a deep exploration of the multi-faceted migrant farm labour crisis. Kit Andres, from the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, offers insight into the...

Episode 7: The Climate Crisis and Farming

Discover the very real impacts of the climate crisis on farmers and our food production system generally. Farmers are feeling the impacts now and need...

Episode 8: The Rematriation of Seeds and Decolonizing our Food Systems

Examine this country’s agricultural system through the lens of decolonization and focusing on the importance of Indigenous foodways. Our guest, Tiffany Traverse, tells us about...

Episode 9: Agroecology and Building a System that Works

Join our talk about agroecology and how it may offer a solution to some of the many challenges that we’ve identified in our current agricultural...
View all episodes in:

contributors

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Cheyenne Sundance

Cheyenne is the director of Sundance Harvest, a year round urban farm growing flowers, herbs, mushrooms, and veg in Toronto. Cheyenne started Sundance Harvest from nothing but stubbornness, a nurturing love of the land and a drive to see true equity in agriculture. She sits on the Ontario board of the National Farmers Union as well as started the first BIPOC Farmers Caucus across Canada with the National Farmers Union and now sits on the Executive Board.

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Aliyah Fraser

Aliyah is a Kitchener-based farmer who owns and operates a quarter acre market garden called Lucky Bug Farm on rented land in Waterloo Region where she grows a variety of produce for a small CSA program. The farm operates within the Haldimand Tract in Kitchener, Ontario and is on the traditional territory of the Mississauga, Anishnabeg, Attiwonderonk (neutral) and Haudenoshaunee peoples. She imagines a food system where more people have access to ecologically grown food, where there is less waste and where there’s a better understanding of the labour it takes to get food from the farm to the table. Aliyah also has an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies in Urban planning from the University of Waterloo. She believes that food and housing are human rights. She lives in Kitchener, Ontario with her partner Thomas and cat Frankie.

luckybugfarm.com | @luckybugfarm