Once a month a group of students, faculty and staff come together and harvest produce at the Institute for Aboriginal Health Garden at the UBC Farm, and then prepare a community meal together at the UBC longhouse. This event is funded by a Healthy Workplace Initiative Program Grant and is hosted by the Institute for Aboriginal Health and the First Nations House of Learning.
The meal incorporates traditional indigenous foods and promotes the importance of locally grown food in healthy eating and disease prevention. The Feast Bowl’s mandate is to promote the concept of food as medicine and to help people recognize how important food is to health and nutrition. It empowers people to incorporate local, in-season fruits and vegetables into their diets that can help prevent chronic illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes that are so prevalent amongst Aboriginal peoples.
The monthly event brings students, faculty, community, and staff together and creates a sense of community among Feast Bowl participants and the Aboriginal community at UBC. Participants get a chance to experience harvesting fresh vegetables from the ground and then learn how to cook nutritious meals together in a community kitchen.
Promoting food sovereignty and solidarity for the Aboriginal community at UBC is vital, and the Feast Bowl gives people the tools they need to be in control of how they interact with food, and what they put into their bodies. Not only are new friendships formed, but also new skills and methods for fostering healthy and reciprocal relationships with the food we eat.
For more information, to volunteer, or to join the garden mailing list please contact Hannah Lewis at hannahhortonlewis@gmail.com.