United for Food Sovereignty
In amongst the Hazelton and Bulkley Mountain ranges, where the Kitwanga River converges with the Skeena River in Gitxsan Laxyip (Territory), there is a rural community now called Kitwanga. Known as the “Okanagan of the North,” Kitwanga makes the ideal home for Jacob Beaton, Jessica Ouelette, and Tea Creek, an Indigenous-led, culturally safe, land-based food sovereignty and trades training initiative.
United Way BC is addressing food security in rural areas, such as Kitwanga, through the Climate Resilient Communities: Food Infrastructure Grant (FIG), operated in partnership with the Ministry of Health. The FIG fosters community food self-sufficiency and develops sustainable and climate-adaptive food systems resiliency to enhance health and community wellbeing.
We would like to thank United Way BC donors, who make supporting organizations like Tea Creek possible. Without the generosity of donors, many of United Way BC’s food security initiatives would not be possible including food banks, food fillers, and Food Link. Food security goes far beyond hunger, it affects physical and mental health, personal relationships, work, and much more.
Jacob and Jessica, the co-owners of Tea Creek, have been tackling the issue of food security and food sovereignty in Kitwanga and the surrounding area since 2019. “Initially, Tea Creek was just going to be our little family thing [that] we did on the side, and I didn’t realize at the time how significant it was to be a First Nations person farming. It was just kind of part of our family food security plan, to grow more of our own food,” says Jacob.
Cultural importance of farming
Food production is something that is a central part of life for Indigenous Peoples, but government restrictions had limited or eradicated their ability to produce food efficiently. Until recently, equipment such as tractors, couldn’t be purchased by Indigenous Peoples without a letter of authorization giving permission to own it. Once obtained, that equipment would still be restricted and not be allowed on reserve. Although equipment is now more accessible for Indigenous Peoples, some high barriers remain like access to capital for equipment. Tea Creek strives to revitalize the culture of economic interdependence.
In addition to food production and training programs, Tea Creek helps neighbouring communities establish their own food gardens. “When we started farming here, [it] created a huge buzz in the local First Nations [and] regional First Nations communities.” Jacob explains, “Our first year we just started getting inundated with requests from First Nations people to come and like rototill and help them get their gardens going again.”
Tea Creek grows a variety of fruits, vegetables, and medicinal plants, then distributes them directly from the farm or in neighboring communities. “We always encourage people like if you have a ride, can you bring food back for others who don’t have a ride, and we’ll load up a bag for them.” says Jacob, “We also have staff who come from other communities that work here, so some days they’ll load up their vehicles and bring it back to do distribution.”
Going beyond farming
Jacob explains, “There’s all this demand and hunger for food sovereignty and food security in First Nations, people and communities and nations. So, we now need to figure out how to retrain, like how to reclaim our food knowledge and retrain people so they can do it in their own community.”
The long-lasting issue of food security and food sovereignty can’t be solved solely through local food production though. Tea Creek offers no-cost training programs for Indigenous Peoples in four vital quadrants needed for food sovereignty: administration, builders, nutrition and hosting, and growers. When explaining the four quadrants, Jacob says, “It’s all a part of our model and our training. If this is going to succeed, you have to have all these different moving pieces working together.”
Tea Creek’s training program teaches essential skills to participants that can take over responsibilities Jacob and Jessica once held. Jacob shares, “Most of our staff are past trainees who have graduated and have been hired and are being developed into those roles and responsibilities.”
The bright future of Tea Creek
Recently, Tea Creek had to cap production at 20,000 pounds per year due to issues with processing. With help from funders, including United Way BC, they can continue expanding production and enhancing efficiency to meet the high levels of local demand. “United Way BC is helping us with some of our bottlenecks,” says Jacob. With United Way BC’s FIG funding, Tea Creek has purchased enhancements to their wash pack, which will assist with their capacity issue. “It’ll be some tables for the center where we can sort our vegetables and that can be easily cleaned with bleach,” Jessica explained. As well as a new potato harvester, allowing them to produce even more potatoes.
In their short time as an organization, Tea Creek has done such incredible work, and we are thrilled to see their hard work being recognized in a documentary produced by CBC. We encourage you to watch the documentary and learn more about their dedication to food security, food sovereignty, and reconciliation by visiting www.teacreekfilm.ca.
United Way BC aims to promote food access across the province, and with donors’ support, we can tackle the issue of food security and food sovereignty where it is needed most. Learn more about United Way BC’s efforts on Indigenous Priorities.
United for food security. Help organizations like Tea Creek succeed. Donate today.