{"product_id":"table-talk-zohran-mamdanis-guide-to-canada-the-promise-of-public-groceries-with-raj-patel","title":"TABLE TALK: Zohran Mamdani's Guide to Canada — The Promise of Public Groceries with Raj Patel","description":"\u003ch2\u003eTable Talks are an informal culinary salon hosted by The Depanneur. Every month we invite a local food personality to talk about something that interests them while Dep founder Len Senater cooks dinner.\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(128, 128, 128);\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e“We are caught in a system where food is treated as a means for profit rather than as a human right, with wealth and power concentrated in the hands of a few mega corporations, leading to spiralling prices. Canadians are fed up with insufficient and ineffective government approaches to fix the situation. Meanwhile, families continue to face impossible choices at the checkout, and affordability is the defining issue of our times…”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(128, 128, 128);\"\u003e“One headline-grabbing proposal that has gained prominence over the past year is to open government-run low-cost grocery stores. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani popularized the idea when he campaigned on city-run stores in every borough. Meanwhile, here in Canada, NDP leadership hopeful Avi Lewis made a “public option” for groceries a centrepiece of his campaign…”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(128, 128, 128);\"\u003e— \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(128, 128, 128);\"\u003efrom \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e“\u003ca rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.policyalternatives.ca\/news-research\/how-public-grocery-stores-could-work-in-canada\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow public grocery stores could work in Canada\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e”\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(128, 128, 128);\"\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(128, 128, 128);\"\u003eco-authored by Raj Patel for the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.policyalternatives.ca\"\u003eCanadian Center for Policy Alternatives\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eIn 2024, Toronto City Council officially declared \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.toronto.ca\/city-government\/accountability-operations-customer-service\/long-term-vision-plans-and-strategies\/poverty-reduction-strategy\/food-security-in-toronto-poverty-reduction-strategy\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003efood insecurity an emergency\u003c\/a\u003e, acknowledging a crisis where over 1 in 10 residents rely on food banks. Join award-winning author, journalist, and activist \u003cstrong\u003eRaj Patel\u003c\/strong\u003e for an exploration of how we can respond to this crisis by building robust public food systems at scale, and the growing interest in public grocery stores.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(128, 128, 128);\"\u003ePresented in collaboration with the\u003c\/span\u003e \u003ca rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/theccfe.org\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eCanadian Centre for Food \u0026amp; Ecology\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.utsc.utoronto.ca\/culinaria\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eThe Culinaria Research Centre\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(128, 128, 128);\"\u003eand the\u003c\/span\u003e \u003ca rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca\/chairholders-titulaires\/profile-eng.aspx?profileId=1665\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eCanada Research Chair in Food and Culture at the University of Toronto\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRaj Patel\u003c\/strong\u003e is a Research Professor in the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin, a member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems and a member of the council of Progressive International. He is the author of \u003ca rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.com\/books\/127985\/stuffed-and-starved-by-raj-patel\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eStuffed \u0026amp; Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, and the recipient of the James Beard Foundation's Leadership Award.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c!-- notionvc: 1bf01a5f-c77e-4f6c-b34b-2df86033276f --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDinner by Len Senater\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTonight's menu is less about recipes than provenance: the aim is to source all its ingredients from existing alternatives to the industrial food\/supermarket complex, through co-ops (\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.karmacoop.org\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eKarma\u003c\/a\u003e), alternative retailers (\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/grazeandgatherfood.ca\/\"\u003eGraze \u0026amp; Gather\u003c\/a\u003e), farmer's markets (\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.dufferingrovemarket.ca\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eDufferin Grove\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.soraurenmarket.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eSorauren\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.tbfm.ca\/\"\u003eTrinity Bellwoods\u003c\/a\u003e), directly from growers (\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.farmersmarketsontario.com\/farmer\/kendal-hills-game-farm\/\"\u003eKendall Hills Farms\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.sundanceharvestmarket.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eSundance Harvest\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/maizal.ca\/\"\u003eMaizal\u003c\/a\u003e), foragers (\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.wildfoods.ca\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eForbes Wild Foods\u003c\/a\u003e), and other innovative and sustainable local producers (\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/spentgoods.ca\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eSpent Goods\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/scaddingcourt.org\/programs\/program-category\/community-programs\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eScadding Court Community Centre\u003c\/a\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLisa Kate's Asparagus \u0026amp; Ramp Soup\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA formidable food activist in her own right, and co-founder of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/buildingroots.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eBuilding Roots\u003c\/a\u003e, Lisa ran a soup project out of The Depanneur in it's early days on College St. This \u003ca rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0732\/8101\/1960\/files\/Lisa_Kates_Asparagus_and_Ramp_Soup_p37.pdf?v=1774887508\" target=\"_blank\"\u003erecipe\u003c\/a\u003e, featured \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003ein \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/thedepanneur.ca\/pages\/the-depanneur-cookbook\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Depanneur Cookbook,\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e celebrates the first flavours of spring in Ontario, topped with Spent Goods sourdough croutons (optional).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3-Bean Vegetarian Chilli, Warm Cornbread with Miso Scallion Butter, Coleslaw\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMaple Surprise by Emily Zimmerman\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eAnother long-time Depaneer, chef, instructor, and food justice advocate, Emily will be coming in from Hamilton with one of her justly famous plant-based desserts featuring local Ontario maple syrup.\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e#vegan options available on request\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-----\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLen Senater\u003c\/strong\u003e is the founder and proprietor of The Depanneur, who happily cooks for his friends and neighbours. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thedepanneur\/\"\u003e@TheDepanneur\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Depanneur","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48155530363128,"sku":null,"price":39.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0732\/8101\/1960\/files\/2022-headshot-large-scaled.jpg?v=1774885618","url":"https:\/\/thedepanneur.ca\/products\/table-talk-zohran-mamdanis-guide-to-canada-the-promise-of-public-groceries-with-raj-patel","provider":"The Depanneur","version":"1.0","type":"link"}