Trinity Bellwoods Park will play host to a new Toronto collective, the Confederacy of Love & Acceptance among Mammals (C.L.A.M), this Sunday at 2:30 p.m. for the group’s first gathering.
The “Feminist Baptism and Caviar Communion” event will feature food, drink and performance art aimed to break down the barriers and misconceptions in the food industry and provoke new conversations around inclusivity.
Now you might be thinking, what does this Confederacy entail? Is this is a religious movement? How am I to respond to this anti-oppression movement whose acronym insinuates a certain female anatomical region? Well, to that Knight says, “If this acronym freaks you out, please consider that a man has used another acronym (Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve & Talent) for 11 years on his Emmy award-winning hit show. And no one has said a word.“
C.L.A.M has pledged that this happening is “a free religious service, that is free of religion”, which will be open to people of all walks of life who are looking to equalize the playing field in the food industry and create more respectful and non-toxic mentorships.
C.L.A.M is spearheaded by Ivy Knight, the esteemed food writer who made a name for herself with her manifesto How Being a Line Cook Ruined Me, which detailed her 10 years in the trenches of a professional kitchen where sexism was at the forefront of her day-to-day life. After graduating from her time behind the line, Knight went on to write detailed profiles on some of the food industry’s biggest players like Anthony Bourdain and Jen Agg, for publications like Playboy, Condé Nast, VICE and the Globe & Mail. Now, Ivy Knight is trying her hand in a new feminist movement, where she is empowering local artists and industry folk to come out and raise awareness on subject matter that for her and many others, hits close to home.
The Guerilla Girls and Pussy Riot-inspired rally will take place on the Queen West side of Trinity Bellwoods park and is open to the public. The leaders of C.L.A.M will be sharing their 10-point manifesto, where they hope to “transform regular folks into woke individuals galvanized by a new understanding of equality through feminism. Not with old fashioned rhetoric and the body of Christ, but with caviar and sparkling sweetgrass elixir,” says Knight.
The Feminist Baptism and Caviar Communion will feature artwork by and Jack Phelps & Tisha Myles of New Love Collective and Sarah Keenlyside (owner of CXBO and La Banane), as well as caviar from Oyster Boy and Acadian Sturgeon and sparkling sweetgrass elixir from Pow Wow Cafe.
This collective is free of charge, although donations are encouraged. All C.L.A.M happenings will raise funds for Indigenous Missing and Murdered Women and Girls, specifically for the Sovereign Bodies Institute, the creators of the MMIWG database. Sovereign Bodies Institute is dedicated to building on Indigenous traditions of data gathering and knowledge transfer to create, disseminate, and put into action research on gender and sexual violence against Indigenous people.
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