Help bring ‘Food for Thought’ to life

Through the month of February, The Discourse will publish Food for Thought, a series of solutions-focused stories about food and farming in the Cowichan region.

I couldn’t be more excited. More than 50 people responded to our survey about the challenges and opportunities of food systems in Cowichan. We have more ideas than we know what to do with.

One part of the project I’m particularly happy to tell you about: Jared Qwustenuxun Williams, a chef who runs the elders’ kitchen at Cowichan Tribes in addition to his writing for The Discourse, will produce a series of stories about Quw’utsun (Cowichan) food of the past and present. That work is being supported in part by Journalists for Human Rights’ Indigenous reporters program.

I asked Qwustenuxun to share a few thoughts about what he’s working on: 

“I am absolutely honoured to take on the task of writing a series of traditional food stories that follow Cowichan community members from smoked salmon at the family dinner table to fried bologna and fast food. This journey will intersect with the many aspects of Quw’utsun culture, as food is an engine for our way of life. How we harvested foods, the language that revolved around food gathering, and the many preservation  and cooking techniques, all resulted in the creation and proliferation of our cultural values. The story of our food is the story of the Quw’utsun Mustimuhw and I can’t wait to share it with everyone.”

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The Discourse is excited to bring those stories and the rest of the series to our communities. But we could use some help. You gave us more amazing story ideas than our small team could possibly tackle alone.

Our goal is to raise $3,000 by February 5 in order to:

• Support Qwustenuxun’s work with editing and photography resources
• Assign freelancers to tell some of the success stories of local food
• Hire a local photographer to make these stories stand out

Can you help? Make a one-time contribution today and be a part of bringing our food solutions series to life. [end]