Engaging the community through food systems initiatives
April 22, 2025 – Two projects co-led by LFS received 2024-25 Community-University Engagement Support (CUES) funding. They are among 30 newly funded CUES projects that support faculty, staff and students in their community-engaged scholarship.
Katherine Aske, Practicum Lead at UBC Farm, is partnering with Little Mountain Neighbourhood House Society (LMNHS) on a project titled Growing Food and Community Together: A UBC Farm and Little Mountain Neighbourhood House Partnership. Their project focuses on enhancing collaboration between LMNH and UBC Farm to support impactful student learning opportunities through engagement in local food security initiatives focused on decolonization.
The project involves a series of activities designed to foster student skill development by way of reciprocal exchanges between LMNHS and UBC Farm partners, collaboration with sniw̓ Indigenous consultants and the Musqueam Nation, guidance from Master Gardeners, and engagement with community partners. Planned activities include redesigning the Learning Garden at Riley Park to work alongside community members to return culturally and ecologically important plant species and engaging with the land in ways that reflect Indigenous land practices.
Dr. Eduardo Jovel, Director of the Centre for Indigenous Land-Based Education, Research, and Wellness at xwci̓cə̓səm, will continue to partner with Musqueam Indian Band. Their project is called Spindling Food Sovereignty, Land-based Wellness, and Land Stewardship at Musqueam and xwc̓icə̓səm. This partnership seeks to enhance access to health and affordable food for people facing food insecurity through various initiatives.
To achieve their goal, they plan to deliver health and wellness workshops that provide opportunities to learn about traditional medicines, food preparation, and nutritional literacy. They will also offer medicine walking, medicine-making workshops and tours to introduce community members to healthy land-based activities and build skills in land stewardship.
Both projects received $25,000 in CUES funding, which, unlike traditional funding, is paid directly to community partners, ensuring that historically, persistently, and systemically marginalized communities can access the resources they need to collaborate meaningfully with UBC.