Yemina Goldberg, FUTURES Activation Project

For many of us, getting groceries feels like a simple part of everyday life. Get on the bus or subway. Go to the store, pick up what you need, and head home.

But what happens when getting to the grocery store isn’t simple?

For FUTURES alumna Yemina Goldberg, the connection between Disability, public transportation, and food access became the focus of her Activation Project. Originally developed as a school assignment, Yemina decided to bring the work into the Disability community through an AccessNow Studio blog post.

Growing up with cerebral palsy, accessible transportation is something Yemina has experienced firsthand. She is also passionate about food and is studying nutrition science with a minor in disability studies. Her project brings these interests together by examining how public transportation affects food access for Disabled people in Toronto.

When transportation becomes an accessibility issue

Public transportation can be an essential part of independent living.

Some people don’t drive, or don’t have a car. For them, transit is often the main way to reach work, school, appointments, and grocery stores.

Yemina’s research highlights how this can be particularly significant for Disabled people. While many TTC subway stations and bus stops are accessible, accessibility isn’t experienced equally across Toronto. Her research points to differences between downtown and suburban communities, including longer walks and wait times in areas such as Scarborough, North York, and Etobicoke.

And getting to a transit stop is only part of the journey.

A broken elevator can prevent someone from reaching a subway platform. An overcrowded bus may not have enough room for a mobility device. Snow and ice can make sidewalks impossible to navigate. Even when a transit station is technically accessible, the distance between the station and a grocery store can create another barrier.

The grocery store isn’t always just around the corner

Yemina’s project explores how these transportation barriers can directly affect access to food.

Food access isn’t simply about whether food exists somewhere in a city. It also involves whether someone has the physical and economic ability to get to that food and bring it home.

For some people, Wheel-Trans plays an essential role in accessing grocery stores. But Yemina’s research also names the problems. Rides must be booked in advance. Pickups are not always on time. Shopping has to fit around a scheduled return.

Other options aren’t always accessible either.

Grocery delivery can be convenient but expensive. Smaller stores may be easier to navigate but can cost more. Food banks can provide important support, but accessibility and dietary needs can still create barriers.

These aren’t simply inconveniences. They can affect someone’s independence, health, time, money, and quality of life.

What can we change?

Yemina doesn’t just identify the problem. Her project also considers what could be done differently.

Her recommendations include improving bus stop accessibility, adding benches and shelters, prioritizing snow clearing, reconsidering certain Wheel-Trans policies, and making transit tracking more accessible to screen reader users.

At the heart of her project is a simple but important idea: transportation is part of food access.

When we talk about food security, we also need to talk about how people physically get to food.

When we talk about accessible transportation, we need to think about where that transportation takes people, and whether they can actually reach the places they need to go.

Bringing the conversation to the Disability community

Yemina originally created this work for school. Through her FUTURES Activation Project, she is taking it a step further by sharing it with the Disability community.

Her project demonstrates the power of bringing lived experience, research, and advocacy together.

Toronto has made progress in the physical accessibility of its transit network, but as Yemina’s work shows, there are still significant barriers to address.

Accessible cities aren’t just cities where people can get from Point A to Point B.

They’re cities where people can get to the grocery store, access healthy food, maintain their independence, and participate fully in their communities.

And that’s a conversation worth continuing.

Read more about FUTURES Intensives.

You can also read what 60 Disabled and neurodivergent young adults taught us about leadership.

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Apply to FUTURES

FUTURES is a free leadership program for Disabled and neurodivergent young people in Canada, ages 18 to 30.

Every participant builds their own activation project, like the one you just read about.

The October Intensives run twice a week for six weeks. Same program as Core, compressed.

Registration closes Sunday, October 18, the day before the cohort starts.

Apply to the FUTURES October Intensives

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