Learning For, with and About Food
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Issue 3 • LearnIng about, for, and wIth food • wInter 2015 A COMMUNITY JOURNAL ON PLACE, LAND, AND LEARNING www.landandlivingskies.ca OF LAND & LIVING SKIES: A Community Journal on Place, ENVISAGE en·vis·age [en-viz-ij] 1. to form a mental image of; visualize; contemplate Land, and Learning is a partnership between SaskOutdoors, 2. to conceive of as a possibility in the future; foresee A COMMUNITY JOURNAL ON PLACE, LAND, AND LEARNING the Sustainability Education Research Institute (SERI) with the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Education, and the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina. Of Land LEARNING FOR, ABOUT, AND WITH FOOD & Living Skies is a community journal where theory and BY KAREN MCIVER, EDITOR practice merge, becoming a space for dialogue within the “There should be a garden in every school” said Dr. Vandana are getting sick from living their traditional ways of life; by fields of environmental and sustainability education, and Shiva in Regina this October. I smiled with delight because the hunting and fishing. She grew up near the location of the focusing on research, policy, and community practices, as day prior to her talk my students and I just finished tilling a Alberta tarsands and writes in her article, “People no longer well as inspiring action. site for a school garden that we will be planting in the spring. feel safe to harvest traditional medicines, teas or berries But why was I so happy to hear her say this? because they have become contaminated.” Our human impact Issue 4 • Youth envIronmentaL actIvIsm • summer 2015 For me, and many others in the field of Environmental on the more-than-human world has not only made us more A COMMUNITY JOURNAL ON PLACE, LAND, AND LEARNING Education, we understand the act of eating is political or vulnerable to disease and illnesses but has also impacted how as our Research from the Field article states, “eating is an we can heal ourselves. environmental act.” We are concerned about the many social and environmental issues that are connected to eating, and Each aspect of the focusing on food in our educational experiences is something that we can do as educators, students, and activists, to make production and consumption a difference. Saskatchewan is an ideal place to focus on education for, of food can be linked to about, and with food as the entire southern part of our province NEXT ISSUES COVER IMAGE ARTIST: is considered to be in the “grain belt” of Canada making us one a subject area within the MARCIA MCKENZIE Youth Environmental Activism of the largest grain producers around the world. According to Marcia McKenzie is an Associate Professor in Published Spring, 2015 Submissions due February 2015. the World Watch Institute, “Transporting food is one of the Saskatchewan curriculum. Educational Foundations at the University of fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions…each Saskatchewan. She is Director of the Sustainability Wandering/Wondering year, 817 million tons of food are shipped around the planet” Recently, many organizations and schools have been con- Education Research Institute (SERI) and the Project Published Fall, 2015 Submissions due August 2015. (taken from http://www.ceeonline.org/greenguide/food/upload/ necting food to curriculum. This issue of Of Land and Liv- environmenthealth.aspx). The distance that food has to travel ing Skies: A Community Journal on Place, Land, and Learning Director of the Sustainability and Education Policy to get to our plate is called “Food miles”. However, growing and describes some of those organizations doing this work. Little Network (SEPN). She initiated the offering of two www.landandlivingskies.ca for the Call for Submissions for harvesting food, in addition to processing, storing, the way we Green Thumbs is written about on page 5 and describes support courses for undergraduate and graduate students called our future issues shop, and agricultural practices used also contribute to climate for educators to grow gardens within their classrooms. Sask- Place and Critical Eco-pedagogies, often offered as a Editor: Karen McIver change. Each aspect of the production and consumption of Outdoors supported the Core Neighborhood Youth Coop (CNYC) summer institute. One of the days is spent on a bicycle Inquiries: [email protected] food – from “field to fork” – can be linked to a subject area in Saskatoon to go on a camping trip where they discussed tour of various community gardens in Saskatoon. The Advisory editors: Audrey Aamodt, Valerie Triggs, within the Saskatchewan curriculum. the idea of animal and plant rights. Adam Hering created an above picture is from this experience. In addition to a focus on agriculture due to the physical activity using the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but Marcia McKenzie geography of Saskatchewan, the northern third of the province replaced each occurrence of the word “person” with the name Publisher: SaskOutdoors is part of the Precambrian Shield, an area perfect for hunting, of an animal. He shares this activity with us on pages 7-9. Design and Layout: Tania Wolk, GoGiraffeGo fishing, and trapping. Saskatchewan has over 10,000 lakes CHEP is an organization in Saskatoon bringing together Thank you to this issue’s funders: Printed on 100% Recycled Paper providing habitat for many plants and animals. community and schools to produce food. Their main goal is to Recently, David Suzuki went on a cross Canada speaking improve access to good food. Katie Suek describes the CHEP tour called the “Blue Dot Tour”. The goal of the tour is to Backyard Garden Program on pages 10 and 11. The Regina fight for Canadians’ right for clean air, clean water, and clean Public Interest Research Group (RPIRG) started up a Green Patch soil. David Suzuki said, “Coast to coast to coast, there is a on campus at the University of Regina. The article by Lucas united movement that is building towards a day when every Fagundes on page 12 allows us think about post-secondary Canadian’s right to live in a healthy environment is recognized campus sustainability, and how campus’ can contribute to www.SaskOutdoors.org at every level of government.” What a wonderful vision for community well-being. environmental educators to keep in mind as we teach and learn Our Research from the Field article (p. 14-22) written by about food. Food provides an easy way for us to connect social Jolie Mayer-Smith and Linda Peterat reviews over ten years of issues to environmental issues in our communities. research on food and environmental education. They worked As Melina Laboucan-Massimo states in the Towards with the Intergenerational ... CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 ... College of Education Decolonization section of the journal, people in her homelands www.seri.usask.ca www.uregina.ca/education OF LAND & LIVING SKIES WINTER 2015 WINTER 2015 OF LAND & LIVING SKIES 1 CONTENTS DIALOGUE di·a·logue [dahy-uh-lawg, -log] 1. conversation between two or more people 2. an exchange of opinions on a particular subject; discussion to traditional foods was limited. Processed and imported foods replaced wild meat, fish, fowl and berries and food security became FEATURES REGULARS LEttERS a significant concern. Many OCN members living on reserve live well below the poverty level. Over 65% of the community is diabetic 1 EnvIsage Learning About, For, and With Food. What with many medically categorized as obese. Most rely on medication PLACE PRACTICE KAREN MCIVER a great issue theme! In this age of urban sprawl, apps and packaged to treat diabetes and other chronic illnesses. Of the 5700 band 5 LIttLe green thumbs goods, knowing about what we eat is almost a lost art. And what members, only approximately 20 are over the age of 68. BY RICK BLOCK 3 DIALOGUE could be more important than understanding and appreciating what (see the back cover for details of how the community came a profile of an organization that provides garden-based education to we eat? Thirty years ago, very few people did not have a connection together to address these impacts) students in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, and Newfoundland 4 contrIbutors to a farm in Saskatchewan. If you did not come from one, your parents or grandparents did. Today, a couple generations later, by Dr. Alex Wilson CURRICULUM BROUGHT to LIFE 14 SnaPshot many children do not even know where milk comes from, let alone DUSTIN BAJER 7 All I ProvIded was the Idea the chicken on their plate. Being able to run to the supermarket BY ADAM HERING Thanks for the feedback. Keep the conversation going by and buying packaged ham or sliced bread is definitely hassle-free, an experiential activity using modifications of the universal declaration 17 poems sending your thoughts, reactions, ideas, or anything else to but does nothing for our understanding of raising pigs or growing [email protected] of human rights to discuss animal welfare ANita VERLANGEN wheat. At Motherwell Homestead National Historic Site, we have COMMUNITY TRACES 21 TeachIngs from the north been trying to re-connect people and their food. Through a variety 10 urban agrIcuLture InternshIP DR. HERMAN MICHELL of programs based on the Field to Fork concept, school groups and LEARNING FOR, ABOut, AND WIth FOOD... BY Katie SUEK visitors have a chance to garden, clean the pig pen, hold chickens, ... CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 ... Landed Learning Program an overview of a community education project focused on growing food 32 resources milk cows and bake bread from freshly milled flour. Believe me, it which is a school-community food garden initiative in in Saskatoon for profit is hard to describe the wonder and fascination of children the first Vancouver. They share with us the different types of learning time they see a cow being milked, or gingerly gather the egg from found within the food garden setting.