Parallel alternatives: Chinese-Canadian farmers and the Metro Vancouver local food movement

This thesis explores how food system localisation efforts in Metro Vancouver, Canada intersect with one of the tensions in the global agri-food system: racial inequalities. Drawing on archival research, participant observation of local food marketing and policy-making, and interviews with local food movement participants, policy-makers, and Chinese-Canadian farmers, I argue that the history of anti-Chinese racism in Canada is linked to the emergence of a food system comprised of parallel networks. An older network consists of roadside stores and greengrocers supplied by Chinese-Canadian farmers. A newer, rapidly expanding network includes farmers’ markets and other institutions publicly supported by the local food movement. Both networks are ‘local’ in that they link producers, consumers, and place; however, these networks have few points of intentional connection and collaboration. I conclude by considering the implications of the underrepresentation of Chinese-Canadian farmers in some of the local food movement’s most publicly visible manifestations.