Squamish Nation: Strengthening food sovereignty and community food programs
Ayás Méńmen Child and Family Services collaborated with Growcer to bring a 40-foot container garden (pictured above) on site.
Project at a Glance
- Installed in May 2021 and located in Squamish Nation.
- Project goal: Increase access to healthy food and strengthen the region’s food sovereignty.
- Distribution model: The fresh greens are shared with Squamish Nation families and used in programming by Ayás Méńmen Child and Family Services, such as their youth centre, Smeḵw'ú7ts (Food Sharing) Community Kitchen and S7ílhen (Food) Pantry.
- Impact: The container garden unlocks year-round growing for Ayás Méńmen and builds on their medicine garden and community kitchen.
- Operator: Operated by its own team made up of one team leader and four food program assistants.
“Creating a sustainable healthy source of produce and increasing food sovereignty has long been a goal for the Squamish Nation, and Growcer is another piece of the puzzle.”
THE NEED FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY
Since 2014, Ayás Méńmen Child and Family Services has 19 garden boxes set up outside of their office where they grow fruit and vegetables and a traditional medicine garden. The garden also serves as a site for traditional teaching.
All these projects tie into building the food sovereignty of the community, but the coronavirus pandemic coupled with the California wildfires sounded the alarms for longer term solutions among the community.
With limited space on site, they had to get creative.
ADDING A CONTAINER GARDEN
Ayás Méńmen Child and Family Services collaborated with Growcer to bring a 40-foot container garden on site. The space-efficient container garden unlocks year-round growing and is automated to provide full environmental control.
Ayás Méńmen Child and Family Services’s Growcer container garden on its way.
“So, when we looked at this option of the hydroponic farm and saw that it's the size of a shipping container, we thought, ‘that's pretty cool.’ It comes with all the equipment you need inside there. And, you can get it set up and within five to six weeks you are ready to make your first harvest and it yields approximately 450 heads of produce per week. That's a lot,” Kelley McReynolds, director of Ayás Méńmen Child and Family Services, told North Shore News during their project launch.
Produce from the new farm is shared with families in Squamish Nation. Produce is also used in programming by Ayás Méńmen, such as their youth centre, the Smeḵw'ú7ts (Food Sharing) Community Kitchen and S7ílhen (Food) Pantry. The community kitchen will be a space where families can come together and cook meals once a week, and the pantry allows community members to access any food supplies they need.
The space-efficient container garden unlocks growing year-round.
RIPPLE EFFECT FOR COMMUNITY
“I have this vision of us being able to do a Friday night or Saturday afternoon market where we can have the fresh produce, we can have music, we can maybe have food trucks and we can gather together,” McReynolds continued. “I just think it's just a great opportunity for us to celebrate who we are as Squamish and come together as a community.”
Jackie Gonzales is the Elder in Residence at Ayás Méńmen Child and Family Services and said the Growcer project is just the beginning.
“From there, it’s only a spinoff, because you can teach the canning, fishing, food drying, it has such a big ripple effect,” Gonzales said. “And if people aren’t hungry, if they’re not starving, they’re going to mellow out because their body is going to receive nutrients.”
“From there, it’s only a spinoff, because you can teach the canning, fishing, food drying, it has such a big ripple effect.”
Growcer trains the local operators and stays on for 24/7 support to help Squamish Nation make the most of their container garden.
Results
Ayás Méńmen Child and Family Services gains a weekly supply of 450 pounds of fresh, nutritious greens to use in their food programs.
Youth ambassadors have new activities to be involved in, from seeding to prepping the food.
The container garden enhances Ayás Méńmen’s goals to promote healthy eating and build a thriving community year-round.
The project creates more volunteer opportunities, giving older community members the chance to be part of a social network.