Au-delà de l’agriculture industrielle

A talk given by Abra Brynne at the Nelson, BC Food Forum 18 November, 2006

I would like to start my talk with an acknowledgement that we are on the land of the Sinixt People. They had food sovereignty and security before the arrival of the white people took so much away – including formal recognition that they continue to exist as a people. We cannot remake history but I feel it is really important to acknowledge the enormous debt we owe to the original peoples of this land.

And now a recitation from Father Gander:

“There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. She had so many children she didn’t know what to do. So she gave them some broth and good whole wheat bread, And kissed them all sweetly and sent them to bed. There is only one issue I don’t understand, If she didn’t want so many, why didn’t she plan?”

Here in the West Kootenays, we are a lot like that woman – including some rather creative house structures sprinkled about. Another similarity is the fact that we have access to good whole foods because we are blessed with many small farms and food producers in this area. However, our local food system is dominated by large corporations whose priorities and values don’t necessarily match those of our community. And we also have those among us who are going to sleep hungry, without that broth and good whole wheat bread and perhaps even without a bed to lie down in. Read the whole talk