As part of the work of the CAFS/ACÉA ad hoc Committee on Palestine and the Right to Food over 600 food, nutrition, and agricultural scholars, students, workers, practitioners and organizations signed a letter that was delivered to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand, demanding an immediate escalation of Canada’s response to Israel’s use of mass starvation as a tool of genocide against the Palestinian people.

The signatories call for the Canadian government to immediately enact all economic, diplomatic, and political measures available to end its complicity with Israel’s genocide, and to pressure the Israeli government to end its military siege on Gaza and its ongoing destruction of food, water, and agricultural resources across the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The group demands that the government act to ensure restoration, reparation, and accountability for the decades-long occupation, oppression, and crimes committed against the people, land, waters, and seeds of Palestine.

The CAFS/ACÉA ad hoc Committee on Palestine and the Right to Food was established in late 2023 from a collective concern regarding the increasing violence perpetrated by the Israeli state against the people of Palestine and the weaponization of food. The ad hoc Committee’s work aims to engage scholars in food studies in conversations and meaningful action oriented toward food sovereignty from Palestine to Turtle Island.

Based on their significant expertise and experience in food systems and agriculture research and practice, the signatories contend that food justice and sovereignty requires the full realization of Palestinians’ right to self-determination and liberation.

The letter remains open for additional signatures for organizations, scholars, and practitioners who wish to add their names.