Community Partner: Punjabi Market Collective
Student Researchers:
Amrit Sanghera
Desiree Gabriel (she/hers) is a Filipina born and raised on the traditional and never surrendered lands of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ (hun-ki-meen-um) language group such as the Musqueam Nation in so-called Richmond, B.C. She is a M.Sc student in the Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems program at UBC, and may or may not have been influenced to develop her career towards the right to food for all due to being raised in an affordable, nourishing, and culturally relevant (but gentrifying) foodscape in her hometown. She lives near Himalayas Restaurant in Richmond and grew up eating their affordable samosas and desserts!
This project was created in partnership with the Punjabi Market Collective after discussing their priority to build recognition of the rich history and current community in the neighbourhood to preserve Punjabi Market. Our aim is to mobilize community members that live, work, and gather in the neighbourhood to build people power and momentum. We believe that gathering narratives from the community and consolidating them will highlight the importance of the neighbourhood to policy makers and funders. To do so, we decided to conduct a three step process: conduct interviews with Punjabi Market community members, host an arts-based workshop, and build a community resource in the form of a zine (a little booklet of information or art). Since the date of writing this bio (December 2024), we outlined event details, conducted one interview, and have created a draft of the zine. This project will continue into March 2025, when Punjabi Market Collective hosts an event to commemorate the opening of a Plaza, and we hope you can make it there!