{"id":23605,"date":"2018-04-27T00:05:19","date_gmt":"2018-04-27T07:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hakaimagazine.com\/?post_type=custom_news&p=23605"},"modified":"2022-09-28T09:07:31","modified_gmt":"2022-09-28T16:07:31","slug":"local-food-as-medicine","status":"publish","type":"custom_news","link":"https:\/\/hakaimagazine.com\/news\/local-food-as-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Food as Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a Haida saying she\u2019s never forgotten: \u201cWhen the tide is low, the table is set.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jenny Cross grew up beside the Pacific Ocean in the village of Skidegate on Haida Gwaii, a remote archipelago off British Columbia\u2019s northwestern coast.\u00a0For Cross, like many Haida people, fishing and foraging for the wild foods that are abundant on the remote islands is a way of life. When the ocean recedes, they dig for razor clams. In the spring, they harvest and dry seaweed, and fish the rivers and streams for salmon. Haida women often gather in groups to pick huckleberries, blueberries, and thimbleberries, their fingers flying. Cross\u2019s mother passed down to her the knowledge of preserving wild foods, including canning salmon. In recent years, she\u2019s returned to her family\u2019s history of digging for butter clams. Today, Cross is sharing many of these traditions with younger generations through her work as an early-childhood educator.*<\/p>\n

Despite the suppressing effects of colonization and the legacy of the residential school system<\/a>, which ripped many First Nations children away from their communities, many Haida people keep their culture alive by fishing and foraging for traditional foods on the islands. According to Cross, traditional food is more than just sustenance for the Haida people. \u201cIt\u2019s medicine,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

In the early 1970s, traditional foods even showed up at the hospital in nearby Queen Charlotte, where Cross\u2019s aunt worked as a cook. \u201cFishermen brought fresh salmon and halibut into the hospitals,\u201d she recalls. But the practice didn\u2019t last.<\/p>\n

In the late 1970s, Haida foods disappeared from the menu at the islands\u2019 two hospitals: the Queen Charlotte\/Haida Gwaii General Hospital and the Northern Haida Gwaii Hospital and Health Centre in Masset. Today, patients are predominantly served reheated meals or food made from ingredients that\u2019ve been shipped seven hours by ferry from the mainland.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen our elders come to the hospital, they\u2019re lonely,\u201d Cross says. \u201cTo eat food they aren\u2019t accustomed to\u2014grocery store food\u2014adds to the lonely feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Haida<\/a>

Marina Jones, a Haida elder, is involved with the food gathering and preparation for the new hospital food program. Photo courtesy of Shelly Crack<\/p><\/div>\n

But the 40-year run of feeding patients frozen meals is about to change. Starting on June 21, the hospitals will take a significant step toward bringing traditional food into the healthcare system. The hospital in Queen Charlotte will soon dedicate one percent of its monthly food budget to purchasing local foods, including berries, vegetables, and venison, directly from foragers and farmers. In addition, Haida Wild, a Haida-owned and operated fish processing plant, will donate fresh, locally harvested salmon and halibut.<\/p>\n

Shelly Crack, a registered dietitian with Northern Health in Masset, is one of the organizers behind the new project. \u201cWe\u2019re going back to scratch: in-house cooking and traditional foods,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

But changing the hospital\u2019s food system is no easy task, she says. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to change the system on a small-scale\u00a0\u2026\u00a0and eventually ramp it up.\u201d The trial is part of a larger project, called Nourish<\/a>, that\u2019s working to change the food practices and policies at healthcare institutions nationwide.<\/p>\n

One of the major concerns, and potential challenges, is ensuring food safety. But Crack and her team have worked closely with an environmental health officer to develop safety plans for locally harvested and foraged foods.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone picks huckleberries, for example, we record who picked them and when,\u201d explains Crack. \u201cWe then process the berries in a food-safe kitchen, freeze them, and give them a batch number, which we can track. We can do that with all of the foods, including mushrooms, farmed foods, berries, venison, and fish.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Northern Haida Gwaii Hospital and Health Centre, the goal is to move entirely away from serving reheated meals to cooking from scratch. Once a month, patients and staff will share in a traditional meal of fish, vegetables, and venison.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to show other communities that it\u2019s possible to serve local, sustainable food\u2014and that it can be safe and cost-effective,\u201d Crack says.<\/p>\n

As for Cross, she\u2019s confident the project will be well received by hospital patients. \u201cWhen traditional foods are served, it\u2019s soul food. You say mmm <\/em>when you eat from the ocean, because it nourishes and feeds your spirit,\u201d she says. \u201cIt makes you stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

*Correction: The previous two paragraphs were updated for clarity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a Haida saying she\u2019s never forgotten: \u201cWhen the tide is low, the table is set.\u201d Jenny Cross grew up beside the Pacific Ocean in the village of Skidegate on Haida Gwaii, a remote archipelago off British Columbia\u2019s northwestern coast.\u00a0For <\/p>\n

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