Inspiration from a Community Food Forest

Join us for a conversation about Ne’ata’q, The Food Forest at Bluenose Academy in Lunenburg/E'se'katik (in Nova Scotia, within Mi'kma'ki).

Outisde this P-9 public school is an area where the grass has been replaced with a forest-to-be; with plants that will help one another, provide learning and delight for the children, and bring so many people from the local community together while sharing indigenous knowledge and working towards food security.

This food forest builds on a belief of the importance of resilience and connections for a healthy community, and the involvement and enthusiasm that can come from within it when different points of view are sought out. 

Meet three folks from the project team, and hear some of the history, their motivation and the interconnected benefits of the food forest, which is of benefit not only to the children of the school and the greater human community, but other beings as well.

Katherine Barrett is a writer, editor and permaculture gardener. She has a graduate degree in Botany and has worked on environmental issues for many years. Katherine facilitates communication within and about the food forest project.

Shawn Feener is a Mi'kmaw knowledge holder and a conservationist. He is Regional Coordinator of Mi’kmaw Education Services for the South Shore Regional Center for Education.  Shawn has lived close Pijinuiskaq or the Lahave River his whole life and has had the pleasure of working with some of the beings that call Pijinuiskaq home. He completed a diploma in Wildlife Conservation at Holland College in Prince Edward Island, a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Management at the University of New Brunswick, and is currently working on a Bachelor of Education at St. FX in Nova Scotia.

Teresa Quilty is a grandmother, nature-lover, grower-forager, and community organizer. Her previous work in both non-profit and corporate settings spanned education, communications and organizational development. Her idea of fun is learning how to make good things happen in a community of skilled, creative and generous people.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Ne'ata'q Food Forest website email address facebook page

The article mentioned about the Anishinaabe Studies professor about how Indigenous food forests shape ecosystems: ‘TODAY WE HAVE GARDENS BUT BEFORE WE DESIGNED… ENTIRE LANDSCAPES’

The other Shared Ground episodes mentioned:

*Meeting Mi'kmaw Knowledge Holder Shawn Feener (episode 10)

*A 3-pronged approach to Sustainability with Rosmarie Lohnes (episode 3)

*A Two-eyed seeing approach with Clifford Paul, with Elder Albert Marshall (episode 14)

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