2023 Food for Health Symposium Explores Indigenous Foodways & Solutions in Health Care

2023 Food for Health Symposium Explores Indigenous Foodways & Solutions in Health Care 

Traditional Foods offer Pathways to Reconciliation, Improved Patient Healing, and Equity

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Saskatoon (September 20, 2023) - Today, Nourish proudly joins the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and CHEP Good Food in co-hosting the second national Food for Health Symposium in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The two-day event brings together health care leaders to address the historical roots of food insecurity and food sovereignty while realizing the untapped power of food in health care. 

“Nourish is thrilled to co-host this year’s Symposium with CHEP Good Food and SHA where we can celebrate years of partnership and incredible efforts to weave Indigenous foodways into Saskatchewan communities and health care,” said Jen Reynolds, Co-Executive Director of Nourish. “There are vital linkages between food and health outcomes and this year’s Symposium provides exciting Learning Journeys, workshops, and keynote speakers, including Dr. Elisa Levi, food sovereignty expert and Dr. Priscilla Settee, USask Indigenous Professor will explore this important work,” continued Reynolds.

“I continue to see Nourish’s commitment towards elevating the notion that food is medicine, together with a growing network of communities and institutions which includes navigating the right to traditional food in health care. My hope is that more organizations incorporate the strengths of Indigenous Peoples towards systems change,” said Dr. Elisa Levi, food sovereignty advocate. 

The Symposium includes land-based experiences to highlight and learn about Indigenous Foodways with local hosts including at Wanuskewin Heritage Park, Whitecap Dakota First Nation, and Saskatoon City Hospital. 

Nourish invites everyone interested in food for health to join our work and explore Nourish’s Food is Our Medicine program to advance health equity, climate action, and patient healing. 

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Nourish empowers health care to embrace food as medicine to advance health equity, climate action, and community well-being. We work to harness the untapped and neglected power of food in health care to transition to food and health systems that build health for patients and the planet.

Saskatchewan Health Authority is the largest organization in Saskatchewan, employing more than 40,000 employees and physicians. Together, we are responsible for the delivery of safe, high quality health care for the entire province.

CHEP Good Food For over 30 years, CHEP Good Food has operated within a capacity building

model, working with children, families, and communities to improve access to good food and promote food security so that we can achieve our vision of a food secure community.

Media Contact: Lana Brandt, Communications Manager

Phone: 778.833.2954 Email: lbrandt@nourishleadership.ca

Click here for the 2023 Symposium Electronic Press Kit.

Nourish Calls on Health Sector to Address Food Insecurity in Canada

Nourish Calls on Health Sector to Address Food Insecurity in Canada

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Saskatoon (September 20, 2023) - The national Nourish Food for Health Symposium kicks off today in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan with a central theme around the hidden costs of Canadian food insecurity on health and the need for policy shifts. From heightened chronic conditions linked to inadequate access to food to the pressures that food insecurity puts on the health care system — identifying solutions to addressing these issues is essential in enabling health and well-being in communities throughout Canada.

“At Nourish, we see a significant opportunity for the health care sector to address the root issues of food insecurity with improved policies and investments for more preventative health strategies,” said Jen Reynolds, Co-Executive Director of Nourish. “The Food for Health Symposium provides a space to connect and explore the policies and financial commitment required to improve food access, tackle health inequities, and support more sustainable food systems,” continued Reynolds.

“In Canada, 18.4% of people are impacted by food insecurity, including one in four children, which is why the Maple Leaf Centre for Food Security and Nourish are working together to address the health inequities that stem from lack of access to food. It is especially urgent to support the communities most impacted by food insecurity, including the Indigenous and Black households that experience food insecurity rates two to three times higher than the national average,” said Sarah Stern, Leader of Maple Leaf Centre for Food Security. 

The pandemic has placed a tremendous burden on our health care system and record-high food prices and climate-related food supply chain interruptions will only continue to exacerbate food insecurity in Canada. Food prescription programs are being piloted and are gaining attention allowing health care workers to provide nourishing foods to patients and communities in need, but prescriptions alone won’t address the deeper systemic issues at hand. Nourish continues to work in partnership with The Maple Leaf Centre for Food Security and other allies to build awareness around the compelling need for action to reduce food insecurity and exploring opportunities with the health sector to advocate for bold policies that invest in upstream causes to address poverty and enable food security for all in Canada. 

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Nourish empowers health care to embrace food as medicine to advance health equity, climate action, and community well-being. We work to harness the untapped and neglected power of food in health care to transition to food and health systems that build health for patients and the planet.

The Maple Leaf Centre for Food Security ("the Centre") is a registered charity committed to working collaboratively to reduce food insecurity in Canada by 50% by 2030. The Centre advocates for critical public policies and invests in knowledge building and programs that advance the capacity of people and communities to achieve sustainable food security. The Centre was created in 2016 and is governed by a board of directors, including four independent experts.

Saskatchewan Health Authority is the largest organization in Saskatchewan, employing more than 40,000 employees and physicians. Together, we are responsible for the delivery of safe, high quality health care for the entire province.

CHEP Good Food For over 30 years, CHEP Good Food has operated within a capacity building

model, working with children, families, and communities to improve access to good food and promote food security so that we can achieve our vision of a food secure community.

Media Contact: Lana Brandt, Communications Manager

Phone: 778.833.2954 Email: lbrandt@nourishleadership.ca

Nourish Symposium Gathers Health Care to Support Planetary Health Through Food

Food for Health Symposium Provides Pathways to Take Bold Climate Action

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Saskatoon (September 20, 2023) - Today, the national Nourish Food for Health Symposium kicks off in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan with an opening keynote speech from Climate Activist and Emergency Physician, Dr. Courtney Howard. A central theme at this year’s Symposium is acknowledging that food and health care systems are enormous contributors to the climate crisis, but that they are also a timely $4-billion opportunity in Canada that cannot be ignored with the climate alarm bells ringing louder than ever.

“The intersection of environment and health is a powerful sweet spot where our efforts can yield outsized positive impacts on our lives now and into the future,” said Dr. Courtney Howard, ER Physician and globally recognized expert on climate change and health. “Using health system procurement to increase local, plant-rich food for patients and provide a stable market to support Canadian farmers can enhance national food security in a way that decreases our vulnerability to climate change-amplified crop challenges while reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate disruption. It’s a tasty win-win for people and planet,” Howard continued.

“Nourish is supporting the health sector to leverage their purchasing power and make a public commitment to take bold climate action," said Jennifer Reynolds, Co-Executive Director of Nourish. “Updating menus, reducing food waste, and shifting to plant-forward ingredients that heal is an untapped opportunity for our health care systems to help mitigate climate change. We are recruiting hospitals around the country to commit to the Coolfood Pledge to achieve science-based targets to reduce the climate impact of the food they serve by 25%. Our ambitious goal is to be working with 100 hospitals by 2025 in order to have a significant impact on helping Canada to meet its climate targets.”

Nourish offers free resources including the Sustainable Menu Guide and Values-Based Procurement Primer to support health care facilities to take climate action by embedding planetary health principles to ensure environmental sustainability and climate resiliency in their daily practices. With early adopters already taking action in Canada, Nourish is witnessing the true power that transforming food in health care can have, and how changing one small thing can lead to scalable and lasting change.

The Food for Health Symposium also includes land-based experiences with event co-hosts CHEP Good Food and Saskatchewan Health Authority as well as workshops around the interconnectedness of climate action, Indigenous foodways, and food prescribing. 

Nourish invites health care leaders to get in touch and make the commitment to planetary health today. Learn more here. 

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Nourish empowers health care to embrace food as medicine to advance health equity, climate action, and community well-being. We work to harness the untapped and neglected power of food in health care to transition to food and health systems that build health for patients and the planet

Saskatchewan Health Authority is the largest organization in Saskatchewan, employing more than 40,000 employees and physicians. Together, we are responsible for the delivery of safe, high quality health care for the entire province.

CHEP Good Food For over 30 years, CHEP Good Food has operated within a capacity building

model, working with children, families, and communities to improve access to good food and promote food security so that we can achieve our vision of a food secure community..

Media Contact: Lana Brandt, Communications Manager

Phone: 778.833.2954 Email: lbrandt@nourishleadership.ca

Click here for the 2023 Symposium Electronic Press Kit.

2023 Food for Health Symposium Identifies Pathways Towards Planetary Health

Nourish Hosts Symposium to Address Health Equity and Climate Action in Health Care

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Saskatoon (September 19, 2023) - On September 20 - 21, 2023, Nourish joins the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and CHEP Good Food in co-hosting the second national Food for Health Symposium in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The two-day event brings together thought leaders from around the continent to participate in immersive off-site land-based experiences, learning about the land and communities in Saskatchewan and experiential workshops that explore the power of food in health care to rebuild planetary health.

“Food and health care systems are enormous contributors to the climate crisis, but they also provide a $4-billion opportunity in Canada to tackle health inequities and climate change,” said Jen Reynolds, Co-Executive Director of Nourish. “At Nourish, we work with the health care community to improve the sustainability of menus, reduce food waste and spending, while serving culturally mindful foods to support better healing and build more resilient food systems outside of hospital walls. The Food for Health Symposium provides a space to connect leaders working at the nexus of these issues who can then return home with renewed inspiration and stronger networks to make real change happen in their communities,” continued Reynolds.

“The Saskatchewan Health Authority is honoured to co-host this year’s Symposium in Saskatchewan to build off of our involvement over the past few years with Nourish’s Anchor Cohort. SHA has witnessed firsthand how food choices can create significant improvements in health care. Together, we have engaged with local communities to bring Indigenous foodways to our menus, delivered a fruit and vegetable prescription program, built programs to support local growers, and implemented composting programs.” said Andrew Will, CEO of Saskatchewan Health Authority.

“CHEP Good Foods is thrilled to partner with Nourish as an extension of our work to help communities achieve greater food security and improved health,” said Gord Androsoff, Executive Director of CHEP Good Food. “It is inspiring to see how simple changes to health care menus can lead to lasting change when it comes to taking climate action and improving health equity in Canada.”

The second national Food for Health Symposium features inspirational speakers including:

• Dr. Courtney Howard, Emergency Physician and Climate Activist

• Dr. Priscilla Settee, Indigenous Professor

• Dr. Elisa Levi, Food Sovereignty Expert

• Dr. Steven Chen, Chief Medical Officer who is renowned for his award-winning Recipe4Health “food is medicine” model in California

• André Picard, Health Reporter and Columnist for the Globe and Mail

The Symposium also includes land-based experiences with local hosts as well as workshops around transformative themes including climate action, Indigenous foodways, anchor leadership, and food prescribing. Nourish invites everyone interested in food for health to join our work to advance health equity, climate action, and patient healing.

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Nourish empowers health care to embrace food as medicine to advance health equity, climate action, and community well-being. We work to harness the untapped and neglected power of food in health care to transition to food and health systems that build health for patients and the planet. Saskatchewan Health Authority is the largest organization in Saskatchewan, employing more than 40,000 employees and physicians. Together, we are responsible for the delivery of safe, high-quality health care for the entire province.

CHEP Good Food For over 30 years, CHEP Good Food has operated within a capacity building model, working with children, families, and communities to improve access to good food and promote food security so that we can achieve our vision of a food secure community.

Media Contact: Lana Brandt, Communications Manager

Phone: 778.833.2954 Email: lbrandt@nourishleadership.ca

Click here for the 2023 Symposium Electronic Press Kit.

Learning Circle Inspires Indigenous Foodways Solutions in Health Care

By Lana Brandt, Nourish Leadership Communications Manager

Imagine a future where health care systems consider Indigenous wisdom, ways of doing and traditional foods as medicine for treating patients. A future where ingredients like wild rice, fiddleheads, and pemmican are considered sacred — bringing diversity and richness to hospital menus around the nation. Next, envision that Indigenous foodways are viewed as an integral solution for supporting Indigenous community well-being and seen as a key pathway to reconciliation.

At Nourish, we believe in the above vision which is why we offer Food is Our Medicine — an action learning series dedicated to providing resources, spaces to learn and share inspirational stories, in the hopes of sparking health care leaders to realize this shared future. 

Generations of colonial policies and enforced dependence on Western diets containing sugars, fats, and carbohydrates have been linked to illnesses like diabetes and cardiovascular disease that disproportionately impact Indigenous communities. June is National Indigenous History month and a timely opportunity to reflect, but also for the health care system to connect to centuries of wisdom from Elders, and plant seeds of healing and hope for generations to come. In response to this call, Nourish offers monthly virtual learning circles as part of the Food is Our Medicine offering to create a safe community and space for dialogue. Although these conversations are confidential as part of the participant's learning journey, some high-level takeaways from the inaugural learning circle provided valuable insights and an invitation for others to join us on this learning journey.

In the first virtual learning circle, the participants shared heartwarming stories about the power of traditional healing foods, slowing down to connect with Mother Earth, and confronting the dark history around colonial foods that are today linked to the injustices faced by Indigenous communities. Food and connection were identified as one of the best ways to heal Indigenous spirits. The group also discussed the importance of teaching food sovereignty to youth and that exposing younger generations to hunting, fishing, foraging, and other important rights to passage is invaluable. 

One of the key takeaways from the discussion was about how we all can listen, learn, and in many cases unlearn during these sessions. The group committed to coming together monthly to this space and bring these learnings to our work where we can together further influence change in the health system.

We shared insightful solutions to common challenges faced including culture camps to inspire youth, three sister gardening to make connections, and finding creative solutions to honour traditional practices within Western policies. The idea of becoming the voice of change and shifting narratives to help mobilize front-line staff and patients to build momentum around the allies working in this space so that they are sustainable over time resonated with the participants and future sessions will be dedicated to these above themes. 

We look forward to the next virtual learning circle on June 29 and we invite you to register for Food is Our Medicine to join us in this offering.