51社区黑料

Tammara Soma is a food systems scholar, practitioner and planner who works across disciplines and sectors, engaging with scholars and communities in both the Global North and Global South, to advance a more sustainable, resilient and equitable food system.

She is an associate professor in SFU鈥檚 School of Resource and Environmental Management, research director of the Food Systems Lab at 51社区黑料and associate director of SFU鈥檚 Global Institute for Agritech. At SFU, she works on various food systems issues from 鈥渆arth to table鈥� such as food loss and waste reduction and prevention, food security and food sovereignty, sustainable agriculture, including food and outer space.

This year, Soma joins the Royal Society of Canada (RSC)鈥檚 College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. RSC College members represent the emerging generation of scholarly, scientific and artistic leadership in Canada.

As an RSC College member, Soma joins a highly productive, multi-disciplinary group of researchers from diverse backgrounds who work to advance knowledge across disciplines.

Motivated to protect Earth for future generations, seeking truth and ensuring food justice, Soma aspires to use her food system planning skills to create better food systems for all, including people, animals and nature.

Her work takes a systems-based approach and centres food sovereignty and the right to food and argues that a just transformation of our food system includes a perspective in-line with Indigenous teachings that food is medicine.

Access to food is a fundamental human right on its own, but Soma explains that food is also a lever that can help transform other systems 鈥� like access to justice, improving the food-water-energy nexus for sustainable development and tackling issues related to climate, war and conflicts 鈥� to advance a more just and sustainable world.

In her work, Soma engages with communities who have been traditionally excluded from academia to define and address issues in food security and elevate their knowledge and perspectives.

In 2023, she received SFU鈥檚 Emerging Community Engaged Researcher Award in recognition of her citizen science food asset mapping project with communities throughout B.C., including Vancouver, Alberni-Clayoquot and Kitselas First Nation, as well as an Early Career Award for Excellence in Teaching.

On the international stage, Soma was appointed by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security, the United Nations body for assessing the science related to world food security and nutrition, to co-author a report on building resilient food systems. She is also a lead in SFU鈥檚 partnership with Aga Khan University, working to bring experts from Canada and East Africa together on issues of climate change, food systems resiliency, health and more.

鈥淲hether I am working on food waste reduction in Indonesia, or Indigenous food sovereignty in Canada, and supporting land-based learning and climate resiliency in Tanzania, I hope to play my part,鈥� says Soma.

Soma shares that growing up in Indonesia, where information and knowledge were accessible only to those who could afford it, has made her passionate about making academic research more accessible. As a result, she actively seeks opportunities for knowledge mobilization and dialogue and is excited to build on this as an RSC College Member.

For example, Soma has brought her work to audiences across Canada as a co-director, co-writer and host of the CBC documentary, 鈥淔ood is My Teacher鈥�. The series follows Soma as she travels across the country to diverse communities to highlight the healing power of food. She has also taken project findings to exhibits at Science World and SFU鈥檚 campus and creates photobooks and materials for wider distribution.

鈥淏eing inducted as a member or RSC鈥檚 college is a true honour and, in a way, fulfils one of my aspirations, as RSC College is a hub for knowledge exchange, dialogue and a space to foster and strengthen knowledge creation,鈥� says Soma. 鈥淭here are many RSC College Members who I look up to, who are making meaningful contributions to food policy. I am excited to help contribute to expert reports, panels and events, and foster dialogue on key issues that impact all of us. I am looking forward to serve!鈥�