Fraser Basin Council
Home  |  CONTACT US: Offices AND Staff  |  Site Map
header_image

Elizabeth Henry Scholarship - 2017 & 2018 Fund Recipients > 2017
Ada Smith
Gitxaala Nation's Community Garden Program: A Case Study of Operationalizing Food Sovereignty

2017<br>Ada Smith<br>Gitxaala Nation's Community Garden Program: A Case Study of Operationalizing Food Sovereignty

posted on 6:39 PM, September 12, 2017

Biography

eh_scholarship-2017-smith_300px.jpgAda grew up on a small farmstead in rural Wisconsin where her family’s vegetable patch was surrounded by endless rows of corn and soybeans, sparking her interest in questions around food security, food sovereignty and food literacy.

She completed her BA in Anthropology and Environmental Studies at Wellesley College where her honors thesis focused on food security and environmental justice on the small island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. That research took Ada back to the Caribbean where she spent two years developing an Edible Schoolyard and permaculture garden curriculum at an alternative education center for girls in the Dominican Republic.

Her current research as an MA Candidate working under the supervision of Charles Menzies at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at UBC expands upon her academic interests and real-world experiences in seeking to understand what the key components or mechanisms are needed to successfully "operationalize" food sovereignty for remote First Nations communities in BC.

"The support of the Elizabeth Henry Scholarship exemplifies, in the Sm'algyax language, bax laansk  – or how we can come together in collaborative research and in decolonizing approaches toward a just and sustainable food system." - Ada Smith

Project Summary

In July 2017, working in partnership with Gitxaala Nation, Ada began her research, seeking to understand the role of Gitxaala’s community garden project and other local food production activities in supporting food sovereignty in their community. Specifically, Ada’s role is working in collaboration with Gitxaala’s Health Services and Lach Klan School during the months of July and August to bring garden and "food literacy" activities into the summer reading program and school curriculum. Both the research process and outcome aim to support Gitxaala’s effort toward cultivating a community garden program that will provide more sustainable mode of food production for the community while offering fun learning opportunities for youth.

Our Vision

Social well-being supported by a vibrant economy and sustained by a healthy environment.

About the Fraser Basin Council

The Fraser Basin Council (FBC) is a charitable non-profit organization that brings people together to advance sustainability in the Fraser River Basin and throughout BC. Established in 1997, FBC is a collaboration of four orders of government (federal, provincial, local and First Nations) along with those from the private sector and civil society. We work with people in multiple sectors, helping them find collaborative solutions to today’s issues through a commitment to the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability. Our focus is on healthy water and watersheds, action on climate change and air quality and strong, resilient communities and regions.

FBC Project and
Partner Sites

Plug in BC:
www.pluginbc.ca

Emotive:
www.emotivebc.ca

ReTooling for Climate Change:
www.retooling.ca

FBC Youth:
fbcyouthprogram.ca

Climate Action Toolkit:
www.toolkit.bc.ca 

Salmon-Safe BC
www.salmonsafe.ca

Contact Us

FBC has offices in Vancouver, Kamloops, Williams Lake and Prince George. We also have staff located in Abbotsford and Vernon.

To reach us, see FBC Offices and FBC Staff.

Our main office is:

Fraser Basin Council
1st Floor, 470 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC V6C 1V5

T: 604 488-5350
F: 604 488-5351
E: 

We are grateful at the Fraser Basin Council Society to live and work on the unceded ancestral
territories of the Indigenous Nations of British Columbia.