Food is Medicine: Nation Community Gardens and Traditional Food Systems

March 11, 2025

​We are halfway through our “Food is Medicine” Month Wellness Campaign and we have he​ard from some amazing and innovative community food sovereignty and food security leaders throughout BC.

We kick off our campaign on March 5, with our first of a three-part innovative food security and foo​​d sovereignty webinar series. In collaboration with the Indigenous Sport and Recreation Council (I-SPARC) we hosted Jacob Beaton, a Tea Creek Indigenous food sovereignty leader. Click here to read more about Tea Creek and steps to watch the trailer and full documentary.

Our second webinar in the serie​s welcomed and honored special guests from the Nuu-chah-nulth Youth Warrior Family Society. They shared with us their warrior model, led and guided by youth in creating consistent and safe spaces within community for healing, cultural reconnection and sharing their skills and stories. For more information, their website is: www.warriortoolkit.com.

For the final web​inar in the series we are pleased to welcome two community Food is Medicine Wellness Champions, Amanda Hunt-Pyle, Kwakiutl Community Garden an​​​d​​ Traditional Food Systems, and Janet Romain, Stellat’en Shunk’et Garden.

Kwakiutl Community Garden and Traditional Food Systems

This presentation will feature the Kwakiutl Community Garden and Traditional Food System work. Amanda will share about their community garden throughout the years and what it looks like to grow in an unheated greenh​ouse on the coast. g̲ilakas’la Nugaum.

Stellat’en’s Shunk’et Garden

For the past 13 years, the Stellat’en Health Team has grown a large community garden for the benefit of the whole community. In recent years, Stellat’en has expanded garden operations to include a rootcellar, and the addition of 60 garden boxe​s in Nation members backyards, providing fresh fruits, vegetables and good medicine to the whole community. Janet has worked with Stellat’en First Nation for the last 13 years as the food sovereignty coordinator and will speak to her work with the Nation.

Virtual Q&A

Come join us for a conversation with Amanda and Janet on their Nations’ community gardens and traditional food systems work. This is your opportunity to ask questions and begin or continue your own Food is Medicine journey!​

Zoom Link to Join:

The webinar is March 12 at no​​on.

Register through the individual Z​oom link provided below. Registration is required, and the event information will be sent via email upon registration. If you have questions about registration, please contact food@isparc.ca .

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZclfuitqzoqHNCN-AMvTbhp1HLjMLb6AHtP​​

We encourage you and your families to try new foods, create new recipes, and enjoy spending time with loved ones to nourish your wholistic wellbeing.​

Here are some additional ideas for this month’s Food is Medicine Wellness Challenge:​

• Try one of the delicious recipes from the FNHA’s and Indigenous Sports Activity and Recreation Council’s (I-SPARC’s) Food is Medicine Cookbook. Post your creation on social media and tag us @FNHA or share it here.
• ​Sit with an Elder or knowledgeable community member and learn more about the traditional foods and medicines in your territory, and how to harvest them in a good way.
• Eat more fruit, vegetables and wild berries. Frozen fruits and vegetables are just as healthy as fresh foods and are often cost-effective and accessible.
• Take part in harvesting activities on the land, such as fishing, hunting, trapping and canning. Check out FNHA’s Traditional Food Fact Sheet and the Canning Guide for wise practices and helpful tips!
• Read (and listen to!) FNHA’s newest publication explores how traditional foods, medicines, nutrition and food security are common themes to First Nations communities across all five regions of British Columbia. The Common Language Project Report 2023, is grounded in a wholistic approach to health and wellness and delves into how food is relational to First Nations people.

Wishing everyone a mindful March full of nutritious food and good medicine! We look forward to seeing you on March 12 for the final Virtual Webinar for this year’s “Food is Medicine” Wellness Campaign!

NT5