Virtual CFM Training

Summary of the session:

• Introduction
• Getting to know each other
• Presentation and conversation about key terms for food movements facilitated by our guest jade guthrie

About our guest:

jade guthrie (she/her pronouns)
Community Learning and Engagement Curriculum Lead and Educator at FoodShare Toronto

jade believes in the power of food as a meeting point – as a tool that creates space for people to come together.

jade develops and delivers workshops with a few things in mind – opening up meaningful conversations (about food, food practices, and our food system), exchanging knowledge (food skills, recipes, tips and tricks), and creating connections (sharing stories, food, and laughter). Her background in social work (MSW) brings an anti-oppressive, critical lens to the work she does around food, with a focus on engaging with food justice and sovereignty movements in meaningful ways. She is particularly passionate about mobilizing the stories we tell (both ourselves and others) about food as a means of creating connections and building community.

Summary of the session:

• Let's Talk About Food workshop by our guest Nikhat Merchant

About our guest:

Nikhat Merchant (pronouns: she, her, hers)
Education and Engagement Facilitator at Food Matters Manitoba

Nikhat has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Political Science. She has always been curious about human behaviour and how evolving forms of governance shape the world. 

Nikhat has spent the last several years working with various non-profit organizations. She is passionate about social justice and creating a world where everyone receives equal economic, political, social, and cultural rights and opportunities. She wants to use her use work experience, passion for social justice and lived experience as an immigrant woman to further conversations regarding food security. She believes that for actualization of real progress, access to resources, equity, and human rights are imperative. 

About the workshop:

Each of our relationships with food are deeply personal: cultural, spiritual, interpersonal, systemic, and ethical. The ways we talk about food communicate more than simply our ‘personal preferences’, and can reinforce damaging ideas – about bodies, cultures, our own relationship to food, and our sense of connection. The "let's talk about food" workshop encourages participants to be deliberate and mindful in the language they use to talk about food within their programs, workplaces, and lives.

Summary of the session:

• Group activity and conversation about food & climate
• Presentation about organic and peasant agroecology, food sovereignty and their influence on food, ecological and social systems by our guest Rébeka Frazer-Chiasson

About our guest:

Rébeka Frazer-Chiasson
La Coopérative Ferme Terre Partagée

With a degree in globalization and social justice, agriculture is much more than planting, weeding and harvesting for Rébeka. Sensitive to the different realities and injustices in the world, she is never too busy to get involved in the community. She is passionate about food sovereignty and knowledge sharing.

Summary of the session:

• Presentation on Wabanaki history and culture and its relationship to climate and food, wild foods, and ethical harvesting by our guest Cecelia Brooks

About our guest:

Cecelia Brooks

Cecelia Brooks is a member of the Wolastoqiyik Nation at Sistansisk in Fredericton and comes from a family of mixed Indigenous heritage. She is known in the New Brunswick First Nations’ communities for her knowledge of medicinal and edible plants. Born in Korea (homeland of her mother), her family lived in Europe, Asia and North America to stay close to her father, who was a career soldier in the U.S. Army. Cecelia graduated high school in Germany before attending university in the U.S., where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. Upon completion of university, Cecelia managed an organic extractions department for an environmental laboratory before managing municipal water and wastewater laboratories.

Cecelia made her way home to the Wabanaki territory with her two sons to reconnect with their Wabanaki roots in 2006. Upon her return to New Brunswick, Cecelia served as the Science Director for the Maliseet Nation Conservation Council (MNCC), where she began working with Elders and Land Users to develop guidelines on how Indigenous Knowledge (IK) could be respectfully documented. An Indigenous Knowledge Study Guide was developed through extensive engagement with Elders and Knowledge Holders from both the Wabanaki communities over several years. Cecelia completed numerous IK Studies as the Director of Research and Indigenous Knowledge with Mi’gmawel Tplu’taqnn until early in 2019. Cecelia is a practitioner of Etuaptmunk (Two Eyed Seeing) as she is also a Land User/Knowledge Holder and an avid food and medicinal plant harvester.

Cecelia applies her knowledge of organic extraction methods with her knowledge of plants to create plant extracts that are used to infuse into a full line of body care products incorporating plant extracts from the local landscape. She applies her entrepreneurial skills to her family-run non-timber forest product company (Soul Flower Herbals), where they work together to harvest, extract and produce plant-based wellness products using extracts from Wabanaki forests. Soul Flower Herbals has been at the Fredericton Boyce Farmers’ Market for more than 15 years.

Cecelia applies the best of her plant knowledge to make products that are sustainable, effective and connect the user to the land around them. Local and sustainable are key considerations when Cecelia is formulating each of her products. She is also co-owner of Wabanaki Tree Spirit Tours & Events where she partners with her naturalist son, Anthony. Together, they work in tandem as they guide people on medicine walks through the local old-growth forest balancing science with lesson taught from Wabanaki culture and history. These teachings are to create connections between people and the Wabanaki landscape. Wabanaki Tree Spirit Tours was created to build public awareness about the ecosystem of their Wabanaki homeland. Their ambition is to share Wabanaki culture and history in order to build bridges between mainstream Canadian society and the Indigenous communities. Their mission is to contribute to the ongoing reconciliation process currently underway in Canada and to create a more harmonious world.

Cecelia Brooks has served as the Water Grandmother with the Canadian Rivers Institute at UNB since 2010, and currently teaches Indigenous Perspectives in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Management and Wabanaki Worldviews through the Mi’kmaw Wolastoqey Centre at UNB. She is also the Indigenous Food Ways instructor at the Hayes Teaching Farm in the Regenerative Farming Certification program. Food has always been Cecelia’s passion as the gateway to connecting people.

Summary of the session:

• Workshop on communication and facilitation skills & techniques beneficial for successful community involvement.

About our guest:

Margaret Tusz-King

Margaret Tusz-King is an adult educator from Sackville NB, who has been a CFM since 2014. Margaret was the founding Executive Director and program developer of Open Sky Co-operative, a local charity that empowers disabled adults with confidence, skills and opportunities. She is currently the Co-ordinator of the Summer Institute for Accessible Employment at Mount Allison University. Margaret loves community work and education, and looks forward to introducing CFM trainees to concepts, techniques and strategies for inclusive and effective communication and facilitation.

Summary of the session:

• Presentation on the experiences and methods of creating a community food action with our guest Jeanne d'Arc Lavoie

• Group exercises to generate ideas for community food actions and to establish potential partnerships between participants

About our guest:

Jeanne d’Arc Lavoie

Born in Quebec, I moved to NB in 2010 and since then I am passionate about gardening and I try to initiate as many people as possible. For me, food security is a priority. So I founded the Regroupement des jardiniers écologiques de la PA in 2016. I also give talks on gardening, budgeting, how to do grocery shopping for less and near zero waste. I visit schools for winter garden startups. I have started a few community gardens in villages and schools. I participated in 2016 in the first Mentor course in PA, I facilitated the session in 2020. Several activities have started in PA as a result of my first session.

Summary of the session:

• Grantwriting workshop with our guest Kelsey Wilson

About our guest:

Kelsey Wilson
To Be Growing Strategies

Kelsey has an extensive background working with not-for-profit and charitable organizations, holding various leadership positions as well as being active as a developer and coordinator of many environmental, social enterprise, cooperative, social justice, and other projects. Kelsey has also offered grant writing and project management services through her business, To Be Growing Strategies.

Kelsey is a UNB graduate with a Master of Environmental Management and a Bachelor of Philosophy in Leadership. During her master’s degree, Kelsey focused heavily on water quality and watershed health. She is also a Permaculture Designer, which she pursued due to her deep interest in building communities and systems that have a healthy relationship with the natural world. Kelsey is an avid learner, always seeking to expand her knowledge and understanding of topics that can improve her work.

Summary of the session:

• Fermentation workshop with our guest Genevieve Drisdelle
• Closing celebrations

About our guest:

Genevieve Drisdelle (she/her pronouns)
Project Coordinator, Food For All NB

Genevieve is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, who first decided to start a lacto-fermented vegetable business as a way to salvage second-grade vegetables grown by local farmers. Her passion for this traditional method of preserving crops is not to be missed as she guides participants through the dos and don'ts of fermenting and the many benefits of including these in your daily diet.