December 2025
Food Flow Analysis
Members of the Surrey BAC Advisory led research and community outreach with local Black, African, and Caribbean (BAC) grocery stores to amplify food providers’ experiences, needs, and perspectives. The work highlights the cultural importance of BAC foods and the systemic challenges affecting food security within BAC communities. Findings will inform a written report and visual media outputs to support advocacy and awareness.
May 2025
Building Food Resilience in Surrey
SOCS convened community organizations, municipal departments, schools, and food sector partners for a focused workshop on strengthening Surrey’s food system resilience to climate-driven disruptions.
With extreme weather events becoming more frequent, participants explored shared vulnerabilities, reflected on recent emergencies, and identified practical pathways for cross-sector coordination, governance, data sharing, and community-led solutions to support food system preparedness.
Insights from the workshop are directly informing SOCS’ ongoing food system resilience work and our partnership with the City of Surrey, advancing momentum toward a coordinated, community-informed Food Resilience Plan for the city. This work was supported by the Climate Innovation Fund from the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions.
December 2024
Municipal Food Policy Assessment
We partnered with graduate students from UBC’s Master of Nutrition and Dietetics program to better understand how food security is reflected in Surrey’s municipal policies and what it will take to build a more coordinated, system-wide approach in the years ahead.
The project aimed to explore the following questions:
1. How is food security currently addressed across Surrey’s municipal departments?
2. What can Surrey learn from similar cities?
3. What evidence-based actions should Surrey consider next?
May 2024
Food Security in Surrey
Seeds of Change Surrey hosted a Surrey City-wide engagement session to better understand the realities, gaps, and opportunities shaping food security in Surrey. The session brought together community members, frontline organizations, service providers, and municipal partners for a collective conversation on where the system is working and where it is leaving people behind.
Participants explored barriers across the food system, from affordability and transportation to gaps in culturally relevant food access and inconsistent support across neighbourhoods. Through facilitated activities and open dialogue, attendees identified shared challenges, mapped existing community assets, and highlighted where stronger coordination could make a meaningful difference.
The insights gathered during this event now inform SOCS’ advocacy efforts and contribute to a clearer picture of what a more equitable and dignified food system could look like for Surrey residents.
2023
BAC Food Security Survey
The BAC Advisory developed an informal food security survey to help better understand the current food needs of the Surrey BAC community. The BAC Advisory connected with community agencies/businesses that serve and work alongside the Black, African and Caribbean population, distributed this survey at upcoming community programming or events. These insights have helped the BAC Advisory identify key needs, priorities, and interests for strengthening food security among Surrey’s BAC residents.