Community has always been at the centre of my work. Professional equity and anti-racism practice, social enterprises such as Feed the Soul YEG and Black Owned Market Edmonton, and small-scale cultural organizing all stem from the same commitment to community building that understands and responds to people’s unique needs in ways that centre care.

Misconceptions often arise around the resources that allow community organizing to happen. Feed the Soul YEG does not operate with a paid staff team. Our work is carried out by a volunteer-led collective of community members who contribute time, skills, and networks toward a shared mission. People show up because they believe deeply in what we are building together to share Edmonton’s diverse dining scene.

Community care begins with how people are invited into the work and how contributions are valued. It’s about caring for the collective and setting aside individual differences or working for individual benefit. At Feed the Soul YEG, we believe that shared ownership strengthens trust, accountability, and long-term sustainability.

Practicing Community Care

Community care means prioritizing people and relationships in every decision. That commitment shapes how policies are designed, how internal structures take form, and how partnerships are approached. Inviting language, multiple avenues for feedback, and suggestions rather than demands remain central to how we work.

Recent shifts toward team-based consensus decision-making further reflect this approach. Progress may move more slowly at times, yet every voice at the table matters. Decisions grounded in collective input often lead to stronger alignment, deeper trust and commitment across the team.

Boundaries also belong within community care. Alignment with values and capacity is vital. Education, calling people in when harm occurs, and honest conversations around slowing down or shifting direction protect both the work and the people doing it. Rest, both individual and collective, supports sustainability and helps maintain a healthy relationship with the work we care deeply about.

Building With Integrity

Early stages of this work required holding much of the decision-making and accountability personally, sometimes alongside co-leaders. Intentional mentorship over time allowed team members to take leadership in their respective areas. Shared responsibility strengthens resilience and creates pathways for long-term leadership development.

Transparency continues to grow through collective practices. Team-wide budget reviews help everyone understand financial decisions and priorities. Feedback from businesses, attendees, and partners is gathered regularly and reviewed together, ensuring learning remains shared rather than siloed.

Formal reporting requirements may not bind grassroots initiatives, yet responsibility still matters. Annual impact reports document progress, learning, and future direction. Grant funding is approached with care, ensuring alignment with both deliverables, capacity and values. Community care in practice requires proactive communication when plans need to shift. The impacts of the choices we make can ripple through communities, making integrity essential to our ways of working.

Grassroots as Infrastructure

Care within Black communities has long been rooted in extended networks and grassroots organizing. Lived experience places these groups close to community needs and supports culturally relevant and culturally safe approaches shaped by those most impacted.

Flexibility allows grassroots organizations to respond quickly and speak honestly. Fewer bureaucratic constraints create space to challenge systems without fear of jeopardizing funding. Scale may appear smaller, yet depth of impact often runs stronger because work remains grounded in lived realities.

Collaboration between Black-led grassroots groups, nonprofits, and private-sector organizations strengthens the broader ecosystem. Each plays a role in supporting the community through complementary approaches that prioritize sustainability, dignity, and collective well-being.

Food as Cultural Memory

Feed the Soul began as a spotlight on Edmonton’s Black-owned restaurants. Growth followed naturally into a broader food sovereignty movement that champions Black, Indigenous, and racialized food producers and product makers. 

Reclaiming food narratives remains foundational. Ethnocultural foods and the communities behind them deserve recognition beyond stereotypical labels. Storytelling, curated events, and education help uncover diaspora foodways while shifting public perception toward cultural significance and global sustainability.

Connection also happens through convening. Entrepreneurs, cultural leaders, sponsors, volunteers, and community members gather around shared values related to equity in food systems. Relationships built through these spaces help businesses feel supported rather than isolated.

Circulating Community Wealth

Economic impact remains central to this work. Dining weeks, pop-ups, business development support, and catering referrals help recirculate dollars into local businesses. Black Futures Dining Week and Ten Dolla Deals were designed to increase revenue while encouraging long-term customer loyalty.

Quantitative outcomes reflect this intention. Since launching in 2023, Feed the Soul has generated $111,000 in revenue for local businesses, partnered with more than 38 Black, Indigenous, and racialized food businesses, and engaged over 2,000 diners through events, walking tours, pop-ups, and catered experiences.

Visibility has grown into infrastructure. What began as a campaign now functions as a model that strengthens community wealth, cultural pride, and equitable access within Edmonton’s food landscape.

Growing What Feeds Us

Support for racialized food entrepreneurs has taken tangible form. Increased revenue, visibility, and customer traffic consistently emerge during dining weeks. Access to digital marketing, professional photography and videography, media features, menu consulting, brand development, and grant navigation strengthens business capacity.

The launch of a catering collective in 2024 expanded opportunities further, resulting in repeat corporate contracts and increased scale for participating businesses. Partnership interests have evolved alongside this growth, extending beyond entrepreneurship into belonging, cultural visibility, and place-based connection.

We plan to include annual marketing campaigns, expanded educational programming on ancestral foodways and migration stories, hands-on experiences such as workshops and walking tours, and welcoming new volunteers and leaders. Community members interested in joining this work can reach out at admin@feedthesoulyeg.ca. This year, we’ll be focusing on  Black Futures Dining Guide, which will help Edmontonians explore our diverse dining scene year-round. Ongoing updates are shared through Instagram @feedthesoulyeg and the Feed the Soul newsletter.