Carceral Food Systems Summit

On March 31st and April 1st we’re hosting a gathering to bring together individuals and organizations working within food justice and prisoner justice contexts and spaces. We hope to connect, share and learn the various ways in which food systems and carceral systems interconnect, and how we can work collectively to imagine and construct abolitionist futures through food.

The Summit will take place in Ottawa, on unceded Algonquin Territory at the Social Innovation Workshop (95 Clegg St). Attendance is free, and open to all who are activity working in these areas, or those who are interested in learning more – activists, scholars, community practitioners, students etc.Schedule

Friday March 31th:

We’ll start things off with a presentation by Ivan Zinger – Correctional Investigator of Canada:

Dr. Ivan Zinger received his degree in Common Law from the University of Ottawa in 1992, and completed his articles of clerkship at the Federal Court of Canada. In 1999, he obtained his Ph.D. at Carleton University (Ottawa) in Psychology of Criminal Conduct. He is an Adjunct Professor with the Law Department at Carleton University. Dr. Zinger joined the Public Service of Canada in 1996. He held a variety of senior managerial, policy and research positions in public safety-related federal departments and agencies. In 2004, he joined his current employer, the Office of the Correctional Investigator (Federal Pr*son Ombudsman), and in 2009 he became the Executive Director and General Counsel. On January 1, 2017, Dr. Zinger was appointed as Correctional Investigator of Canada, and was reappreappointed on January 1st, 2023 for another 5 year term.

Over the years, Dr. Zinger has developed expertise in domestic and international human rights law in Pr*son settings. His academic publications are significant and include articles on a variety of subjects, including Pr*son oversight, ethics, dangerous offenders, correctional treatment, the diagnosis of psychopathy, conditional release, penal segregation and the impact of tough on crime measures on corrections. Dr. Zinger is the recipient of the 2014 APEX Partnership Award for “making communities safer by building strong and effective partnerships across the country and abroad, contributing to the development of more effective correctional practices in Canada.” This prestigious award is one of six presented annually by the Association of Professional Executives in the Public Service of Canada (APEX).

Opening panel and discussion featuring:

Nyki Kish – Director of Advocacy and Systems Change at the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies.

Nyki kish is an advocate working at the intersection of action and the academy. She is an MA Sociology Candidate at the University of Victoria, community-engaged researcher at the University of British Columbia, and Director of Advocacy and Systems Change with the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies. Nyki has a lengthy background working in grassroots non-profit initiatives, especially arts-based and food-justice initiatives which foster social and environmental sustainability. Holding many publications and often called upon as an expert of issues related to Canadian incarceration, her academic work draws on her epistemic privilege and focuses on the transformation of structural violence within Canadian institutions, toward care-based communities.

Kanav Kathuria – Co-founder of the Maryland Food & Pr*son Abolition Project

Kanav Kathuria’s work lies in the intersection of Pr*son abolition, public health, and food sovereignty. He is a 2019 Open Society Institute Baltimore Community Fellow and a co-founder of the Maryland Food and Pr*son Abolition Project, a Baltimore-based organization that interrogates food conditions in carceral facilities to explore the use of food as a tool for resistance.

Saturday April 1st 9AM-5PM

9AM: Doors Open

9:15AM: Welcome and Overview

9:45: Session #1: Opposing Ontario’s Pr*son Expansion with Escaping Tomorrow’s Cages

11:AM: Break

11:15: Session #2: Food in Pr*son – experiences and advocacy with MOMS (Mothers Offering Mutual Support) and Ghassan Zahran

12:30: Lunch

1:30: Session #3: Reflections on Food Sovereignty in Theory and Practice with Leslie Touré Kapo and Amelie Néault

2:45: Break

3:00: Session #4: Campaigning against prisons with the Criminalization and Education Project (CPEP) and the Coalition Against the Proposed Pr*son (CAPP)

4:15: Closing and next steps

Host or Publisher Carceral Food Systems