Reimagining the 2025 Planetary Health Diet Through an Indigenous Food Sovereignty Lens: A Settler Perspective
September 28, 2026 | 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Speakers: Caroline Hunziker, RD, PhD Student (Center for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment, McGill University) and Revathi Sahajpal, PhD (Center for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment, McGill University)
Webinar description: On October 2, 2025, the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy, sustainable, and just food systems published its updated report, presenting a comprehensive framework for transforming global food systems to protect both human and planetary health. The original report released in 2019 sparked widespread debate and criticism over its Planetary Health Diet (PHD). This plant-forward dietary pattern, which recommends optional to moderate amounts of animal-sourced foods, has faced criticism for overlooking the importance of Indigenous foods and foodways in fostering equitable food systems. The 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission has since revised its PHD to be more inclusive of diverse cultures, including those of Indigenous Peoples. However, the amounts of animal-sourced foods recommended in the 2025 PHD still do not align with the traditional diets and food systems of many Indigenous communities in Canada. Given the diversity of Indigenous Nations in Canada and the federal commitments to Truth and Reconciliation, this session asks: How can nutrition professionals critically engage with the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission to support Indigenous food sovereignty? Canadian nutrition professionals, most of whom are settlers, have a responsibility to learn from and with Indigenous Peoples, and to share their own knowledge in ways that support Indigenous self-determination. Following this webinar, participants will be better prepared to co-develop culturally safe research, practices, and policies that support Indigenous food systems and sovereignty.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of the webinar participants will be able to:
- Critically appraise the 2025 Planetary Health Diet through an Indigenous food sovereignty lens.
- Identify strategies for transforming nutrition research, practices, and policies by integrating both Indigenous and Western knowledge systems.
- Explore how culturally safe practices in public health nutrition can support Indigenous food sovereignty and self-determination.
Moderator: To be confirmed
About the Speakers:
Caroline Hunziker (she/her): Caroline graduated from McGill University as a Registered Dietitian in December 2023. She was the first student to present at the 2023 Annual Symposium of her professional order, the Ordre des diététistes-nutritionnistes du Québec. Her webinar on gender and sexual diversity in nutrition care continues to be used as a training resource for dietitians across the province. Caroline is now in the second year of her PhD program at McGill’s Center for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment, where her work focuses on decolonizing dietetics practice by strengthening Indigenous cultural safety education. Her efforts, along with those of her colleagues, led McGill’s School of Human Nutrition and the Ordre des diététistes-nutritionnistes du Québec to respectively adopt and adhere to Joyce’s Principle. Caroline remains committed to advancing reflexive practice within the dietetics profession as a member of Dietitians of Canada’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Advisory Committee and as a guest lecturer across several universities, including McGill University, the University of Montréal, and Toronto Metropolitan University. She also contributes to advancing equity-focused scholarship as the Coordinator of the Editorial Collective for the Journal of Critical Dietetics. Caroline aspires to continue building relationships and co-creating knowledge with those whose experiences inform her work.
Revathi Sahajpal: Dr. Revathi Sahajpal is a researcher and academic consultant with a PhD in Human Nutrition from McGill University. Her work focuses on Indigenous food environments, traditional food access, food sovereignty, and community-engaged health research. Over the past six years, she has been actively involved in the Food, Environment, Health, and Nutrition of First Nations Children and Youth (FEHNCY) study, a national research initiative that aims to better understand and improve food environments in First Nations communities across Canada. Through this work, she has collaborated with First Nations partners in Québec, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador, gaining experience in diverse community contexts, priorities, and approaches to food systems and health. Her doctoral research explored traditional and market food access in First Nations communities and highlighted the importance of resilience, cultural continuity, and community-led solutions to support food sovereignty. Using qualitative and participatory research methods, she worked closely with community members, Elders, youth, and local leaders to ensure research findings reflected community perspectives and priorities. In addition to her research, Dr. Sahajpal works as an Academic Consultant in Montréal, Québec, mentoring students and aspiring health professionals. She is passionate about knowledge translation, health equity, nutrition policy, and building respectful partnerships that bridge research, practice, and community priorities.
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