This interdisciplinary conference is full of groundbreaking food-related sessions—from farmland protection to food sovereignty; from Northern food systems to labour in the food movement. This international event—drawing researchers and practitioners from six continents, and convened in a different city every four years since 1964—will be held in Canada in 2016.

The XIV World Congress of the International Rural Sociological Association (IRSA) will explore practical, policy-oriented, and theoretical questions related to the complexities that interconnect a fast-paced and globalized world with the modern day rural world. The World Congress will look at globally and locally relevant issues associated with this relationship, and generate new innovative and experimental solutions nested in a sustainable paradigm. This will be an inclusive forum hosting many international scholars, practitioners and government representatives working in a variety of fields and disciplines. Its purpose is to advance knowledge and explore practical and policy-oriented solutions needed to identify, discuss and consider solutions to fight the inequities and injustice faced by many rural peoples, and to build a sustainable relationship between rural and urban regions here in Canada and around the world. Rural regions are particularly important for the continued existence and healthy functioning of growing urban areas, because they provide resources and environmental services upon which cities depend. The conference will also increase the visibility and profile of rural issues within the Greater Toronto Area, and Canada, as well as internationally.