Cambridge food bank gets regional grant for Indigenous garden programs

CAMBRIDGE— The Cambridge Self-Help Food Bank got a $50,000 grant from the Region of Waterloo to develop Indigenous programs at a garden at the Rare Charitable Research Reserve.

“It provides an incredible learning opportunity for people in the community,” said Siobhan Bonisteel, food procurement and development manager at the food bank.

The Cambridge food bank already has a large 30,000-square-foot garden at Rare that helps supply fresh produce for those in need.

The grant money will go toward an expanded garden planted with food grown by Indigenous people prior to colonization, including corn, beans, varieties of squash, berries, sunflowers and ceremonial plants including tobacco.

“It’s targeting a really incredible food crop that is underutilized and undervalued,” Bonisteel said.

The garden will show food bank clients how to grow, prepare and store these foods through related programming. It will also create a space for Indigenous people to connect with the land and their heritage. “It’s a move toward reconciliation,” said food bank executive director Cameron Dearlove.

The Healing of the Seven Generations, a centre that welcomes all First Peoples in the region and surrounding areas, will use the garden to host programs. “This is going to be a very sacred space for us,” said Rebecca Sargent, grant and research coordinator.

Sargent said it’s great news for the organization, which is headquartered in downtown Kitchener and has no opportunity for land-based healing that members want. “Our community has been crying out for this type of programming,” she said.