Rights, Not Charity: Reimagining Food Security
Neximar Alarcon, Director of Arts and Communications
What happens when you take a massive systemic issue, mix it with an interactive exercise, and try to unpack it all in exactly 35 minutes? You get an intense, high-energy session that leaves a lasting impression.
Recently, our team presented at the Together | Ensemble 2026 Conference at the University of Calgary. Our session, Food at the Intersections: Youth Lived Experience as Systems Intelligence for Advancing Food Justice, challenged a fundamental narrative. Specifically focusing on the vulnerabilities faced by youth, we argued that food insecurity must be viewed through a Human Rights Perspective, not a Charity Perspective.
Our biggest hurdle was time. Delivering a workshop on youth food justice and an interactive activity in 35 minutes is no small feat. Thankfully, my co-facilitators, Dana-Rae and Deep, were incredible. They were punctual, professional, and we worked seamlessly together to make every second count.
To connect with the audience, we featured an interactive activity using custom poster boards created by Dana-Rae. We used these to pose critical questions to the room, such as:
How can housing policy be "food-informed" rather than just "safety-focused"?
How does access to transportation enable or create barriers to food security or consistent access to food?
Where does your organization prioritize efficiency over respecting your clients’ dignity?
This exercise was a total hit! The audience loved the hands-on element, and an event organizer even pulled us aside to thank us for such a strong, impactful workshop.
The post-session reception was incredibly rewarding. Several attendees shared how focusing on youth food security from a rights-based framework challenged them in a positive way. Most notably, a leader from the UofC Department of Social Work personally thanked us. She shared that the session sparked new ideas on how the university can better support its own young demographic of students and staff, specifically regarding food security for international students.
Dana-Rae, Deep, and I left the University of Calgary feeling thrilled and deeply proud. In just 35 minutes, we managed to shift perspectives and spark real, systemic conversations for the next generation.