Funding helps Williams Lake Métis community support food security

April 14, 2026

Marlene Swears, president, Cariboo Chilcotin Métis Association (CCMA), prepares food for canning. CAFI funding is supporting the CCMA's canning program and activities such as harvesting traditional medicines and plants with an Elder's guidance..

Access to healthy, affordable food is on many people’s minds as costs continue to rise. For communities across the Interior Health (IH) region—especially rural, remote and Indigenous communities—these challenges can be even greater. Yet these same communities continue to show strength, innovation and deep care for one another.

Community Food Action Initiative (CFAI) is a health promotion program designed to improve food security by supporting community-led projects, such as community gardens, kitchens and food cooperatives. CFAI is a flexible funding initiative to support rural, remote and Indigenous partners’ food security priorities.

CFAI funding supports programs, on-the-land activities

Cariboo Chilcotin Métis Association (CCMA) is a Chartered Métis Community located in Williams Lake, and is one of the organizations that receives CFAI funding. The funding is used to support community-driven food security priorities.

A person wearing a grey hoodie and hair tied back prepares beets for canning at a table covered in a red tablecloth. — Dawna Short, Métis Women's North Central representative and family support worker, helps prepare jars for canning.

In the IH region, one of the ways that public health dietitians support communities is through CFAI funding. The IH public health dietitian team recently spoke with Marlene Swears and Dawna Short of CCMA. They shared how CAFI funding is helping them grow their food security work in ways that reflect local knowledge, culture and community needs.

One of their proudest achievements is their canning program. What started in a rented kitchen has grown into regular workshops in their new space, where members learn water‑bath and pressure canning, and share stories, skills and excitement about trying new techniques.

The canning program has been one of our successes. Some of the ladies that have learned canning with us, and it’s their hobby now. They’ve gone forward and they carry it in their everyday life now.

-- Dawna Short, family support worker, CCMA

CFAI funding has also supported on‑the‑land activities, including harvesting traditional medicines and plants with guidance from an Elder. Indoors, new plant growing lights have expanded possibilities during long northern winters, allowing members to start their own seedlings and grow food year‑round.

Looking ahead, CCMA hopes to offer more regular programming and eventually add raised garden beds to continue expanding their food security work. Their efforts reflect what many communities across the IH region are doing—drawing on local strengths, culture and connection to support one another and build resilience in the face of rising food costs and ongoing climate impacts.