Farm-to-School BC: Indigenous Foodscapes in Vancouver Public Schools

 

 

 

 

 

Project Summary

Purpose

Title: Indigenous Foodscapes: Growing native plant gardens in Vancouver schools

The Farm to School Vancouver Area (F2SVA) hub is seeking teams of students to contribute to the first phase of an “Indigenous Foodscapes” project being developed at nine schools across the City of Vancouver.

  • This project will require LFS350 students to accompany Lori Snyder (Metis herbalist, informal educator, and Indigenous Foodscapes Coordinator with F2SVA), teachers and K-12 students on a native plant tour at Vancouver schools. LFS students will record the tour through images, maps, videos and text, and compile these recording into a multimedia report. Students will also collect and record data regarding the status and needs of current and future native plant gardens at these schools. This will support the development of a matrix that will inform future funding allocation from Farm to School.

Areas of Focus

  • Farm-to-School
  • Indigenous foodscapes
  • K-12 education

Skills

  • Well-organized and attentive to detail
  • Able to analyze/synthesize large quantities of data and identify key themes
  • Some interest or experience in video or photography would be great

Location

  • All schools are located within the City of Vancouver (most are in East Vancouver, but some are more central or on the West side). Details with school specifics to be provided.
  • Orientation meeting will take place at the Vancouver Board of Education, ROOM 120 from 2-4pm on Monday, January 22.

Organization Information

Name

Farm to School BC - Vancouver Area Hub (F2SVA)

Mission + Vision

F2SBC Vision: Healthy, local and sustainable food on the plates and minds of all students in BC

F2SBC Mission: Working with communities and partners, Farm to School BC seeks to empower and support schools in building comprehensive Farm to School programs that support vibrant, sustainable, regional food systems, develop student food literacy and enhance school and community connectedness.

F2SBC Goals:

  1. Support the development of sustainable regional food systems in BC by bringing more healthy, local, and sustainable food into BC schools
  2. Promote healthy eating in schools by supporting the further development of healthy school food environments and fruit vegetable consumption
  3. Advance experiential, hands-on learning opportunities related to food systems and the development of student food literacy
  4. Enhance school and community connectedness
  5. Develop promising Farm to School practice models that are sustainable, self-financing, eco-friendly and have the potential to be implemented elsewhere.
  • Farm to School BC (F2SBC) is administered by the Public Health Association of BC

Guiding Principles + Values

Farm to School empowers students and school communities to make informed food choices while contributing to vibrant, sustainable regional food systems that support the health of people, place and planet. Farm to school programs differ by school, but always include one or more of the following:

  1. Healthy, Local Food: Schools source local food in a variety of ways, including through direct farmer relationships, food distributors, schoolyard farms, or the harvesting of wild or traditional foods. When local food arrives in schools it is often served in the form of a salad bar, hot lunch program, tasting activity, fundraiser, or community celebration.
  2. Hands-on Learning: Food literacy is a critically important component of Farm to School programs. Step into any school offering a Farm to School program and you will find students learning about food in the school garden, greenhouse, kitchen, lunchroom or classroom. They may also be getting ready for field trips to local farms, forests and shores.
  3. School & Community Connectedness: The most successful and sustainable Farm to School programs are built upon strong relationships. Schools establish relationships with farmers, community members, and support organizations, tapping into local knowledge passion, skills and resources.
  4. Sustainable Regional Food Systems: The Farm to School BC Network and movement is dedicated to supporting the development of sustainable regional food systems in British Columbia. Please refer to the short paper recently published by the BC Food Systems Network on Regional Food Economies to get a sense of what a regional food system entails.

Primary Contact

  • Contact Person(s): Samantha Gambling
  • Email: samanthagambling@gmail.com
  • Address: N/A
  • Phone: 604-652-3793
  • Website: farmtoschoolbc.ca
  • Best time(s) method(s) to contact: Email or call

Project Description

The Farm to School Vancouver Area (F2SVA) hub is seeking teams of students to contribute to the first phase of an “Indigenous Foodscapes” project being developed at nine schools across the City of Vancouver.

Funded by the Ministry of Health and City of Vancouver, the Indigenous Foodscapes project aims to bring native plants and traditional food knowledge into the minds, hearts and bellies of children and youth. Nine schools in the City of Vancouver will be funded to develop or expand a native plant garden school grounds, and to integrate that foodscape (as well as Indigenous ways of knowing, teaching and learning) into the curriculum and school community.

A foodscape is a physical space for growing food, as well as a cultural and social space for sharing, preparing, eating and learning about food. This may include native food gardens and forests, plants with cultural and medicinal uses, gathering spaces, outdoor classrooms, and other features. School teams may choose to build gardens, harvest, prepare and eat traditional foods, connect with elders and knowledge keepers, visit nearby traditional foodscapes, and more.

This project will require LFS350 students to accompany Lori Snyder (Metis herbalist, informal educator, and Indigenous Foodscapes Coordinator with F2SVA), teachers and K-12 students on a native plant tour at Vancouver schools. LFS students will record the tour through images, maps, videos and text, and compile these recording into a multimedia report. Students will also collect and record data regarding the status and needs of current and future native plant gardens at these schools. This will support the development of a matrix that will inform future funding allocation from Farm to School.

Goals of the Project

  • Develop high quality documentation of the tour that can be shared with funders, schools, and the public (to capture information such as: number of students involved, themes of knowledge shared, maps of native plant locations at each school, etc.)
  • Identify current native food assets on school grounds, as well as infrastructure gaps and required materials
  • Contribute to a matrix for all nine schools that compares current and required infrastructure, to support the allocation of future funding

This project will contribute to the first phase of our larger Indigenous Foodscapes project in the City of Vancouver. With the information collected and created by LFS350 students, the Farm to School team will be able to move forward in the development or expansion of native plant gardens and the integration of Indigenous foodscapes into the curriculum at these nine schools.

Skills Preferred + To Be Developed

  • Well-organized and attentive to detail
  • Able to analyze/synthesize large quantities of data and identify key themes
  • Some interest or experience in video or photography would be great

Preferred Days of Week and Hours

  • Students will be required to attend the tours (1.5-2 hours long, likely during school hours) in January or February. Dates are still being organized. Other than the specific tour, students can work on their own schedule.
  • Check-ins will be scheduled at the students’ convenience throughout the semester.

Project/Partner Orientation

Expected Outcomes

Learning Outcomes

  • I hope students will learn about… opportunities to incorporate Indigenous food systems (eg. native plant gardens) and ways of knowing into Vancouver schools
  • I think students will come to appreciate… learning with the teachers and students about our local food and medicine plants!
  • Students will develop a… deeper understanding of the steps to developing a native garden on school grounds, and both the existing assets and gaps in building Indigenous foodscapes in Vancouver schools

Organizational Outcomes

  • To gain a long-term partnership with LFS350 classes
  • To use the deliverables from this project to inform the allocation of funding during our Indigenous Foodscapes projects
  • To share some of our Indigenous Foodscapes activities with the public, the schools, and funders through deliverables from this project
source: https://wiki.ubc.ca/Course:LFS350/Projects/W2018/F2SIndFoodscapes