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| Figure 1: A Canadian garden. Photo by
Stuart Filson. |
Introduction to food sovereignty
To answer why food is vital to culture may
seem simple at first. As the energy of life, food justifies itself to be both indulged
and elaborated upon. As people move and resources change, food persists as a
constant source of consideration. In turn, cuisine is continually reimagined because
food does not exist as a blank slate. Given how fundamental food is to the
human experience, it should be no wonder that cuisine follows people as an
enduring source of culture.
It is the relation between cuisine
and culture that drew me to explore Somali Canadian food sovereignty. While food
sovereignty can encompass many ideas, a general definition holds that food
sovereignty is the collective ability of peoples to access culturally discernible
food, through socially just and sustainable means (Patel, 2009). Instead of
viewing food in a superficial manner, food sovereignty is about empowering
peoples’ cultural connections to cuisine (Ambalam, 2014).
Fortunately for Somali Canadian food
sovereignty, the aspirations of these goals overlap with other efforts that may
not initially seem related to food. By merit of food being fundamental to
humanity, many activities link back to food sovereignty issues. The promotion
of a socially aware and green economy bolsters the principles of food
sovereignty (Ambalam, 2014).
Unravelling Somalia’s cuisine
While I am not Somali myself, I became
attracted to Somali food sovereignty because of Somalia’s unique past. Through
colonization, several European powers vied for control over Somalia; most
notably the nations of Italy and the United Kingdom, but also France to a
lesser extent (Zoppi, 2015). After Somalia eventually secured its independence,
the regional instabilities from colonization continued to threaten Somalia’s
nationhood through disputes over borders and separatist movements. In the time
between independence and the 21st century, Somalia had ongoing
conflict with Ethiopia, as the side-switching powers of the United States and
Soviet Union used Somalia as a stage for proxy warfare (Aalen, 2014). Consequently,
observers have cited Somalia as a failed state, but this term can be overly dismissive
without further consideration (Elmi, 2014).
Although Somalia has endured much strife, its cuisine
has gone through a great fusion (Abdullahi, 2001). Given the prominence of Somalia’s
former occupiers, it is hard to ignore the European influence on Somalia’s cuisine.
Whether it be Italy’s pastas, the UK’s comfort foods, or France’s pastries, the
Somali people have come to reimagine many formerly European techniques
(Abdullahi, 2001). Be it war or colonization though, the irony of these
national confrontations is that in spite of conflict, the continued interaction
between peoples promotes the exchange of culture, which can bring people closer
together.
To the west of Somalia, there is the similarly
diverse cuisine of Ethiopia. Despite the tensions between Somalia and Ethiopia,
these nations share a lot of food between each other. In both countries, the
spongy flatbread, known as injera, is incredibly popular. Injera is great for drawing
up sauce and eating with other food. In my experience, while Ethiopian injera
reminded me of a soft pita, the Somali injera was much more reminiscent of a crepe.
Another difference I found between cuisines was that Ethiopian food is noticeably
spicier.
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Figure 2: East African inspired food, such as injera, in Guelph, Ontario.
Photo by Stuart Filson.
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Although culture can move around quite easily,
not all aspects of cuisine are readily transferable. Given Somalia’s persistent
conflict with neighbouring Ethiopia, known as the birthplace of coffee, as well
as Somalia’s long colonization under Italy, I had suspected that Somalis would tend
to drink coffee regularly (Daniel, 2016; Zoppi, 2015). However, although
reliable statistics on beverage consumption in Somalia are difficult to find, it
appears that Somalis drink notably more tea than coffee, but this could be
changing with rising global coffee consumption (Hassan-Kadle & Musse, 2017).
Nevertheless, however infused Somalia’s cuisine has become, it must be
remembered that Somalis’ culture is ultimately defined by Somalis (Abdullahi,
2001).
Somalis beyond Somalia’s borders
While the previous section provides some summary
of Somali cuisine for those living within the country’s borders, I was curious
about the cuisine of Somalis living elsewhere. When I talked to Somalis whose
family was from outside of modern day Somalia, they themselves identified as
Somali. This was because they considered their homelands different from the formal
boundaries of Somalia.
Coincidentally, in addition to Italy and the
UK being notable to Somalia’s history, I happen to be British Italian myself.
Unlike Somalia’s notion of nationhood, Italy and the UK are cosmopolitan formations
of now subnational city-states and countries (MacDougall, 1999). As former
empires, Italy and the UK each covered many regions and many peoples. Even for
the citizens originally from far outside of these countries, many of these people
still primarily identify with Italy and the UK as their nationalities
(Innocenti, 2016).
In contrast to western conceptions of
nationality, Somalia’s clan system underlies much of its national kinship
(Zoppi, 2015). With or without Somalia, Somalis would endure because formalities
do not define Somalis’ homelands, especially given the contentious nature of
Somalia’s borders. For these reasons, many Somalis live outside of Somalia for
generations yet still identify as Somali, first and foremost.
Canada’s national identity
2017 marked a milestone for Canada as the 150th
anniversary of Confederation. In defining Canada’s national identity, this can
lead to many conclusions: Canada is a cultural mosaic to an American melting
pot; a former set of colonies to Franglish colonizers; and an inexplicit home
to an underappreciated Indigenous diversity. When people discuss Canada, they
describe Canada as being young. In contrast, when people describe Italy, they
think of the Renaissance, the Roman Empire, and view Italy as being old, but in
the past, people did not think of the competing Italian city-states as a
singular entity (MacDougall, 1999). Despite the stark differences, people
perceive Ancient Rome under Italy’s banner, yet not so for Canada’s long
Indigenous past (Johnston, 1994). Whereas Italy has a collective sense of
lineage, Canada’s lineage is fragmented. Similarly, people characterize Somalia
as fragmented, yet not by national lineage, but by national conflicts over border
disputes, clan lines and regional sovereignty (Zoppi, 2015). In comparison, the
difficulty of Canada’s lineage is that it is anything but linear.
Although Canadians often compare ourselves to
more populated countries, Canada’s population is larger than 80% of all other
countries (United Nations, 2017). Geographically, Canada is well over double
the combined size of the European Union, the now leaving UK, and the non-EU
countries of Norway and Switzerland (Field Listing, 2017). Furthermore, Canada continues
being a staple in sports, academia, arts, entertainment and business (Patel,
2016). The humility of the Canadian identity is that Canada could be the most
grandiose country in the world, yet Canadians would still focus more on where
we can improve rather than where we already excel.
While modest in person, Canadians’ thirst for
national fulfilment has made self-promotion Canada’s battle cry on the world
stage (Black, 2015; Cotter, 2017). Even in the Canadian flag, its designers did
not choose the maple leaf’s 11 points out of symbolism, like the
self-expressive American flag, but instead for excelling in being legible
during wind tunnel tests (Matheson, 1980). Ever since, Canada’s flag very much
succeeded in becoming among the most recognizable flags, despite having only
existed since the 1960s (Cotter, 2017). Canada’s national identity is not
obstructed from a lack of national recognition or being too young. Given
Canada’s enigmatic past, its resulting identity invites individualistic
discussion.
My Canadian identity
Although my family has lived in Canada for
several generations, I still hold a sense of being an outsider in a country of
outsiders. In reflecting upon the Canadian national identity, immigration is
inescapable. Many newcomers are excited to be Canadian but do not yet feel that
sense of belonging. For many immigrants, especially Somali Canadians,
immigration has occurred in waves (Duff & Becker-Zayas, 2017). This was the
case for my own ancestry.
I am half Italian, a quarter Swedish and a
quarter from the UK (specifically, England, Scotland and Ireland). Although my
Italian born grandparents almost exclusively spoke Italian in Toronto, neither myself
nor my brothers learned much Italian. For my cultural connection to my Swedish
side, my family’s relationship is further distant, yet we still occasionally eat
Swedish cuisine. For my UK ancestry, dating back to the 19th century
in Canada, my family has no culturally present connection in our activities,
except from some external Canadian influences.
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Figure 3: A Canadian landscape in Tiny, Ontario. Photo by Stuart Filson.
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Without the active drive or exposure, culture
can readily give way to other culture. Further still, many immigrants do not
directly immigrate to Canada from one country. Instead, a lot of newcomers have
already lived in multiple countries, and so they may feel a different linkage
to their place of origin than what others may expect. As a result, culture can
be difficult to pinpoint.
Canadian markets
Since 1827, Guelph has been the home to the
second longest running farmers’ market in Canada (Basil, 2012). In modern
times, Guelph’s Farmers’ Market has become a weekly outlet in which both
farmers and resellers have sold produce and other items. Observers have often
considered the City of Guelph a mid-sized Southern Ontario city (Census
Metropolitan Area: 156,029) (Best, 2013: Statistics Canada, 2017). Guelph is
situated an hour’s drive southwest of the Greater Toronto Area, and a
twenty-odd minute drive from the over half a million populated Tri-Cities of
Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge (Statistics Canada, 2017). While the quaint
riverside housing and rural surroundings of Guelph present a small-town charm,
the City’s ten-plus storey condos remind by-passers that they are nevertheless
within reach of Toronto Land. It is this very juxtaposition of rural and urban
that has caused marketing researchers to repeatedly choose Guelph as a
representative of Canadians abroad (Cranfield, Henson, & Masakure, 2011).
Having been born and raised in Guelph, I have
gone to the Farmers’ Market over the years. While there, you can find a
snapshot of farming practices and trends. Onlookers can experience a
diversifying market segmentation, emphasized in the popular terms of the day:
organic, fair trade, locally grown, GMO free, and so on. As with other western
assortments, many of the Market’s crops derive from around the globe. Tomatoes
originally came from South America. Corn is from North America. Soya beans are
from Asia. Coffee beans are from Africa. However, this is not a wide selection.
A very small number of crops dominate western farming. Despite Ontario having
more ethnic diversity than much of the rest of Canada, Ontario’s farmers are
still predominantly Western European (Smithers & Sethuratnam, 2014).
What is adequate representation?
When shopping for produce beyond the common
western options, the question of representation repeatedly occupied my
thoughts. In the case of Somalis wanting ingredients and meals in the tradition
of Somali cuisine, it can be difficult to tell how much demand there is and how
enduring the demand is. Across Canada, farming has experienced aging and
diminishing workforces. With proportionately fewer Canadians becoming farmers,
it can be difficult to promote domestically grown ethnocultural produce for
traditional Somali cuisine (Smithers & Sethuratnam, 2014). Instead, local
markets are more likely to grow some of the more prominent crops, like okra.
Unfortunately, to only grow a limited selection of traditional Somali
ingredients is an incomplete solution.
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Excessive importing is bad for the quality of
food as well as for social wellbeing. Food presents and individual and communal
connection which people cherish. If buying produce was always better, people
would have little reason to garden. The various mechanisms of experiencing food
highlight the importance of empowering Somali Canadians through different
resources. However, rather than seek an all-encompassing solution for Somali
Canadian food sovereignty, it is more reasonable to recognize the constraints
and work through the priorities to achieve an optimal solution.
Answering Somali Canadian food
sovereignty
Few things are as emblematic to culture as
cuisine. In Canada, people often treat culture as a recreational experience.
Although culture can be very enjoyable, we should take time to reflect on the
deeper meanings. Without recognizing the origins of culturally discernible
food, we can too easily ignore the value in these activities. By neglecting
food sovereignty, we neglect people’s connection to cuisine. In turn, people
can quickly turn to the lowest common denominator of an unhealthy, cheap and
fast industrialized diet (Ambalam, 2014). In an increasingly globalized world, it
is valuable to shift our eating habits away from the unsustainable temptations
of the industrialized diet by empowering our relationship with food from the
bottom-up (Ambalam, 2014).
From talking to multiple Southern Ontarian
individuals that immigrated from not just Somalia, but also Nigeria and Uganda,
I heard people express that culture should not be restrictive of cuisine. I had
gone in with the assumption that culture was what made traditional Somali food
important. However, from these interviews, I became more concerned about other
qualities of food: freshness, cost, choice, and more generally, access. Simply
put, the people I interviewed wanted the freedom to have food the way they felt.
They did not want to be boxed in by either an overly restrictive western
selection or a preconceived notion of traditional food.
Without trying to speak for Somali Canadians
abroad, I have come to believe that to empower Somali food sovereignty, the
word “Somali” should not mean others’ conceptions of Somali culture but should
instead represent Somali people and their interests. As I have seen, Somali
Canadian food sovereignty is valuable, not simply for cherishing and
potentially expanding upon Somali culture. It is through ensuring Somali
Canadian food sovereignty that Canadians abroad can benefit from the rich heritage
between Somalis and their foods.
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Stuart Filson, Graduate Research Assistant, ECVOntario, SEDRD, University of Guelph