2025 municipal electoral candidates share their vision of food security in Edmonton
Food insecurity continues to rise in Edmonton due to inflation, housing costs, and systemic barriers. In response, communities across the city are organizing to ensure everyone has access to safe, affordable, and culturally appropriate food. These efforts exist along a spectrum of responses, from emergency food support (e.g., food banks), to community food initiatives, food literacy, and urban growing.
At the same time, grassroots mutual aid groups, community growers, and local food initiatives are working tirelessly to meet immediate needs while also building long-term resilience. We believe that City Council and municipal leadership have an important role to play both in removing barriers and in shaping the systems that sustain our communities.
The Food Security and Food Justice Edmonton (FSFJE) network, a collaboration of community organizations, mutual aid groups, advocates, and residents working to build a more equitable and resilient local food system, recently invited all Mayoral and City Council candidates running in the upcoming October 20th 2025 municipal election to share their vision for advancing food security in our city. We also extended this invitation to school board trustee candidates (public and Catholic) to share their perspectives, given the critical connection between school nutrition programs and children’s food security.
The guiding questions we asked candidates to consider are as follows:
Guiding Questions:
Vision and Leadership
What do you see as the City of Edmonton’s role in ensuring food security for all residents? Do you believe the City is currently doing enough, and should it take a stronger leadership or advocacy role in addressing food insecurity particularly given that some levers fall under provincial and federal jurisdictions?Existing City Commitments
How would you ensure the implementation and accountability of existing City frameworks and plans that relate to food security such as ConnectEdmonton, Fresh: Edmonton’s Food and Urban Agriculture Strategy, and The City Plan?Access to Land and Infrastructure
How would you support policies and initiatives that expand access to land, community kitchens, and infrastructure for urban agriculture, community gardens, rooftop growing, and local food production?Community-Led Food Initiatives
How would you strengthen community-led food initiatives (such as mutual aid networks, food hubs, and culturally appropriate food programs) to reduce reliance on emergency food systems and build long-term food resilience?Intersection with Broader Social Issues
What specific actions would you champion to address food insecurity in connection with broader issues such as housing affordability, income security, mental health, and climate resilience?Advisory and Collaborative Approaches
There have been proposals to create a Social Good / Non-Profit / Social Services Advisory Panel to guide the City on key issues. How do you see food security and food justice organizations fitting into such a body?
We sent the invite to a total of 119 candidates and received 19 responses as of October 15, 2025. You can click on the names below to view the responses received:
Mayoral Candidate Responses
City Council Candidate Responses
Edmonton Public School Board Trustee Candidate Responses
Edmonton Catholic School Board Trustee Candidate Responses
No responses were received as of October 15, 2025.
Thank you to all the candidates for their thoughtful responses and for sharing their perspectives on this important issue!
To find out more about the Food Security and Food Justice Ecosystem of Edmonton Project (FSFJE), visit www.jhcentre.org/fsfje