Interior Indigenous Food Forum allows for important conversations

October 23, 2023

Interior Health employees and the First Nations community gathering at Arbour in Tk’emlups te Secwépemc in September.

From canning and preservation, to learning about medicinal tea from Secwépemc Elders and the importance of climate change, Indigenous leaders from within Interior Health and First Nation communities came together for important conversations at this year’s Interior Region Indigenous Food Forum at the Arbour in Tk’emlups te Secwépemc in September.

Interior Region Indigenous Food Forum 2023: Summary Report

“One of the biggest things is there are a lot of grassroots folks doing this work in community on any end of the Indigenous food system, so it could be harvesting, could be canning, could be community gardening,” noted Interior Health’s Corporate Director of Aboriginal Health & Wellness Kris Murray, who helped organize this year’s two-day event. “Lots of those folks don’t get the opportunity to talk to other communities doing this work, so we had interest from [them] to do this.”

In this Story…

Tea making with traditional plants & berries

Keeping It local

Climate change

Tea making with traditional plants & berries

A group of people in blue shirts that say "event staff" have fun posing for a picture while seated on wooden bleachers. — The Aboriginal Partnership team at the 2023 Indigenous Food Forum.

Among the four learning stations, which also included a grant-writing session, LaVerna Stevens led the Tea Making with Traditional Plants & Berries session. She was opening people’s eyes to the possibilities and benefits of using traditional plant in teas for healing purposes.

“Some of them are good for sore throats like the Rat Root,” she noted. “The calming ones are mint tea. The Bear Root will calm.”

Keeping It local

Tk’emlups te Secwépemc Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir says sourcing out local and traditional foods is maybe more important than ever.

“We’ve definitely seen a huge rise in the importance of being able to pass on that knowledge since COVID,” said Casimir, who made a guest appearance at the forum. “During COVID, we’ve seen a lot of the impacts in food shortages, but it was also looking at opportunities to get back to the land - growing more of the produce, more of the vegetables locally.”

She says it can be the source of essential vitamins and nutrients we all need.

Three people holding plates of food in a buffet line. — Dinner on the opening night of the 2023 Indigenous Food Forum.

Climate change

Climate change was also a big topic of conversations, which came on the heels of Interior Health unveiling its new Climate Change Roadmap.

The new roadmap outlines the organization's commitment to greener practices and becoming a community leader in reducing greenhouse gases.

“Interior Health is working with communities, local governments, Aboriginal partners and others to prepare for climate change,” noted Interior Health’s Lead for Climate Change & Health Kady Hunter. “That could mean preparing for and responding to extreme heat or wildfires, but it also about understanding what our health risks are associated with climate change now and into the future.”

Learn more Interior Health's Climate Change Roadmap

The 2023 event was the second annual, third in the last two decades, Indigenous Food Forum and planning for the fourth event is already underway.