The hidden power of food: Finding value in what we eat

November 23, 2017

In Canada we waste about a third of the food we produce. And yet four million Canadians experience food insecurity. In partnership with the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph, we hear from Dawn Morrison whose work focuses on Indigenous food sovereignty and Bryan Gilvesy, a long-horn cattle rancher who puts sustainability first. Part 2 of a 2-part series.

If you can feed yourself, if you can grow your own food and gather your own food, that gives you the power to be self-governing. There’s an inherent power to know you are safe.– Kitty R. Lynn Lickers, Six Nations of the Grand River

Beyond the basic nutrients and calories we ingest, there’s a hidden power behind the foods we consume.

Dawn Morrison has been working with Indigenous communities across the country for the past decade to understand concepts around Indigenous food systems and food sovereignty. One of the things that comes up repeatedly as a theme is the power of food in fostering relationships.  “We’ve never stopped observing the deep understanding of the way we relate to the food and one another,” says Dawn Morrison. “That power — that’s the basis of our economy. Ours is a giving economy. In ecology there’s a reciprocal relationship. It starts with giving to the land.”
 

Guests in this episode:

  • Dawn Morrison is of Secwepemc ancestry and she is the director of the Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty Over the last 10 years she’s worked on for Indigenous food sovereignty research, including decolonizing research and relationships, and the Wild Salmon Caravan.
  • Bryan Gilvesy is a farmer and owner of the award winning Y U Ranch, producing grassfed beef in Norfolk County, Ontario. He is also CEO of ALUS Canada, a cross-Canada community-led environmental program and he serves as an executive in residence at the Ivey School of Business.
  • Evan Fraser is the director of the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph. He holds a Canada Research Chair in Global Food Security.

You can fin the interview in the CBC website by following this link

 

WGIFS Decolonizing Research and Relationships

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

The Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty has consistently held the space since 2006 for the generation of a body of knowledge within food systems discourse, that shines a light on the myriad ways that Indigenous hunting, fishing and gathering societies are persisting into the 21st century. While they are among some of the most sustainable adaptation strategies of humanity, Indigenous hunting, fishing and gathering societies have been made invisible in agri-food system research and “development” throughout the process of colonization. This podcast conversation between Dawn Morrison and Tammy Lea Meyer identifies some key points of entry into a journey of better understanding ways to decolonizing research and relationships in support of more deep and meaningful truth and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in the land and food system.

https://soundcloud.com/tammyleameyer/wgifs-decolonizing-research-and-relationships

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