Community gardens a hit in remote First Nations

Fresh lettuce was available for the first time in Wawakapewin this summer.
“We were so excited because so many of our community members were actually able to access lettuce,” said Arlene Meekis, a Lakehead University student and former economic development officer in Wawakapewin. “We are a very remote community with no airstrip. Just depending on floatplane charters, you really have to be careful about what you bring in, so perishables are kind of low on the priority list.”
The lettuce was grown in a community garden along with a variety of other vegetables, such as carrots, onions, potatoes, as part of the community’s food procurement program.
“We plan to expand the program next year,” Meekis said. “It’s a pilot program, but I’m really excited with all the developments we’ve seen this year. It’s expanding the diet into things we have not previously had available to us.”
Meekis said processed foods are usually shipped to the community because it costs less to transport them.
“But it’s not nearly as healthy for us,” Meekis said, explaining the high sodium and high sugar content of processed foods contributes to diabetes and other diet related problems in the community.
Wawakapewin, Wapekeka and Kasabonika were involved in the pilot project developed by the Indigenous Health Group at the University of Ottawa in 2009. The project provides support for local food procurement initiatives, such as developing local community gardens and capacity for hunting, fishing and harvesting.
The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer and the Public Health Agency of Canada funded the project.
Meekis is looking forward to expanding the project next year to include home canning of fruits and traditional foods using mason-type jars, so the community is not so reliant on frozen food. The community once had a four-day power outage, which thawed out all their frozen food.
“We started on that this year with some jams and jellies,” Meekis said. “And next year we would like to ... can some fish, caribou and moose meat.”
Kasabonika also planted a community garden this year with potatoes, green onions, onions, tomatoes, strawberries, carrots, squash and cucumbers.
“We had lots of tomatoes, lots of potatoes, lots of green onions and lots of strawberries,” said Cathy Pemmican, a community prevention services worker in Kasabonika. “We didn’t think anything would come out of it, but it did. So now there is an interest; (community members) are talking about growing their own garden.”
The community also has a traditional food program, which involves the Elders preparing traditional foods and teaching youth preparation methods.
“They’re interested in the traditional program and traditional foods,” Pemmican said about the youth. “We need to preserve our culture.”
Wapekeka planted beans, sweet peas, carrots, onions, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, strawberries, parsley, potatoes and corn in their community garden.
“We took turns taking care of the garden,” said Chris Anderson, land and resource worker in Wapekeka. “Our Elders practiced gardening in their day, but we never picked it up.”
About a dozen people took part in the garden project, which was located on the west side of the community. They mixed black earth from near the community and store-bought fertilizer with the sandy soil to prepare it for seeding.
Many of the youth involved with the gardening project also started their own little gardens at home.
“This one little lady put beans, peas and sunflower seeds down there, and it turned out pretty good,” Anderson said.
Although community members only ate the vegetables they knew during the first harvest of the garden, they soon learned all the vegetables were good.
Kasabonika also has a traditional food program, which involves hunting by traditional hunters, sorting by women and distribution by youth once or twice a season.