About Nutrition
Food is medicine and is a sacred gift from the Creator. We are in a relationship with the land, water, plants, and animals. Food is gathered, prepared, and shared with others. Food provides all of us with comfort, healing, and physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health which is truly a gift. Indigenous people have a vast knowledge of traditional foods and it is of the utmost importance to preserve this knowledge by transmitting these cultural teachings related to traditional foods to the children. Children learn and benefit from seeing, feeling, smelling, tasting, and hearing their culture and language.
Program Goals and Objectives
- To promote and support culturally appropriate nutrition in our communities.
- Assist with developing community strategies to access traditional foods.
- Working together towards food security and food sovereignty within our communities.
- Committing to reconciliation by decolonizing diets by working together to develop a food guide that honors and highlights the traditional foods from our communities.
- Practicing cultural humility which shows that we have something to learn from our clients and patients. The client is the expert when it comes to their personal health history, culture, symptoms, and food preferences.
- Acknowledging that the two-eyed seeing practice is the bridge that brings traditional and modern medicine together to enhance health.
The benefits of a traditional Indigenous diet are:
- Healthy fats, protein, and carbohydrates
- High in fiber
- High in vitamins and minerals
- Low in salt
- Every food has its season
- Cultural and regional diversity
