http://www.yourcier.org/news/how-cier-is-tackling-food-sovereignty
“People are starting to garden, who may have never gardened before, people are excited and have a lot of questions. This year, some people are growing carrots and potatoes for the first time.” – Kristy Anderson
As I explore infusing Indigenous education into my practice and building a sense of place even in online learning, home and community gardens often come to mind. The ability to learn, grow, experiment, observe and share opens up a world of learning through even a few potted garden plants.
I am a big fan of https://www.growingchefs.ca/ but have not found many resources on incorporating Indigenous education resources on food and gardening.
Food Studies 10 in the BC Curriculum has content requirements on
- First Peoples food protocols, including land stewardship, harvesting/gathering, food preparation and/or preservation, ways of celebrating, and cultural ownership
And I am curious to find what else is out there!
I think you have touched on one of the primary concerns that all of us should look at first and foremost with our students, and that is health. If our foundation is weak, nothing strong can be built on it. So targeting the issues around food sovereignty for our Indigenous youth is something that needs to be talked about more. My whole final assignment revolves around horticulture and Indigenization in the education realm, so I really enjoyed reading your blog!
You mentioned you could not find alot of resources on this topic…There is an amazing organization called “Fresh Roots” where they “cultivate educational farms and programs where students dig into meaningful connections with the land, food, and each other, inspiring communities to build just food systems.”
Ironically, my sister is supervising a project in Coquitlam right now, where my daughter will be volunteering with her next week, and my mom and I will be visiting soon to help lend a hand as well at the Coquitlam School District’s Aboriginal Education Department, where Fresh Roots is helping with the food system at Suwa’lkh School. I’ve added a couple of links, hope they are helpful 🙂
https://freshroots.ca/about/our-vision/
https://freshroots.ca/suwalkh/
Thank you so much! I hadn’t come across Fresh Roots yet.
Danika, thank you so much for bringing attention to food sovereignty! It’s an issue that intersects many others, including environmentalism, Indigeneity, and urban sustainability. Integrating gardening into curricula for young learners and beyond would undoubtedly be beneficial for them, especially because the activity has been empirically proven to improve mental health and well-being. The sooner we can introduce the practice to learners, the greater the reward in the long-run!