What are public grocery stores?
How could they work in communities
from coast-to-coast-to-coast?
Join this webinar brought to you by Food Communities Network and Food Secure Canada
to dive deep into a public option for grocery stores.
Thursday, April 23
9-10am Pacific, 12-1pm Eastern, 1-2pm Atlantic
This webinar will explore how public grocery stores can decrease food prices, strengthen local food economies, create and support good jobs, increase competition in retail, and build broad community benefits.
We’ll hear from a grocery expert, an Indigenous food sovereignty actor, and a farmer, on this innovative new option for food retail.
Featuring:
- Errol Schweizer, The Check Out, Ex-VP of Grocery at Whole Foods
- Raymond Johnson-Brown, Indigenous Food Network, Right to Food
- Jenn Pfenning, Pfenning Organic Vegetables, National Farmers Union
Moderated by Marissa Alexander, Executive Director, Food Secure Canada
The webinar will provide an in depth look at the model outlined in “How public Grocery stores could work in Canada?”, by Raj Patel, Aaron Vansinjan, Anna Paskal and Errol Schweizer.
This webinar will be delivered in English with simultaneous interpretation into French.
About our speakers:
Errol Schweizer
Errol Schweizer was born in The Bronx and has over 30 years of experience in the food industry, starting out as a stock clerk and grill cook. Errol was V.P. of Grocery/Executive Global Coordinator for Whole Foods from 2009-2016 and was with the company for nearly 14 years of rapid growth. His team grew sales to over U.S. $5 Billion on top of a 350 BP margin improvement by supporting the launch and commercialization of thousands of new products, private labels and promotional programs. He has developed plant-based, organic, Non-GMO and regenerative supply chains and product standards for decades. He was awarded a NOSH Top 50 grocery industry award in 2023 and was recognized with a Retail Game-changer from Supermarket News in 2015 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Hemp Industries Association in 2019. He has been a board member, advisor and co-founder to over a dozen “better for you” CPG companies and now works closely with independent and cooperative grocers and emerging brands. He has ten years of experience in municipal food policy, is the Host of The Checkout Podcast and writes for Forbes, Jacobin, Food Print and Salon. He is a panel member of IPES-Food and is the publisher of The Checkout Grocery Update, a 100% unfiltered insider analysis on the $1 trillion U.S. grocery industry.
Raymond Jordan Johnson-Brown
Raymond Jordan Johnson-Brown (they/he) is a Two-Spirit, Ethnic Anomaly, and multi-hyphenate creative working at the intersection of dance, storytelling, education, and cultural organizing. They are a featured panelist on 1 Queen 5 Queers and a graduate of McGill University’s Gender, Sexuality, Feminist & Social Justice Studies program, with a minor in Indigenous Studies. With over a decade of experience, Raymond has led initiatives in Indigenous health, youth empowerment, and systems transformation across organizations like Community Food Centres Canada, Foundry BC, and Wildlife Conservation Society Canada. Their work also includes cultural safety consulting with the English Montreal School Board and restorative justice programming with Projets Autochtones du Québec. Rooted in decolonial practice, Raymond’s approach centers embodiment, equity, and joy as tools for liberation. Raymond is also the Indigenous Network Manager for Right To Food.
Jenn Pfenning
President of the National Farmers Union (NFU), Jenn Pfenning is a family owner and the Director of Human Resources, Marketing and Operations at Pfenning’s Organic Farm in New Hamburg, Ontario. She enjoys working alongside local and migrant workers to produce food that serves her passion for healthy living, food justice and strong community. Jenn is an active participant in boards and committees. She is the past President of the National Farmers Union Local 340 and served on the Foodshare Toronto Board of Directors for seven years. She also served on the Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable and is a past president of the Organic Council of Ontario.
Moderator
Marissa Alexander, RD, MA-IS, Bio
Marissa (she/they) is the Executive Director of Food Secure Canada and Owner of UpRoot Consulting. She works to integrate her passions of anti-racism, food security, and equity in all areas of her work. When she is not focused on social justice work, she likes to spend time with family, friends, and her dogs. You can often find her crafting or creating, and she tries to include humour in her work as much as possible.