FOOD SECURITY STRATEGY DRAFT
2.1.3 Indigenous Food Sovereignty The BC Centre for Disease Control (BC CDC) note that “Indigenous food sovereignty (IFS) is an essential aspect of addressing food security and food insecurity; however IFS is not defined [as] … Indigenous partners have indicated that a definition cannot adequately capture the nuances of IFS, and that IFS must be discussed in the context of actions and systems change.”21 The Food Security Strategy recognizes the importance of supporting Indigenous Nations, organizations, and individuals in pursuing their own priorities as they relate to Indigenous food sovereignty and food security. In Penticton, Indigenous food sovereignty and food security is promoted in a number of ways by the Okanagan Nation Alliance22 and Penticton Indian Band, with related research and education being carried out by the En’owkin Centre.23 Two examples of such initiatives include Bringing the Salmon Home: The Columbia River Salmon Reintroduction Initiative24 and Penticton Indian Band’s community garden.25 Food insecurity is a challenge for a number of About Penticton Indian Band’s Community Indigenous people living in Garden Penticton. Ooknakane Friendship Centre provides • Penticton Indian Band has had a one-acre meals to Indigenous people community garden for 15 years. The garden living in Penticton who brings different generations together to share require food security food and work together in the garden. It also support. The community provides fresh food for anyone in the survey undertaken as part community who needs it. They have of this project received commercial kitchens where they do canning responses from Indigenous after the harvest. The garden particularly people. Some noted that supports Elders, many of also serves as a they faced food security platform to initiate conversations about the challenges due to the cost importance of fresh food and healthy diet. of food, inability to grow their own food due to lack of access to land, and challenges being able to practice traditional hunting and gathering practices. Due to the relatively low number of responses from Indigenous participants, further research in this area would be valuable. Considerable research has been done on the importance of the ability of Indigenous people to connect to traditional foods. The executive director of the Okanagan Nation Draft website materials, developed by the BC Centre for Disease Control, July 29th, 2021. Refer to https://www.syilx.org/about-us/syilx-nation/food-sovereignty/ for more information. 23 For more information about En’owkin Centre, refer to https://www.enowkincentre.ca/. 24 Refer to https://columbiariversalmon.ca/ for more information. 25 For more information, refer to: http://pib.ca/?page_id=917. Information on the community garden provided by Terry Terbasket, garden coordinator. 21
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