The Learning Garden

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The Learning Garden: Place-based Learning for

Holistic First Nations’ Community Health

Mirella L. Stroink,

Connie H. Nelson

and

Brian McLaren,

Lakehead University

March 2010



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This work was funded by a contribution from the Canadian Council on Learning.

All documents produced by the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) will be available inboth French and English. However, documents produced by external organizations for CCL willbe posted on the website only in the language of origin. When a full translation is not available,

CCL will ensure that an executive summary is available in the other official language.

The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the authors. The Canadian Council onLearning bears no responsibility for its content.

Acknowledgements

The research team would like to express their deep appreciation for the partnership we

have with Ginoogaming and Aroland First Nations. The contributions of these communities as a

whole, their chiefs and councils, health directors, and our own project coordinators to the entire

process of this research were essential to the completion of the project. We would also like to

gratefully acknowledge the contributions of our Aboriginal research participants, whose insights

furthered understanding of place-based learning, culture, and food security. We also express

thanks to the Canadian Council on Learning for providing the financial support for this project.





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3. Food Behaviours, Food Values, Perceptions of Food Systems, and Correlations ................56

4. Place, Culture, and Food: The Role of Learning ..................................................................64

Discussion............................................................................................................................... .................. 74

Overview of Results....................................................................................................................74

Integration and Implications of Findings ..................................................................................80

Limitations and Future Directions.............................................................................................85

Conclusion .................................................................................................................................88

References............................................................................................................................... .................. 90

Appendix A: Workshop Outline ............................................................................................................. 102

Appendix B: Cover Letter ....................................................................................................................... 107

Appendix C: Informed Consent .............................................................................................................. 109

Appendix E: Debriefing Letter ............................................................................................................... 124



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The Learning Garden: Place-based Learning for Holistic First Nations’ Community Health

Executive Summary

Aboriginal peoples in Canada suffer disproportionately high rates of various health

problems including diabetes and heart disease (Garriguet, 2008). In an Aboriginal worldview

which understands individuals, communities, and land to be infused with an underlying spiritual

unity (Hill, 2006), health can be understood to stem from a state of connectedness within

individuals and between individuals, communities, and land (Ray, 2007). This holistic vision of

health captures not only the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of individual

health, but also a broader sense of community health. The resilience of a community is an

important indicator of its overall health, and is reflected in its self-sufficiency, its adaptability,

and its capacity to meet its own needs under conditions of external change (Walker, Hollinger,

Carpenter & Kunzig, 2004). Food plays a unique and meaningful role in this conceptualization of

health. Food affects individual nutrition but also plays a role in the social and cultural aspects of

community health and can connect individuals to the land (Willows, 2005). The way that a

community accesses food is also an important component of its resilience.

The communities that participated in this research access the mainstream food system for

the majority of their food needs, particularly convenience stores and small grocery stores in

nearby towns (Ray, 2007). The resilience of this system is particularly poor in remote

communities where the increased distances and tenuous transportation routes mean that not only

is fresh produce more rare, more expensive, and of lower quality, it is also more likely that a

disturbance (spike in fuel costs, extreme weather) will undermine the capacity of the community

to meet its food needs (Lawn & Harvey, 2004). Typically, a community that is resilient in its

food supply is one that produces food nearby to the people who consume that food; and in which



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there is a constant exchange and evolution of food related knowledge (Feenstra, 2002). For

Canada’s Aboriginal peoples, a locally rooted base of food knowledge has been dwindling as a

result of residential school experiences, disruptions to intergenerational transfer, past policies

and practices of forced assimilation, and environmental contamination from industry and

resource extraction (Ohmagari & Berkes, 1997; Waisberg & Holzkamm, 1993). Therefore, an

important part of increasing community resilience is to facilitate the exchange and development

of food knowledge that is grounded in place, in the reality of the land and the life it encompasses.

This report presents the development and findings of the Learning Garden program,

which was developed and run in partnership with Ginoogaming and Aroland First Nations in

Northwestern Ontario. With the overall aim of fostering this vision of holistic health, the

Learning Garden program was developed with the purpose of increasing physical, emotional, and

social indicators of health, while taking an initial step toward community resilience in the area of

food by increasing local food knowledge. Specifically, the purpose of the program was to

increase holistic health and to increase experience-based knowledge of both vegetable gardening

and forest foods, nutrition and its link to health.

For its perspective, the program drew upon the

definition of health as a state of connectedness that was

revealed in earlier research with Ginoogaming First Nation

(Ray, 2007), and the First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning

Model developed by the Canadian Council on Learning

(Canadian Council on Learning, 2007). The approach to

learning was holistic, experiential and place-based (Corbiere,

2000; Friesen & Friesen, 2002; Gruenewald, 2003). The program was prepared and run in each

The purpose of the Learning

Garden program is to increase

physical, emotional, and social

indicators of health, while taking an

initial step toward community

resilience in the area of food by

increasing knowledge

of

vegetable

gardening, forest food, and nutrition



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community by a community-based coordinator. Conceptualized as a series of workshops,

participants explored their food system options, the healthfulness and sustainability of each, and

the values reflected in them. Participants also shared knowledge on the foods that are available in

the nearby lands and generated traditional food maps while gaining practical skills involving the

tending and harvesting of both forest foods and vegetables from planted gardens. The program

incorporated traditional ceremonies and the wisdom of elders. The products of the harvests were

shared with elders and other community members.

The purpose of the research was to (1) examine the outcomes of the program against its

goals for holistic health and knowledge, and to explore three additional research questions.

Specifically, (2) we observed through qualitative analysis the process of learning that unfolded in

the context of the program with an eye to understanding whether the holistic, experiential, and

place-based approach we used resonated with program participants. In addition, (3) we drew

upon quantitative survey data to better understand participants’ current food behaviours, food

values, and perceptions of the food system, in addition to how these perceptions and behaviours

correlated with other variables of interest, including holistic health and cultural identity. Finally,

(4) we explored through qualitative data the participants’ perceptions of place and sought a better

understanding of the interactions among place, food, and culture.

We adopted a mixed methods approach to this research, which was designed to include a

pre-post quantitative survey of program participants, and qualitative analyses in the form of

phenomenological observation, interviews with 5 individuals, and transcribed recordings of the

workshop sessions. Quantitative measures included self-reported levels of physical health,

emotional well-being, life satisfaction, and social capital, as well as knowledge, behaviour,

values, and perceptions relating to food, and cultural identity. In Aroland a total of 43 individuals



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participated in at least one workshop, in Ginoogaming, 50 (including 5 from Constance Lake).

This included school children, youth, adults, and elders. Participation in the workshops was

extremely intermittent, given high rates of travel, seasonal activities in the bush, and health

problems. Only 8 individuals, all in Ginoogaming, participated regularly in the workshops. As a

result, we were not able to run the quantitative study as a pre-post survey design as we had

intended, which presented a significant limitation to the research. Instead, we collected survey

data from each willing adult throughout the program, regardless of the number of workshops

they attended and when. We were thus still able to explore the second research question

regarding food system usage and its correlates with a sample of 18 individuals.

While we were unable to test the outcomes of the program with quantitative data,

qualitative analyses revealed that the program did provide participants with moments of

transformative insight, and behavioural indicators of learning

were revealed particularly in the area of cultivated gardening

In observing the process of learning that unfolded in the

Learning Garden program, we found that participants

generally preferred the experiential aspects of the program,

and that some Aboriginal learners preferred to immerse their

learning in their day to day lives. For these individuals, the structured bi-monthly workshop

format may not have been ideal. Likewise, we observed cultural differences in how the garden is

understood. While the program was flexible enough to adapt to these different understandings

and preferences, future applications of the program will incorporate this variability in its design.

Our analyses of participants’ perceptions of their food systems revealed that the

knowledge base for cultivated and forest food was limited and that it was largely convenience

“Culture emerges

dynamically as people

self ‐organize a food

system in

the

context

of

a

dynamic perception of

place.”



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and price that drove people to the dominant food system for the majority of their food.

Nonetheless, correlational results also indicated that engaging in forest food activities such as

hunting and fishing, and valuing local foods were associated with positive, healthy qualities such

as self-reported health, life satisfaction, and social capital. Therefore, even though knowledge

and use of the local food system was limited, there may be benefits to accessing this food system

for well-being.

Qualitative findings regarding participants’ perceptions of place were particularly

intriguing. Participants’ perceptions of their traditional lands were marked by concerns of

contamination and an awareness of change. The change they perceived in their lands was

attributed to human activities in the Western culture, such as climate change and industry.

Further observation revealed, however, that participants’ perceptions of place were much broader

than we had assumed. Specifically, their notions of place included the physical structures of the

global food system in their communities, such as nearby grocery and convenience stores, and

could also be argued to include less tangible elements of the “global place”, such as media,

popular fashion, and technology. This insight regarding participants’ broad understandings of

place and place-based learning resulted in some theoretical developments regarding the

interactions among learning, food, place, and culture. These insights suggest that culture emerges

dynamically as people self-organize a food system in the context of a dynamic perception of

place. The blended and changing view of place that we observed in our participants shapes their

quest for food and the process of adaptation along with the resulting cultural values and

worldviews. In future work, we will continue to explore how the existence and evolution of two

food systems within one broad perceived place shapes the learning of cultural information, and

how this process may impact well-being on both individual and community levels.



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Further discussion and integration of these findings is offered along with suggested

implications for policy in the areas of learning and education, food systems, and for the

development of future health programs. Further research in a number of areas is also suggested

and a plan for the continued development of the Learning Garden program is presented.



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The Learning Garden: Place-based Learning for Holistic First Nations’ Community Health

Literature Review

The concept of health is surprisingly difficult to define. Individuals and cultures show

considerable variability in how they understand health and what they consider to be its core and

contributing components. In a relatively recent step away from the classic medical or purely

biophysical model of health, Western culture and the medical establishment expanded the notion

of health to include a broader state of well-being than the absence of physical disease. This

broader, bio-psycho-social model of health is articulated in the definition of health presented by

the World Health Organization in 1948, “a complete state of physical, mental and social well-

being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” In this more holistic view of health,

psychological and social well-being are recognized as important components in a state of overall

wellness that defines health (Raphael, 2004).

Conceptualizations of health show still further variability, however, particularly when

viewed across cultures. For example, Australian Aboriginal peoples have been reported to define

health in this way, “health does not just mean the physical well-being of the individual but refers

to the social, emotional, spiritual and cultural well-being of the whole community” (Raphael,

2004). This view of health as a collective state transcends specific individuals, and also includes

not only the social and psychological aspects of health as captured in the WHO definition, but

also spiritual and cultural components. The Australian Aboriginal definition of health also

extends across time through a cyclical worldview of life-death-life.

Likewise, in a qualitative study on how Aboriginal Canadians in the same Ojibway

communities that participated in the present study defined health, it was found that health

reflected a state of connectedness, connectedness with spirit, culture, community, land, and



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family, as well as within the individual self. This state of connectedness then manifested itself in

a range of individual and community health outcomes, including physical and emotional health

in individuals, as well as community social capital, positive environmental conditions, and food

security (Ray, 2007). In this Aboriginal view of health, participation in traditional ceremonies

such as talking and drumming circles, smudging, cedar sweat lodge ceremonies, craft making,

singing, food gatherings, traditional teachings, games, and powwows are all believed to have

spiritual connections that bring well-being and connectedness to the individuals in their

community (Hunter, Logan, Goulet, & Barton, 2006).

When developing health promotion and health learning programs, the particular

definition of health that is held by participating community members is a critical piece of

information. Who gets to decide what optimal state of health should be promoted in a health

promotion program, on the basis of whose model of health? These are critical questions, and the

present research was conducted in the context of a learning program which sought to draw upon

the understanding of health that was revealed in qualitative research with this community (Ray,

2007) and upon a model of learning developed with First Nations professionals in Canada

(Canadian Council on Learning, 2007). In so doing, the overall aim of the program was to

promote a holistic vision of health grounded in a profound state of connectedness that recognizes

the interdependence of individual and community health. This vision of holistic health is thus

inclusive of the concept of community resilience. Resilient communities are self-sufficient and

locally interconnected enough to meet the needs of their own members despite changes and

disruptions that occur externally; they are adaptable and sustainable in that they do not

undermine their own capacity to maintain function (Capra, 2002; Walker, Hollinger, Carpenter

& Kunzig, 2004). With the overall aim of fostering this vision of holistic health, we developed a



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learning program whose purpose was to increase physical, emotional, and social indicators of

holistic health, and to take one first step toward community resilience in the area of food by

increasing local food knowledge.

Physical Health in Aboriginal Canadian Communities

Aboriginal Canadian peoples carry a disproportionate amount of the disease burden, with

particular emphasis on problems relating to obesity, such as diabetes and heart disease. For

example, Garriguet (2008) found that Aboriginal peoples residing in Ontario or Western

provinces in 2004, aged 19 to 50 years, were two and a half times more likely than non

Aboriginals to be overweight or obese. Garriguet (2008) also found this to be especially true for

Aboriginal women aged 19 to 30. He found that Aboriginal women tended to have higher daily

caloric intake in which they consumed an average of 359 more calories per day than non-

Aboriginal women. It was also found that Aboriginal women between the ages of 19 and 30

received 36% of their calories between meals as opposed to only 28% for non-Aboriginal

women.

There are many factors that underlie obesity, and some of these are experienced

disproportionately by Aboriginal peoples. For instance, Aboriginal peoples face disparities in

food security, education, employment, income, and housing, as well as lower levels of physical

activity (Aboriginal Health Forum, 2008; Gracey & King, 2009; Powers, 2008). These factors

may contribute to differences in obesity rates between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples

(Garriguet, 2008). According to Story, Stevens, Himes, Stone, Rock, Ethelbah and Davis (2003),

differences in rates of obesity could be due to genetics and/or environmental factors such as

food, nutrition, stress, lack of physical exercise, and anxiety.



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The health consequences of paediatric, as well as adult obesity in American Indians, and

Aboriginal Canadians, include Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (Story et al., 2003). In

many Aboriginal communities, diabetes is one of the major chronic disease problems. Diabetes

is an endocrine disorder associated with increased levels of blood glucose due to inadequate

insulin action (Sherwood, 2007). Diabetes can also lead to chronic complications, such as

accelerated development of cardiovascular disease, end-stage renal disease, loss of visual acuity,

and even limb amputations if proper care is not maintained (Story et al., 2003; Struthers,

Schanche Hodge, Geishirt-Cantrell, & De Cora, 2003).

In a U.S. study conducted by Devlin, Roberts, Okaya, and Xiong (2006), perceptions of

diabetes and health were examined among Latino/Hispanic, Hmong, African American, and

American Indian participants. All four groups felt that both individual and community health had

been lost through exposure to American lifestyle. Specifically, the lack of physical activity and

poor dietary habits they associated with American lifestyle were thought to cause or influence

diabetes. The American Indian group, in particular, felt that their traditions and use of traditional

food had been taken from them.

Although the prevalence of diabetes is high, it is a relatively new issue in American

Indian communities (Story et al., 2003; Struthers et al., 2003). Devlin et al., (2006) conducted a

study in which participants were asked their opinions as to why diabetes has taken such a toll on

the American Indian communities in such a short time. It was found that participants felt it was

the process of acculturation, or the impact of mainstream American culture on traditional Indian

culture and lifestyle.

It is imperative to understand these high rates of obesity and diabetes in the context of the

holistic, interconnected, and community-based model of health that is held in many Aboriginal



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communities. In the Western model of health, these issues are understood to stem from

individual behaviours and choices in isolation. However, in the Aboriginal model of community

health, they may reflect cultural, spiritual, and environmental factors, and be an issue not only

for individual health but for community health as a whole. Specifically, obesity, diabetes, and

heart disease, as well as other health challenges, may be a function of connectedness to

community, culture, and land.

Health and Connectedness in Aboriginal People

As indicated above, health is understood holistically in the Aboriginal worldview to

include not only the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of individual health, but

also a state of connectedness both within the individual and between the individual and his or her

community, culture, and surrounding lands (Ray, 2007). For example, Adelson (2000) studied

the meaning of health among the Cree in Northern Quebec and observed that “being alive well”

(Miyupimaatisiiun) is determined on a daily basis by the nature and quality of the person’s

interactions with others, as well as his or her ability to participate in activities that are essential to

being Cree, including the consumption of traditional foods and activities that connect the

individual to the land. She further argues that “being Cree” connects the individual to the

community through a common oral history in the recollections of families and individuals.

Therefore, health in this Cree worldview includes the individual’s connectedness with both

community and culture, through common identity, oral history, and traditional activities.

Likewise, in his qualitative exploration of suicide in the north, Kral (2003) observed that

connection to a larger sense of family as captured in the term, “all my relations” is fundamental

to well-being.



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The Aboriginal worldview of connectedness is infused by a sense of spirituality.

Individuals, communities, and land are held together by a common, dynamic, spiritual bond. In

other words, the connectedness occurs as a result of spiritual dynamics linking family,

community, nature, land, ancestors, and creator. Traditional ceremonies, spiritually significant

figures and medicines tap into this level of spirit and can thus play a role in the dynamics of

nature and human communities (e.g., Mattern, 1999). This connection through the spiritual realm

also means that humans, non-human animals, and the land share a common essence and are

granted respect and a sense of equality (Simpson & Driben, 2000; Hill, 2006; McPherson &

Rabb, 1993).

This worldview of connectedness may serve to protect the health of the individual and

community. For example, McPherson and Rabb (1993) indicate that a sense of connectedness

with the land in which non-human beings are seen as being part of the community ensures that

the wellness of the individual is maintained. For example, “Plants and animal species are, as it

were, other tribes or nations. Human economic intercourse with other species is not represented

as the exploitations of impersonal material, natural resources, but as reciprocal gift giving in

which both parties exchange benefits” (McPherson & Rabb, 1993, p. 89). For example, the

hunter is provided with the skin and flesh of the caribou and in exchange the hunter provides

tobacco and artefacts to the spirit of the caribou. The hunter is able to maintain wellness by

eating the meat of the caribou and the caribou maintains wellness because the offering allows it

to be reborn. Likewise, Wilson (2004) explored the relationship between cultural identity and

wellness among Aboriginal women in Manitoba, and observed that many of the women spoke of

their personal responsibilities to family and community as part of their own sense of wellness,

recognizing that their health and the health of their communities were inseparable.





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social than traditional lifestyle. This new lifestyle was argued to reduce self-esteem and render

people unable to provide for community and family members, which in turn undermined

traditional values of respect, sharing, and caring. The ensuing hopelessness was argued to result

in higher rates of chronic disease, substance abuse, suicide, and loss of fitness. Gabriel Echum, A

past Chief of Ginoogaming First Nation, one of the partner communities in this project, describes

the devastation brought to their lands and traditional activities following water diversion and

industrial activities in their area in a panel hearing available as a transcript online.

“Ginoogaming people have suffered immensely from hydro development. Our river

systems were diverted, our Elders recall, the rivers became confused. Along with riverdiversion, other industries used the water systems for transporting logs. We began towitness the deterioration of our waters. The aquatic life began to deform and disintegrate.

Today we cannot eat the fish from this lake, our children cannot walk to the beach andenjoy an afternoon swim. This lake will take decades upon decades before it is restored.It is contaminated by industry and no industry is willing to take responsibility for thedestruction of the waters.

The people of Ginoogaming will never forget the tragedy experienced when we saw ourlands flooded, the four legged relations dislocated and our scaled ones become deformed.

Our fathers and grandfathers vividly recall the nature, the rivers in turmoil when its verydirections which were designed by our creator were redirected by man” (Echum, 2008)1.

Disconnection from the family and community may also undermine health in Aboriginal

communities. Traditional activities, which are often social in nature, reinforce a sense of

connection (Abadian, 2006; Turton, 1997). Past policies of assimilation which discouraged or

banned traditional activities resulted in the loss of opportunities for meaningful social connection

and the intergenerational transmission of cultural values. It has been suggested that a loss of

these activities may result in alienation and substance abuse (Cheah & Nelson, 2004), as well as

1 Accessed from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency website:

http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/010/0001/0001/0012/0002/0038/s11_e.htm



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lateral violence in the community (Duran & Duran, 1995; Waldram, Herring, & Kue Young,

1995). Significant correlations have been found between participation in traditional activities and

lower levels of acculturative stress and substance abuse in Aboriginal communities (Duran &

Duran, 1995). Traditional Aboriginal youth who are connected with their family and community

have been found to consume less alcohol than youth who are not as traditional and connected

(Cheah & Nelson, 2004). The causal direction of these findings is unknown, and it is likely that a

downward spiral is triggered whereby a sense of disconnection triggers addictions and other self-

alienating behaviours, which in turn lead to further isolation from the community.

This Aboriginal research is supported by a growing body of literature on the social

determinants of health, which indicate that factors such as social structure, social position, and

social environment have implications for physical and mental health (e.g., Raphael, 2004,

Graham, 2004). Within this literature, social capital has received increasing attention as a factor

affecting health. The term social capital broadly refers to the collection of features of social

groups which act as resources for individuals and which facilitate collective action (e.g.,

networks, trust, reciprocity) (Kawachi, Kennedy, Lochner, & Prothrow-Stith, 1997). Many of

these features, particularly social cohesion, trust, social control, and perceived neighbourhood

safety have been found to be associated with higher levels of self-rated health (Drukker, Buka,

Kaplan, McKenzie, & Van Os, 2005; Ziersch, Baum, MacDougall, & Putland, 2005). In an

attempt to organize this expansive concept, social capital has been conceptualized to include

bonding (trusting, co-operative relationships among members of a group), bridging (relations of

respect and mutuality between members of different groups), and linking (norms of respect and

trust between people interacting across explicit lines of power or authority) components (Szreter

& Woolcock, 2004). A scale assessing these components of Social Capital has been developed



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for Aboriginal respondents (Mignone, 2003). This measure was included in the present research

to assess the effects of the learning program on the social aspect of holistic health.

With holistic health understood as a state of connectedness that includes connection to

land, community, and culture, food plays a unique and meaningful role in holistic health. Food

serves a social function in that families and communities gather over the preparation and

consumption of regular meals and special feasts (Sered, 1988; Vennum, 1988). Food serves a

cultural function as a symbolic expression of a particular collective identity. For the Inuit and

other Aboriginal people, consumption of traditional foods is a way to practice a connection with

the land (Statistics Canada, 2001; Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996; Willows,

2005). Given its importance in holistic health, it is important to consider the overall food system

within which Aboriginal health unfolds, and to question the resilience of a community in relation

to its capacity to provide for the food needs of its population.

Community Resilience, Food and Health

When health is understood to include a sense of connectedness among healthy individuals

within a healthy community, it becomes necessary to consider essential aspects of community

functioning, such at its food system. In other words, health thrives within a resilient community

that is able to offer a range of social and tangible supports to its citizens even under changing

circumstances and external shocks. As such, it is important to examine the quality, resilience and

sustainability of essential systems within the community such as the food system.

Like most people today, those in the communities that participated in this research access

the mainstream food system, particularly convenience stores and grocery stores in nearby towns

for their food (Ray, 2007). The sustainability and resilience of this global food system in general

has been questioned elsewhere (e.g., Heinberg & Bomford, 2009; FAOUN, 2008), but the issues



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are exacerbated for people living in remote communities. Specifically, the mainstream food

system is heavily dependent upon a processing and distribution matrix that is only able to exist in

the presence of affordable fuel and well developed transportation routes (Petrini, 2007). In

remote communities, food and other goods must travel further along less developed highways,

and in some cases be flown in, resulting in greatly increased cost and reduced quality of fresh

produce. Therefore, in these communities, fresh produce tends to be of poorer quality, and the

food options that are available and accessible tend to be of lower nutritional value overall

(INAC, 2007; Lawn & Harvey, 2004). Furthermore, this international food system is particularly

vulnerable at its edges, in its capacity to support people in remote communities under conditions

of shock or change. A spike in the cost of fuel, a highway wash-out, or weather that prohibits

flying could mean that store shelves dwindle, decreasing community food security, and revealing

the limited resilience of communities that depend exclusively on this food system to support their

populations.

Resilient communities are those which have the resources, infrastructure, and capacity to

meet their own essential needs in the event of an external crisis (Hopkins, 2008). As such, these

communities are able to maintain basic functioning while adapting quickly to new situations. The

degree to which a community can provide its own essential food needs is an important indicator

of its resilience. Typically, a community that is resilient in its food supply is one that produces

food nearby to the people who consume that food; and in which there is a constant exchange and

evolution of food related knowledge, including knowledge of all aspects of the food system,

from production through preparation, consumption and waste management (Feenstra, 2002).

Again, one can argue from this definition that the entire mainstream food system is lacking in

resilience (Heinberg & Bomford, 2009). However, in remote Canadian communities that are



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primarily Aboriginal the issue is again exacerbated by the suppression of local knowledge that

occurred over the past few hundred years. Specifically, for Canada’s Aboriginal peoples, a

locally rooted base of food knowledge has been dwindling as a result of residential school

experiences, disruptions to intergenerational transfer, past policies and practices of forced

assimilation, and environmental contamination from industry and resource extraction (Ohmagari

& Berkes, 1997; Waisberg & Holzkamm, 1993). Therefore, an important part of increasing

community resilience is to facilitate the exchange and development of food knowledge that is

grounded in place, in the reality of the land and the life it encompasses.

Based on the preceding review of the literature, Aboriginal Canadians adopt a holistic

understanding of health in which the health of individuals, community and land are seen to be

fundamentally linked. Our purpose was to develop a health promotion program, the Learning

Garden, that would foster this holistic vision of health by increasing the physical and emotional

well-being of individuals, as well as their perceptions of the social capital in their community.

Food is an important component in several aspects of holistic health, from nutrition to cultural

and social connections. It is also fundamental to community resilience, and so our health

promotion program unfolded in the context of an experiential learning program in cultivated

gardening and forest foods. Thus the second purpose of the program was to increase knowledge

of both cultivated and forest gardens2, and the connection between nutrition and health. An

2 “Forest gardens” refers to the food and medicine available naturally in the forests and waterways, as

well as to foods that may be planted, cultivated, or otherwise manipulated by humans prior to harvest in the forest

environment (e.g., transplanting wild rice to different lakes). This is often referred to as “country food.” We chose

the term forest garden to explicitly recognize that the line between cultivated and forest food may not be as rigid

as often assumed.



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increase in knowledge and community capacity for local and cultivated food should ultimately

help foster community resilience and the other components of holistic health.

The interconnected and holistic Aboriginal worldview has implications not only for

conceptualizations of health but also for approaches to learning. The Learning Garden program

drew on the First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning Model (Canadian Council on Learning,

2007) for its design. This model will be described next followed by a description of the

pedagogical approach and content of the Learning Garden program.

First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning Model

In the design of the Learning Garden program we sought an approach that would resonate

most effectively with the Aboriginal learners. The First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning

Model (Canadian Council on Learning, 2007) was developed by a team of First Nations

educators and advisors and describes an approach to learning that is consistent with the First

Aroland potato harvest



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Nation worldview. In this model it is recognized that the purpose of learning is to develop the

skills and wisdom that will ensure the sustainability of life. Furthermore, it is understood that

individual learning occurs in a cyclical manner throughout the lifespan. Therefore, rather than

being a linear progression that is compartmentalized in specific ages or locations (e.g., school),

learning is understood to be a developmental process that seeks to balance the spiritual, physical,

mental, and emotional dimensions of the person’s being and ultimately produce both individual

and collective well-being. The model also describes the First Nation worldview in which the

learner is embedded as “a world of continual reformation, where interactive cycles, rather than

disconnected events, occur. In this world, nothing is simply a cause or an effect, but is instead

the expression of the interconnectedness of life” (Canadian Council on Learning, 2007).

This holistic and life-long view of learning that is directed toward well-being and

sustainability is consistent with the purpose and perspective of the Learning Garden program.

For example, the Learning Garden program uses the metaphor of the garden to conceptualize

health learning. In the context of this program, the garden is not understood to be a plot of land

that is separated and demarcated from the surrounding lands, but is rather understood to be the

sustainable tending of any environment, forest, backyard, or community field, to produce

indigenous healthy foods. As such, learning in the Learning Garden is viewed through the lens of

the cyclical, interconnected, life-and health-sustaining garden, and is therefore profoundly place-

based, experiential, and holistic.





The Learning Garden

health. Based on the definition of health held by individuals in Ginoogaming (Ray, 2007) and on

literature in psychology (e.g., Şimşek, 2009; Xu & Roberts, 2010; ) and Aboriginal health (e.g.,

Barnett & Barnett, 2009), we operationalized holistic health to include self-rated physical health,

emotional well-being, satisfaction with life, and social capital. The program incorporated the

principles of the First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning Model and the insights of the

community partners and their experiences and reflections on a community garden pilot project in

2007. A detailed description of the intervention will be provided following a summary of the

pedagogical approach that was adopted in the design and delivery of the program.

Building and setting out the

Ginoogaming garden boxes



The Learning Garden

Learning Approach

As stated earlier, the definition or model of health that is held by community members is

a critical factor when developing health promotion programs intended to benefit that community.

Likewise, a health promotion program that emphasizes learning should also work within the

model of learning that is held by its participants. In light of this concern, the Learning Garden

program drew on the First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning Model developed by the Canadian

Council on Learning (Canadian Council on Learning, 2007) and the insights of the community

partners the previous summer (Ray, 2007) in establishing its approach to learning. As such, the

pedagogical approach taken in the design and implementation of this program was holistic,

experiential, and place-based.

Recent research in education has sought to define holistic education (Forbes, 2003) and

its implications for learning and well-being (e.g., Cornelius-White, 2007). The common defining

feature is a basic assumption that the purpose of education is to facilitate the discovery of

identity, meaning, and purpose through connections to the community and the natural world

(Forbes, 2003). Therefore, while a given program might be on literacy or health, the holistic

approach recognizes that in addressing any of these issues, the whole person and his or her

dynamic inter-relationships with family, community, and nature must be considered (e.g., Jones,

2003). For example, a management education program in a business school for economically

disadvantaged students in South Africa provided a holistic approach by going beyond the

provision of career-oriented skills and knowledge to include the development of psychological

strengths and community engagement (Heaton, 2008).

A holistic approach to learning is appropriate in the context of an Aboriginal learning

program because the First Nations worldview is likewise holistic and interconnected. Holistic





The Learning Garden

community and natural environment. Learning by doing in the context of family and community

experience is seen as being an essential component of learning for Aboriginal people (Canadian

Council on Learning, 2007).

Another important feature of the present approach is that learning is viewed as being

place-based. Recent thinking in the field of education emphasizes the importance of place in

learning and development across the lifespan. Learning in place (re)connects the individual with

all levels of the human and biological ecology, grounding the person in the local bioregion, and

in the history and culture of the community (e.g., Gruenewald, 2003; Knapp, 2005; Rahm, 2002;

Smith, 2002). As such, it is particularly relevant to Aboriginal learning, as place is fundamental

to the individual’s experience of the unity of creation, and particular places can hold deep

spiritual significance. The meaning of place in Aboriginal learning was reviewed in the report on

Learning from Place by the Canadian Council on Learning (2007). It can also be seen in recent

research on Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) (see also Barnhardt, 2006; 2008). TEK is

the cumulative body of knowledge, beliefs, and practices held by a community about the

interrelationships of all living things and the environment (Berkes, 1999). Research on TEK with

Aboriginal peoples suggests that cultural knowledge, beliefs, and values are learned in dynamic

interaction with the local ecosystem, so that culture and ecosystem are understood to be a social-

ecological system, with individual learning taking place within this nexus (Davidson-Hunt &

Berkes, 2003).

In sum, the approach to learning that informed the design and implementation of the

Learning Garden program was holistic, experiential and place-based, as these three components

of learning have been identified as important in Aboriginal models of learning.

Program Description.



The Learning Garden

The program consisted of a series of 10 full-day workshops that were held in alternating

weeks in each community from May though September, 2008. Each workshop was facilitated by

a community-based project coordinator who was directed and supported by the research team to

follow the workshop outline (Appendix A) by covering the topics associated with each while

pursuing the goals of the program as a whole in a manner adapted to the particular backgrounds

and perspectives of the workshop participants. In this way we sought to ensure that the key

aspects of the intervention were conducted in each community while giving the coordinator the

flexibility to co-create the learning experience with the workshop participants. This responsive,

bottom-up approach proved essential to the success of the intervention as the cultural uniqueness

of the communities involved made it difficult to create a single format that would have been

appealing to all workshop participants.

The coordinators were first instructed in the holistic, experiential, and place-based

approach to learning that was to guide the program. The First Nations Learning Model (Canadian

Council on Learning, 2007) and its tree imagery were used to help make this approach clear to

the coordinators. The Ginoogaming coordinator also chose to discuss this model with the

learners in one workshop. Ideas for how to adopt a holistic approach to learning that were

discussed with the coordinators included incorporating traditional ceremonies and imagery such

as the medicine wheel into the workshop design, and discussing with participants the

interconnections among physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health of the individual and

community. The coordinators keenly understood the need for an experiential approach to the

workshops and ideas that were discussed included ways that the coordinators could guide and

share in the learning process, reflecting on the success of different techniques, while working as

a group outside on garden planting, maintenance, and harvest or while engaged in forest food



The Learning Garden

acquisition. Ideas for how to adopt a place-based approach to learning that were discussed with

the coordinators included seeking out the knowledge of local elders and garden enthusiasts to

inform the group, and building local forest and cultivated garden knowledge that was based on

the unique social-ecological system of the immediate surroundings.

Some elements that the coordinators were instructed to incorporate in different

combinations in the workshops included an outdoor, experiential component, a discussion and

reflection component, activities or discussion on the cultivated garden, activities or discussion on

the forest garden, development of a local food map and the development of each workshop

participant’s food journal. The local food maps were developed over the course of the first half

of the workshops with some minor additions occurring later. The food mapping exercise involves

the use of a large map of the community’s traditional land use area. Through open sharing and

dialogue, participants locate areas of the traditional lands that are used for the acquisition of

foods including large (moose) and small (grouse) game, fish, wild rice, and blueberries. These

areas are then marked on the map providing the community with a visual resource of important

zones in the local food system (Raymond, Bryan, MacDonald, Cast, Strathearn, Grandgirard &

Kalivas, 2009). The food journal exercise (based on the diet diary used in nutrition research; e.g.,

de Castro, 2009) involves having each participant keep track of the foods they have eaten each

day (or most days). This exercise brings awareness to patterns of food consumption and offers a

starting point for group discussion on trends in the group and implications for nutrition and well-

being. Traditional ceremonies were also recommended for the coordinator or designate to

implement at each workshop. The workshop group was also to prepare healthy food to eat for

lunch and snacks as a group, and a prize draw of healthy groceries was to serve as an incentive

for attending each workshop.



The Learning Garden

The outline of topics covered in each workshop is shown in sequence in Appendix A. The

manner in which these topics address the goals of the program will be discussed next. There

were two broad goals of the program: (1) to increase holistic health and (2) to increase

knowledge in the areas of vegetable gardening, forest food, and nutrition and health.

Holistic health was conceptualized to include physical and emotional health, satisfaction

with life, and social capital. We sought to increase physical health by increasing the nutritional

value of workshop participants’ diets through access to a greater amount and variety of fresh

vegetables and forest foods including blueberries and local fish. Community gardening projects

have been found to enhance nutrition and physical health in a range of urban and rural settings

(e.g., Wakefield, Yeudall, Taron, Reynolds, & Skinner, 2007). Likewise, participating in the

planting and maintenance of a cultivated garden is known to increase levels of physical activity

(Armstrong, 2000), and while there is no research in precisely this area, we assumed that

increasing participants’ activity levels in the acquisition of forest food would likewise increase

levels of physical activity and health. Therefore, many of the program activities were aimed at

both enhanced diet and increased physical activity. Every workshop meeting involved some

amount of physical activity, varying in intensity from the building and moving of garden boxes

to weeding and thinning of the vegetable garden, as well as excursions on foot to areas for

fishing and blueberry gathering. Every workshop meeting included the preparation of healthy

food and snacks and a prize draw of healthy groceries. The final 4 workshops also included

harvesting, preparation, and consumption of vegetables from the garden.

Emotional health and satisfaction with life have both been found to be increased by

community garden experiences (Armstrong, 2000; Wakefield, et al., 2007) as well as by time

spent in nature (e.g., Mayer, Frantz, Bruehlman-Senecal, & Dolliver, 2009). An increase in



The Learning Garden

social capital or sense of community has also been described as one of the main benefits of

garden experiences, as individuals exchange experiences and ideas relating to the garden and

engage in conversation over shared tasks such as weeding or watering (Patel, 1991). While this

has not been studied specifically in the past, we also expected that the experience of developing a

community food map would likewise stimulate an enhanced sense of community belonging and

connectedness.

The second overall goal of the program was to increase knowledge in the areas of

cultivated gardening, forest foods, and nutrition and health. Every workshop included time spent

learning experientially in the cultivated garden or forest garden. Workshop participants were to

be engaged physically in every aspect of planning, preparing, planting, maintaining, and

harvesting the cultivated garden. The first workshop included a guided experience in planning

and assembling 3 large garden boxes. The second involved a hands’ on comparison of soils

under different combinations of compost and peat moss as well as a guest leader with specific

insight on composting. In the planting workshop, participants handled and planted different seeds

and explored the reasons for planting under different depths and condition of soil. Weeding,

thinning, and watering, as well as plant supports were discussed as circumstances warranted.

Harvesting and preparation were likewise covered as participants engaged physically with these

activities in the harvesting and kitchen workshops. This experiential approach to learning how to

garden has been found to be effective in other garden programs (Parmer, Salisbury-Glennon,

Shannon & Struempler, 2009).

We sought to increase forest food knowledge by encouraging the workshop coordinators

to access the local knowledge of elders and hunters in the community for activities and

demonstrations relating to the acquisition and preparation of forest foods. Discussions and story-



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telling among the workshop participants themselves also allowed for knowledge sharing in

strategies relating to forest foods. The food mapping exercise was a vivid demonstration of

community knowledge sharing in forest food. Opportunities to learn about food and nutrition

were likewise built into most workshops. Discussions and presentations relating to the nutritional

quality of processed food, forest food, and the products of the cultivated garden allowed for

comparison and insight into the health impacts of various foods. Such techniques have been used

successfully in several similar programs (e.g., Parmer, et al., 2009; Lautenschlager & Smith,

2007). Kitchen activities conducted at each workshop for the preparation of group snacks and

lunch also provided an opportunity for experiential learning in the skills needed to prepare a

variety of healthy food options. The food journals allowed participants to become aware of the

trends in their food choices and to connect the nutritional quality of their diet with their sense of

well-being (de Castro, 2009).

Experiential learning about the

role of worms in composting, in

Ginoogaming.



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The cultural fit of a health promotion program is critical to its success (e.g., Prior, 2009;

Anderson, Scrimshaw, Fullilove, Fielding, Normand, 2003). The program was designed to

flexibly adopt a shape that was consistent with the cultural perspective of the given community.

For example, traditional ceremonies and celebrations (Powwow, Trapper’s festival) were

incorporated into the workshop cycle under the direction of the coordinators. Dialogue and story

telling in the area of traditional forest foods and the development of the food map were also

intended to ensure a traditional cultural perspective. By bringing people outdoors to connect

physically with the land and the food it provides, we also intended to increase a sense of

connection to the land, which is intimately related to culture in the Aboriginal worldview

(Wilson, 2003). The fourth and fifth workshops explicitly connected culture with health and food

by taking participants through a “mindful eating” exercise (Bays, 2009) in relation to both

Western junk food and more traditional Aboriginal food. Discussion concerning the values that

support consumption of each type of food followed from questions such as “why do you eat

traditional food (e.g., moose meat) / Western food (e.g., chips)? Who are you with when you eat

each type of food and what are you doing? How do you feel after eating large quantities of each?

What cultural values are reflected in each type of food and eating experience? Guided discussion

then explored how the different cultural values reflected in food behaviour and choices may

affect individual and community health and well-being.

The Present Study

As stated above, the specific goals of the program were to increase self-rated physical

health, emotional well-being, life satisfaction, and social capital, and to increase knowledge of

vegetable gardening, forest foods, and nutrition and health. The purpose of the research was to

(1) examine the outcomes of the program against these goals and to explore three additional



The Learning Garden

research questions based on the gaps identified above in the literature review. Specifically, (2)

we observed through qualitative analysis the process of learning that unfolded in the context of

the program with an eye to understanding whether the holistic, experiential, and place-based

approach we used resonated with program participants. In addition, (3) we drew upon

quantitative survey data to better understand participants’ current food behaviours, food values,

and perceptions of the food system, in addition to how these perceptions and behaviours

correlated with other variables of interest, including holistic health and cultural identity. Finally,

(4) we explored through qualitative data the participants’ perceptions of place and sought a better

understanding of the interactions among place, food, and culture.

The research design involved a mixed methods approach including quantitative, survey

data, and qualitative data in the form of observations, transcribed workshop sessions, and

interviews. In order to test the outcomes of the program, we intended to conduct a pre-test survey

of program participants in the spring and a post-test survey with the same participants in the fall.

The survey included measurements of the indicators of holistic health (self-rated physical health,

emotional well-being, life satisfaction, and social capital), as well as self-rated knowledge of

forest foods, gardening, and nutrition, and measures of food behaviour, food values, perceptions

of the food system, and cultural identity.



The Learning Garden

Communities

The Learning Garden Program was implemented in partnership with two First Nation

communities (Ginoogaming and Aroland) to increase health and knowledge of gardening, forest

foods, and nutrition and health within each community. Aroland, Ontario is a Cree and Ojibwe

First Nation community located 330km North East of Thunder Bay where approximately 325

reside. Ginoogaming, Ontario is an Ojibwe First nation community located 300km North East of

Thunder Bay where approximately 303 reside. Both communities participated in this partnership

in the hopes of building capacity in their communities, and had pre-existing relationships with

the university researchers through a community garden project conducted in 2007 and ongoing

work on food system contaminants. In addition, several members from Constance Lake First

Nation, which has a population of approximately 283 and is located 172km east of Ginoogaming,

participated in the workshops held in Ginoogaming First Nation. Members from the communities

Elders and youth planting a garden i

the bush, Aroland.



The Learning Garden

were actively involved in the program: community-based coordinators ran the knowledge

exchange workshops, and many others participated in maintenance of the cultivated gardens.

Method

Participants

Participants in the workshops were a broad sampling of community members, including

children from science classes in each community (Aroland 12, Ginoogaming 10) and their

teachers (Aroland 2, Ginoogaming 1), adolescent youth who participated through summer

employment opportunities run by their band councils (Aroland 3, Ginoogaming 22), adults

employed by the health centres (Aroland 1, Ginoogaming 3, Constance Lake 5), elders and other

community members (Aroland ~ 25, Ginoogaming 6). In Aroland, a large number of community

members participated in a community blueberry harvest that was run as a workshop, but was also

a broader community venture. In Ginoogaming, approximately 8 individuals employed by their

health centres, including 5 from Constance Lake, participated regularly throughout the summer.

Ginoogaming coordinator leading a

workshop



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With the exception of this core group, most individuals in Ginoogaming and all of those in

Aroland participated intermittently, attending a small number of workshops throughout the

summer, with particular attendance in spring and fall. All workshop participants were

volunteers. We had not expected to see such variability in attendance throughout the program

and to see the greatest dedication to the program coming from existing community health

workers. These community health workers (8 in Ginoogaming / Constance Lake and 1 in

Aroland) were particularly interested in learning about gardening and forest foods as ways to

enhance their own health and that of their community members. Several indicated that

opportunities for training in this area were otherwise limited.

All individuals who participated in a workshop were provided with a copy of the cover

letter (Appendix B). The purpose and design of the program and research were explained and

individuals were invited to participate in the quantitative research and interviews. The children in

the sciences classes participated in the workshops but not in the quantitative research, nor in the

interviews. As explained in the cover letter, all participants in the workshops understood that

audio recordings and notes would be taken during the workshops.

As a result of this intermittent pattern of attendance, it became clear that we would not be

able to run the quantitative study as a pre-post survey design as we had intended. This meant that

we were not able to conduct a quantitative assessment of the outcomes of the program (i.e.,

change in holistic health and knowledge over time), which presented a significant limitation to

the research. However, we were able to explore the outcomes of the program through the

qualitative data. Furthermore, instead of having each of one group of participants complete the

survey twice (spring and fall) as we had intended, we collected survey data from each willing

participant throughout the program, regardless of the number of workshops they attended and



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when. This allowed us to explore the second research question regarding food system usage and

its correlates with quantitative data. This revised procedure resulted in N=18 participants

including 5 males and 13 females. The age of this sample ranged from 16 to 66, with a mean age

of 30. Five individuals, including 4 from Constance Lake and 1 from Aroland, participated in the

more focused interview questions.

Materials and Procedure: Quantitative Study

Workshop attendees who were interested in completing a survey first completed an

informed consent form (Appendix C), and were then provided with a copy of the survey

(Appendix D). Participants generally completed the survey during a break from the workshop,

although a small number took the surveys home to return them at the next workshop. Following

informed consent, participants generated a code name based on certain letters of their own names

and their mothers’ names for the purposes of matching pre and post-test surveys, and then

responded to a number of demographic items including age, gender, and language use.

Participants then completed each of the following sections of the questionnaire. Upon

completion of the questionnaire, participants were thanked and given a debriefing letter

(Appendix E).

Food Knowledge. The first set of questions assessed participants’ self-rated knowledge of

forest and cultivated food production and nutrition. Participants indicated on a 5-point likert

scale (1 = not at all, 2 = a little, 3 = moderately, 4 = quite a bit , and 5 = extremely) how

knowledgeable they felt they were of 14 areas, such as locating where whitefish can be caught,

planting seeds for vegetable plants, and preparing healthy food. These items were grouped into 3



The Learning Garden

subscales and alpha reliability4 of each was found to be adequate. These were: traditional food

knowledge (6 items, alpha = .85), cultivated gardening (4 items, alpha = .94) and the role of

nutrition in health (3 items, alpha = .88). These items were developed by the research team to

allow respondents to self-assess their knowledge in the three areas of knowledge the program

was targeted to increase, forest foods, cultivated gardening, and nutrition and health.

Physical Health and Nutrition. Participants then completed a section on physical health

and nutrition, beginning with four single-item measures assessing (1) self-rated general health (1

= poor , 2 = fair , 3 = good , 4 = very good , 5 = excellent ), (2) self-rated mental health (1 = poor , 2

= fair , 3 = good , 4 = very good , 5 = excellent ), (3) perceived levels of life stress (1 = not at all, 2

= not very, 3 = a bit , 4 = quite a bit , 5 = extremely), and (4) self-rated weight (1 = very

unhealthy, 2 = unhealthy, 3 = average, 4 = healthy, 5 = very healthy). They then checked off any

of 16 activities they had participated in within the past 3 months, including walking, gardening,

and bicycling, and self-rated their levels of physical activity (1 = not at all active, 2 = not very

active, 3 = a bit active, 4 = quite active, 5 = extremely active). Following these measures,

participants rated how much they typically ate each of 20 foods, including locally available (e.g.,

moose, blueberries) and store-bought foods (e.g., beef, bananas) on a 5-point likert scale (1 = not

at all, 2 = a little, 3 = occasionally, 4 = often, 5 = very often), and then self-rated the nutritional

level of their eating habits (1 = very unhealthy, 2 = unhealthy, 3 = average, 4 = healthy, 5 = very

healthy). Participants were then asked to circle yes or no if they had been diagnosed with any of

7 chronic health conditions including diabetes and high cholesterol, and indicated if they

smoked.

4 Cronbach’s Alpha assesses the reliability or internal consistency of a survey measure, it is an indicator of

how well the items in a scale correlate amongst themselves.



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Subjective Well-Being. Participants then completed the Satisfaction with Life Scale

(Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) by indicating agreement with 5 items such as, “In

most ways my life is close to my ideal,” using a 5-point likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 2 =

disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree). Alpha reliability of this scale was found to

be .80. To assess emotional well-being, participants completed the Positive and Negative Affect

Scale (PANAS) (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988), a 20-item measure on which participants

indicate how often they feel each emotion using a 5-point scale (1 = very slightly or not at all, 2

= a little, 3 = moderately, 4 = quite a bit , 5 = e xtremely). Alpha reliability was found to be .94 for

the positive affect items (e.g., excited, enthusiastic) and .84 for the negative affect items (e.g.,

upset, guilty).

Social Capital. Participants then completed a 12 item measure of social capital adapted

to a First Nations context and based on the work of Mignone (2003). This measure assesses the

bonding, bridging, and linking aspects of social capital. Bonding refers to the quality of the

relationships among members of a group (e.g., “generally speaking, most people in this

community can be trusted”), and bridging refers to connections formed between groups (e.g.,

“People in this community tend to always associate with the same group of people”). Linking,

which was recently proposed by Szreter and Woolcock (2004), explicitly recognizes the

mechanisms with which people form links across different levels of social, economic, or political

power (e.g., “My community works together with other First Nations to improve the situation of

First Nations people”). Participants indicate agreement with these items on a 5-point likert scale

(1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree). Reliability of

this scale was found to be alpha = .88.



The Learning Garden

Food Security. The next section of the survey assessed participants’ perceptions of and

behaviours within the food system. The first questionnaire consisted of 21 items assessing

perceived food security. The first 17 are a measure of perceived food security generated by the

first author (Lychowyd & Stroink, 2008; Skavinski & Stroink, 2008), which assesses

individuals’ perceptions that they are able to access sufficient food (e.g., “I have easy access to

sources of nutritious food”). The remaining 4 were drawn from government-based measures of

food security and emphasize hunger or lack of food in the home (e.g., “In the past year, the food

that you and your family had ran out, and there was no way to get more”) (Bickel, Nord, Price,

Hamilton, & Cook, 2000). All items in this scale were rated on a 5-point likert scale (1 =

strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree). For the present

analyses, only the first 17 items were used, and were found to be reliable; perceived food

security was reliable at alpha = .95.

Participants then indicated how frequently they accessed food from each of 14 sources,

including grocery stores, gathering, hunting, and sharing on a 6-point likert scale (0 = Not

available in my community, 1 = never or very rarely, 2 = Rarely, 3 = Sometimes, 4 = Often, 5 =

Always or almost always). These food behaviour items, developed for the present study, were

grouped into 3 subscales, including (1) grocery/convenience (3 items assessing behaviours of

frequency of visiting a grocery store in Thunder Bay, grocery store in nearby town, and

convenience store), (2) gathering (5 items assessing behaviours of gathering berries, gathering

herbs, gathering medicinal plants, gathering wild rice, and gathering other forest products), and

(3) fishing/hunting/trapping (3 items assessing the behaviours of fishing, hunting, and trapping).

However, the item “grocery store in Thunder Bay” was removed from the grocery/convenience

subscale because of a low alpha reliability coefficient of 0.45. By removing the item, it improved





The Learning Garden

the centrality of the identity, or the subjective importance of the group to the individual’s

identity, (2) the in-group affect associated with the identity, or the emotions that arise for the

individual as a result of membership in the group, and (3) the in-group ties associated with each

identity, or the psychological ties that bind the individual to the group. Participants indicated

agreement on a 5 point Likert scale (1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree,

5 = Strongly agree). The alpha reliability coefficients for the overall measure of cultural identity

for Aboriginal culture and Canadian culture were 0.67 and 0.80, respectively. Two additional

measures of cultural identity, the first assessing aspects of participants’ implicit identity structure

and being developed by the first author, and the second assessing Bicultural Identity Integration

(Benet-Martinez & Haritatos, 2005; Haritatos & Benet-Martinez, 2002) were for exploratory

purposes only and were not analyzed in the present research.

Procedure: Qualitative Study

This research adopted a mixed-methods approach and incorporated both qualitative and

quantitative data to ensure as rich an understanding of the health learning process and the

perceptions of the people involved as possible. As described by Trull, Stroink, Nelson, & Ray

(2009), the mixed- methods approach is particularly advantageous in research involving First

Nations people. For example, in a quantitative survey design, the questions and variables of

interest are defined in advance by the researcher, who may not be fully aware of the complexity

of factors that define the issues at hand within the community itself. Therefore, the findings of a

purely quantitative study may not accurately reflect the full situation as perceived within the

community.



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Qualitative research that adopts a phenomenological approach (Groenewald, 2004) brings

forward the voices of the community members themselves, taking in the actual lived experiences

of the participants throughout the research process. Therefore, the qualitative portion of this

research attempts to capture the essence of the people and their holistic experiences in the

context of the learning program, exploring the meanings that the individuals themselves create

and assign to events in the workshops. As such, a phenomenological approach to qualitative

research is considered to be compatible with Indigenous peoples as well as indigenous

approaches to knowledge and knowledge-sharing (Struthers & Peden-McAlpine, 2005).

Furthermore, one of our research questions involved an ongoing assessment of the

learning process and participants’ experiences in the program. This question is best addressed

through methods that are open to the emergent qualities of the experience as taken from the

participants’’ perspectives. The usual quantitative approach to assessing learning, by testing for

concrete pieces of knowledge in a paper and pencil quiz, would not have been appropriate in this

setting. Specifically, given the organic and community-driven nature of the program, and the

cyclical and holistic view of learning-for-wellness adopted in the Learning Model, a holistic

approach to observing the dynamic evolution of knowledge within the community as a whole is

more appropriate. Therefore, by conducting naturalistic observations within the workshops

themselves as well as more focused interviews with the participants as part of the qualitative

research, we are able to gain insight into the actual process of learning as experienced and

defined by the participants themselves.

In sum, the present research adopted a mixed-methods approach and considers the

contributions of both qualitative and quantitative approaches to be of equal and complementary

value. We will now describe each of the qualitative data collection techniques in more detail.



The Learning Garden

Observations. Field notes were collected by a student researcher who attended the

workshops in Ginoogaming and Aroland from May to September, 2008. Because workshops in

Aroland were at times held spontaneously, and the researcher was not always able to schedule a

trip to the community, there were three workshops in Aroland that were held with no student

researcher present. In these cases, a verbal report was received from the community coordinator,

and noted by the principle investigator. There were also three workshops in Ginoogaming that a

different student researcher from our team attended, again due to scheduling difficulties. The

researcher collected audio recordings of each workshop and kept observational notes of events as

they unfolded. The student researcher would also participate in the workshops, providing

knowledge of cultivated gardening where appropriate. Field notes are critical to qualitative

research (Neuman, 2000). Given the relatively narrow focus of this qualitative research on the

learning process, and to avoid having the student researcher’s interpretations obscure the essence

of the participants’ discussions (e.g., Fouche, 1993), only observational notes were taken, and all

analysis and reflection were conducted afterward by the researchers and community

coordinators. The student researchers were instructed to take note of events that would give

meaning and context to the audio recordings. For example, to note the actions and activities that

were taking place at different times (e.g., group moves to the garden, conversation occurring

during weeding, description of traditional ceremony), and to record reactions of individuals and

groups that may not be audible (e.g., group seems surprised by information on food miles).

Verbatim transcriptions from the audio recordings were made by a team of 3 students under the

supervision of the student who collected the data using ExpressScribe software equipped with a

foot pedal.



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Interviews. Five interviews were conducted involving 1 male and 1 female from Aroland,

1 male from Ginoogaming, and 2 females from Constance Lake. The latter two women were

interviewed together. All interview participants were over the age of 18 and had participated in at

least one workshop. The interviews varied in length from 20 to 60 minutes and were conducted

between August and September, 2008. Four of the interviews were held by the primary student

researcher and one was held by the principle investigator.

Questioning was open-ended, with probes to ensure key topics were covered in detail.

These key topics were: (1) perceptions of individual and community health, (2) holistic, place-

based health learning, and what this meant to participants, (3) perceptions and knowledge of the

forest and cultivated gardens, (4) experiences of social capital, and (5) the nature and

compatibility of food-related cultural values. While this topic list provided the interviewer with a

guide, the dialogue was allowed to flow naturally, and interviews often focused more on one or

two of the topics than the others. Four of the interviews were recorded and transcribed. In one

interview the audio equipment malfunctioned and the interviewer took detailed notes of the

participant’s responses.

Data Analysis

Participants’ responses on each survey item were entered and analyzed using SPSS.

Preliminary analyses, including measures of central tendency, variability, and distribution were

conducted to check for entry errors, outliers, and normalcy. No issues were identified.

The phenomenological approach to qualitative data involves displaying findings in the

form of themes (Struthers & Peden-McAlpine, 2005). Data was analyzed through intensive and

repetitive reading through the transcripts and notes, sharing and discussing emergent themes

within the research team and community coordinators, and then refining and narrowing themes



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into key findings. This process was guided by the research questions of the study. Upon analysis

of this data it became clear that emergent themes brought insight into the following research

questions (1) the outcomes of the Learning Garden program in terms of holistic health and

knowledge of forest and cultivated food and nutrition, (2) the process of learning that unfolded

in the Learning Garden program and participants’ experiences of gardening, (3) the state of the

current food system, its security and sustainability and its relationship with other variables such

as social capital, and particularly (4) the meaning of “place” and how learning in and through

place impacts both health and food security. The qualitative findings on the state of the food

system complement the quantitative data, both descriptive and correlational, in this area.

Results

The goals of the program were to increase self-rated physical health, emotional well-

being, life satisfaction, and social capital, and to increase knowledge of vegetable gardening,

forest foods, and nutrition and health. The purpose of the research was to (1) examine the

outcomes of the program against these goals, (2) to observe the process of learning that unfolded

in the context of the program, (3) to better understand participants’ current food behaviours, food

values, and perceptions of the food system, and how these correlated with holistic health and

cultural identity, and (4) to explore participants’ perceptions of place and the interactions among

place, food, and culture. The presentation of the results will follow the structure of these four

research questions, and will integrate findings from both qualitative and quantitative data where

possible, as this provides a rich image of the overall findings.

1. Outcomes of the Learning Garden Program



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The goals of the program were to increase holistic health and knowledge in the areas of

gardening, forest foods, nutrition and health. Given that we were unable to collect survey data

from a single group of workshop participants both before and after the summer, we were unable

to directly test these outcomes of the program. The lack of both pre- and post- intervention data

from a large group of consistent workshop participants means that we are unable to objectively

assess change in health and knowledge over time.

While the quantitative data did not allow us to test these outcomes, we were able to

document moments of transformative insight and behavioural indicators of learning through the

qualitative data. For example, the demonstration of mindful eating was clearly a unique

experience for program participants, who were actively engaged in the exercise and contributed

many observations of the taste, texture, and experience of different foods including healthy,

unhealthy, processed and local/traditional foods. The participants in this workshop were

primarily youth and young adults, and the usual background chatter and movement ceased during

this portion of the exercise. The ensuing discussion around the holistic experience of food, the

physical, psychological, social, and cultural or spiritual dimensions was likewise spirited and “a-

ha” moments or expressions of insight (e.g., utterances, facial expressions) were documented in

10 of 18 people present. One youth commented, “We pray before eating moose meat, we honour

it… we don’t do this when eating candy or other junk food.” At another workshop, one woman

laughed at the new realization that she had been throwing out rhubarb, which she had thought

was a weed, growing in her own backyard.Furthermore, behavioural indicators of learning were

recorded. In Aroland, 4 people planted their own gardens at home for the first time, in

Ginoogaming, 3 did so, in Constance Lake, participants from the workshops planted a garden





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projects. Youth from both communities were hired by the Band office to gain experience

working with the coordinator or in developing local food initiatives. The participants from

Constance Lake took leadership in establishing gardens in their home community. In

Ginoogaming, where an elder had an old garden box, a group of women from the workshops

went over, weeded and planted some potatoes in the garden, applying the knowledge they had

gained from the previous workshop. Existing traditional practices that were discussed and passed

along in the workshops may also build social capital. For example, one participant in Aroland

described, “with white fish we use nets, cause we never fish them we just get them and take them

out and bring them back to our grandfathers, and they smoke them. And everybody would come

and have a feast and eat. Anyone who is walking by will come and check it out, and end up

having a nice meal.” As further demonstration of increased social capital at the regional level,

the researchers have been contacted by other communities interested in pursuing gardening

projects themselves in the 2009 season.



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2. Process of Learning

The second purpose of this research was to observe the process of learning as it unfolded

in the context of the Learning Garden program. Drawing on the qualitative analyses, we sought

to understand whether the holistic, experiential, and place-based approach we used in the

program resonated with program participants. These findings are organized around two key

themes: (1) Learning Process, and (2) Understandings of the Garden.

(1) Learning Process. Participants demonstrated a clear preference for experiential

learning, and workshops generally occurred either out in the bush with the coordinator, or around

the box gardens, with questions being addressed while everyone worked together on weeding or

One of 3 Ginoogaming box

gardens mid‐summer

Aroland fall harvest



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thinning of plants. For example, when holding discussions in the health centre, on four separate

occasions youth were noted to ask, “when are we going outside?” and to become more engaged

and participatory once this transition was made. The composting workshop, in which participants

built their own composter and handled the worms and layers of “worm food,” were particularly

engaging opportunities for learners, and significant discussion was had on the science of compost

and soil preparation in this very hands-on learning environment. Learning was also clearly

understood to be lifelong, as attendance within one workshop could vary from a class of

elementary school students to adults and elders.

The Learning Garden program was explicitly designed to be holistic, addressing the

whole individual, including emotional, mental, spiritual and physical aspects, as well as his or

her connections with community and nature. However, participants showed us a new depth to the

idea of holistic learning that depends upon and reflects the particular cultural orientation of the

individuals involved. Specifically, we found that the bimonthly schedule of workshops held at a

set time in the health center worked well with some participants but also seemed to prevent other

potential participants from joining in. When set up as a formal workshop in this manner,

community members sent their children, suggesting the belief that children learn formally.

However, many adults in the community preferred to do “workshops” at a kitchen table, or in the

bush, to do them spontaneously one-on-one with the coordinator, to immerse their learning into

their settings and routines of daily living. This style of immersed learning is profoundly holistic.

This preference was communicated to the Ginoogaming coordinator by 3 community members

who did not regularly participate in the workshops. Based on this observation, the community

coordinator from Ginoogaming recommended that future versions of this program build in a

facilitation role for the coordinator, with this individual providing informal advice and support to



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individual gardeners at their home gardens throughout the summer. However, it was also noted

that all 8 regular workshop participants indicated that they found the workshop style useful, and

this difference seemed to depend on the particular learning style and preference of the individual

learner.

(2) Understandings of the Garden. Differences in cultural understandings of the garden

were also observed. The western view of gardens and gardening knowledge is scientifically

based, precise, and carefully cultivated. For example, seeds are planted each to its specifications

and in a careful row. Soil is mixed to have just the right properties. The Aboriginal worldview is

less manipulative of nature than the western worldview, so the approach to gardening is also

different. Observations revealed that many Aboriginal participants viewed the garden as

spontaneous and naturally unfolding. For example, the Aroland box gardens were planted near a

forested area, seeds and potatoes were placed in the ground in a more spontaneous manner, and

intervention was minimized throughout the growing season. In Aroland, an active gardener who

participated irregularly in the workshop series maintained his own garden in a forest clearing

behind the community. For these individuals, the provision of detailed information on seed

placement and soil composition may have been counter-productive, making gardening seem

inaccessible and uninteresting. The following quote from a workshop in Ginoogaming is

illustrative:

• [Speaker 1] “My one friend she was planting a garden and putting in rows, and then she

got tired of it and so she just took a handful of them, and threw them in the garden. And

of course some will take, and some won’t, and so you don’t really have to even plant

them you know.” [Speaker 2] “ya,” [Speaker 3] “however deep.”



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Aboriginal communities and individuals are diverse, however, and whereas some

participants adopted the western approach to gardens, others preferred a more Aboriginal

approach. For example, the workshop participants and coordinator in Ginoogaming chose to

plant behind the health center. Those in Aroland planted their learning gardens a considerable

drive out of the community in the bush, which was perceived to be a cleaner location, less

polluted by humans and dogs. Therefore, the particular approach to gardening and to the

workshop structure depends upon the bicultural orientation of the particular participants. For

some, the structured and precise approach may be best, for others the spontaneous and immersed

approach may be best. This is why the presence of a community-based learning coordinator is

key to the success of programs like this. The coordinators in both communities were effective at

identifying the preferred approach of the particular individuals and adapting the program to suit

their needs.

3. Food Behaviours, Food Values, Perceptions of Food Systems, and Correlations

The third purpose of the research was to better understand participants’ current food

behaviours, food values, and perceptions of the food system, and how these correlated with

holistic health and cultural identity. Specifically, our aim was to document the current food

system(s) relied upon by participants in these communities, their perceptions of the security and

sustainability of these food systems, and the relationships between their behaviours in each food

system and outcomes such as holistic health and cultural identity. Participants’ use of different

food systems was best documented through responses to the quantitative survey items on the

frequency with which food is accessed from various sources and their self-rated knowledge of

each food system.



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Food System Usage. Participants’ mean ratings of how frequently they accessed food

from each of 9 sources are shown in Table 1 in descending order. These responses were analyzed

using a repeated measures analysis of variance, which indicated significant differences among

the 9 food sources listed, F (8,152) = 12.54, p = .000. Specifically, post-hoc paired samples t-tests

of adjacent means revealed that participants were significantly more likely to access food from

the convenience store than from fishing, and more likely to fish than hunt. Participants’ ratings

of the foods they currently eat are shown in Table 2 in descending order. These responses were

analyzed using a repeated measures analysis of variance, which indicated significant differences

among the 11 foods listed, F (11,187) = 2.81, p = .002. Post-hoc paired samples t-tests of

adjacent means revealed that participants were significantly more likely to eat chicken than

apples, more likely to eat apples than bananas, and more likely to eat fish than moose meat.

Table 1. Mean ratings of how frequently participants accessed food from each of 9 sources.

Food Source M SD

Nearby grocery store 4.25 1.21

Convenience store 3.30 1.38

Fishing 3.25 1.29

Hunting 2.85 1.27

Sharing 2.75 1.45

Trapping 2.05 1.54

Gathering berries 1.85 1.56

Big urban grocery store 1.60 1.67

Growing vegetables 1.15 1.31

Note. The following scale was used, 5 = Always; 4 = Often; 3 = Sometimes; 2 = Rarely; 1 = Never.



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Table 2. Mean ratings of the frequency with which select foods were eaten

Food M SD

Chicken 3.72 .96

Apples 3.50 1.29

Bananas 3.39 1.50

Beef 3.39 .92

Potatoes 3.39 1.04

Oranges 3.33 1.33

Lettuce 3.06 .94

Blueberries 3.00 1.14

Pork 2.72 1.32

Raspberries 2.72 1.13

Fish 2.72 1.27

Moose meat 2.56 .98

Note. The following scale was used: 5 = Very often; 4 = Often; 3 = Occasionally; 2 = A little; 1= Not at all.

Participants’ ratings of how knowledgeable they felt in accessing food from various

sources was assessed on a 5-point scale where 1 was “not at all,” 2 was “a little”, 3 was

“moderately,” 4 was “quite a bit” and 5 was “extremely.” Participants were most knowledgeable

in locating edible berries in the forest, at 2.63, and least knowledgeable in locating places where

wild rice grows at 1.26. Cultivated vegetable gardening was rated 2.38, and a combination of

hunting birds and game and trapping was rated 2.33.

Three clusters of food values emerged from the 16 items provided. Participants agreed

most strongly that price, tastiness, ease, convenience, familiarity, and availability at the store

were important in guiding their food choices, with a mean of 3.65 on a 5-point scale of



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agreement. Participants also generally agreed that the healthiness of the food was a guiding

consideration (healthy; not too salty, sweet, or processed) with a mean of 3.26. However, that the

food connects them with their cultural heritage or comes from the land nearby was rated the

lowest at 2.84, indicating slight disagreement. These responses were analyzed using a repeated

measures analysis of variance, which indicated significant differences among the 3 value

clusters, F (2,38) = 6.32, p = .004. Specifically, paired samples t-tests indicated that while the

healthiness of the food did not differ significantly from either of the other two clusters, the price

and ease cluster was rated significantly higher than the local and cultural cluster, t (19) = 3.50, p

= .002.

Participants’ perceptions of the sustainability and security of the mainstream and

traditional food systems can be gleaned from comments made during certain workshops. These

comments are noted below and grouped according to the food system they reflect.

Sustainability and Security of the Mainstream Food System. The following comments

indicate awareness among a small number of participants and the Ginoogaming program

coordinator of the flaws inherent in the mainstream food system. These comments were met with

surprise and negative emotional reactions within the majority of workshop participants. There

was also widespread recognition that obtaining fresh fruit and vegetables through the mainstream

food system is expensive and difficult in their communities where produce is shipped such great

distances.

• [Ginoogaming coordinator discussing the origins of a strawberry – which grow

locally - from California]: … And yet maybe it’s on a plane or a truck, and

cruising right up top here to maybe New York State, then crosses the river maybe.

… goes through all those the water channels whatever Montreal. Where they then



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take it from those great big crates or whatever they have them in and package

them up and there’s probably about 15 - 20 people on the assembly lines. They

put the label on it, gone. And from there, most likely these strawberries come

from, come into Thunder Bay. And from there they’re distributed on another

truck, to us, up here. So all the, these are why these things are so expensive to

buy because the gas price…, grown and picked, through here, to here, to here, to

here, to here, to here, finally, to here. And how old this must be. And how is it

that it’s so preserved, and so fresh looking when you buy it? After all that

journey that it was on how come it still has a freshness to it? It’s still fresh. Just

like you picked it up outside yourself this morning. There’s probably some kind

of preservative in here. Wax or something. Just like an apple. [shocked laughter]

• [Ginoogaming Coordinator on vegetables grown in garden vs. those at store]: We

feed our children, not knowing what’s really in there. And uh, this started, um,

here you knew, you know that it’s been seeded, it’s been planted, it’s been

nourished by the water that falls from our sky, and the pollen that the bees bring

from our land to grow this, so you’ll know that this came from our part of the

world, directly from my backyard.

• …we started pushing that [a community garden plan] because of just the cost of

fruits and vegetables, and the quality sometimes. It’s not fresh and we said hey

we use to garden before, why is it that no one gardens anymore? [Aroland]

• [Interviewer]: So how do people who don’t have a vehicle get to the grocery

store?... – “Well there is not that many people who eat vegetables.” [Aroland]





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diversion project for hydro, built 1940-1943] and it brought the water levels

down, but here we just had rain, and we make tea and the water boils faster

because its dammed. But their rice is good up there. [Interviewer – but not down

here?] – Down here it is too high… and it just started to grow but it’s too late the

buds don’t even have liquids in them. The rice pieces, where the rice grows,

they’re not even jelly or anything.

• [Ginoogaming Coordinator during discussion on origins of bottled water:] And

this lake, can you drink from it? [disagreement among youth at workshop] -you

know, you wouldn’t trust your life to even drink that water [due to perceived or

actual mercury contamination]. [Coordinator:] If that was the last water, your tap

didn’t work, say the water treatment plant broke down, and your water got shut

off, where would you go where would you go find water to drink? [no response]

[Coordinator:] - anybody? [laughter] [Coordinator:] - and that’s why it’s so

important you know to learn about where our food comes from, the water that

we’re drinking. And us, we should, you know, explore a little bit more on where

the fresh springs are. In our, in our part of the world. Here. Where’s the fresh

water?

Correlates of Food System Usage. The survey data provide opportunity to explore the

relationships between food system behaviours, knowledge, and values on the one hand, with

variables such as health, well-being, social capital and cultural identity on the other. These

quantitative analyses allow for preliminary exploration of the holistic image of community health

that surrounds food behaviours, possibly providing direction for future learning initiatives in this

area.



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Relationships among food sources, food values, food knowledge and the outcome

variables of health, life satisfaction, social capital, food security and cultural identity were

examined using Pearson Product correlations and a minimum type one error rate of p < .05.

Results of these correlations are shown in Table 3. These results suggest that engaging in forest

food activities such as hunting and fishing, and valuing local foods were associated with positive,

healthy qualities such as self-reported health, life satisfaction, and social capital. However,

perceived food security, or feeling secure about one’s food system, was associated with valuing

healthy foods, valuing convenient and affordable food, and getting food from the grocery store,

and was not related to accessing or valuing the local food system. The food knowledge variables,

reflecting participants’ knowledge of hunting, fishing, gathering, and growing their own food,

were not directly correlated with the health and well-being outcomes, but were correlated with

accessing the associated food source. Specifically, knowledge of hunting was correlated with

hunting behaviour, and this hunting behaviour was correlated with life satisfaction and social

capital. Identification with Aboriginal culture was not found to be significantly correlated with

any of the food knowledge, behaviour, or value variables, although it was positively correlated

with both knowledge of and actual engagement in fishing and hunting. Identification with

Aboriginal culture was also positively correlated with valuing cheap, tasty, and easy foods.

Identification with Canadian culture was significantly positively correlated with valuing healthy

food, and although not significantly so, was negatively correlated with valuing local foods.

Table 3. Correlations among food sources, food values, food knowledge and the outcomevariables of health, life satisfaction, social capital, food security and cultural identity





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experientially with their surroundings, to connect with their sense of place and draw new

knowledge about food and health through this process. In this study, we attempted to gain an

understanding of how learning through a sense of place affected understandings of food and

health through qualitative analysis, particularly researcher observation and transcribed

workshops, as well as some of the structured interviews.

We begin with the assumption that while all learning is about adaptation, place-based

learning emphasizes the exchange of knowledge most relevant to adaptation in the setting of the

people themselves, rather than to an assumed or decontextualized setting (Gruenewald, 2003;

Knapp, 2005; Rahm, 2002; Smith, 2002; Barnhardt, 2006; 2008). Beginning with these

assumptions about place-based learning, our observations and analysis of the transcripts resulted

in a sequence of insights that are best presented in the order in which they emerged to the

research team. These insights further resulted in some theoretical developments which will be

presented in the discussion section of this report.

(1) Perceptions of the immediate physical place or traditional lands.

As we began studying perceptions of place among our research participants, our focus

was on how they perceived the surrounding natural and physical environment, the traditional

lands of the communities. The first and most consistent themes to emerge when discussing the

immediate physical place were participants’ perceptions of (a) contamination, and (b) change.

(a) Participants spoke frequently about their concerns surrounding the contamination of

traditional lands and the effects of this contamination on the local food system. These concerns

included the effects of herbicidal spraying in the forestry industry, the past dumping of chemicals

into the waterways in the mining industry, and the contamination of waterways as a by-product

of flooding caused by nearby hydro electric damming activities. The quotations noted above



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under findings relating to perceptions of the traditional food system support this theme, as does

the following observation.

• Participants were very interested in the traditional values mapping activities

conducted as part of the workshop series in each community. These activities

involved generating maps of the community’s traditional lands that display areas

of significance for local food production. In each community, the mapping

activities drew more participation from individuals actively engaged in hunting

and fishing than the other workshops. The generation of these maps spurred

considerable discussion and increased interest in the health of traditional

ecosystems. Demonstrating this level of community interest, our research team

has since been contracted by Aroland First Nation to conduct two Health Canada

funded research projects looking into levels of contamination in the food chain

and the effects of perceived contamination on traditional food practices and

health.

(b) Evident in the above theme on contamination, but worth drawing out as a separate

observed theme is participants’ awareness of change in the traditional lands of their

communities. As noted in the statements listed under the research question on food behaviour

and perceptions, participants spoke specifically about the berries that were once available along

the shoreline in Ginoogaming, about the changing migratory patterns of moose and caribou, and

about changing water-levels supportive of wild rice production. While “place” is inherently

dynamic, and human societies have always sought adaptation to their changing environments

(e.g., Rick, 2009), the Learning Garden participants explicitly or implicitly connected these



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observed changes with the effects of industry, climate change, and other activities of mainstream

culture.

A third theme to emerge throughout the observations and transcripts is (c) that

perceptions of place are not exclusively positive. While traditional lands are infused with cultural

and spiritual significance, and are spoken of with reverence, place is also perceived through a

lens of contamination. In addition to the above statements, there was considerable discussion

early in the program regarding where to locate the gardens, with an overarching concern being

the polluting effects of community dogs and the potential vandalism of youth.

•

In Ginoogaming, participants planted the garden immediately behind the health

centre, but were concerned about putting up and maintaining a perimeter fence to

protect the garden from dogs, children, and to a lesser extent, deer. The fence fell

down in early July and was not put back when the gardeners realized that no harm

came to the garden.

• In Aroland, the following conversation occurred among two learners and a

student: [1, student] “okay, so you guys together are going to decide where [to

plant the garden], that’s a good idea.” [2, learner] “but we need a fence.” [3,

learner] “and security.” [1, student] “a secure fence.” [2] “and the deer, they’re

gonna tear down the fence, and for the dogs... [3] “because we’re not around all

night.” [2] “ya and especially if we grow things that kids like to throw, like

pumpkins. That’s just an invitation to smash them.” [1, student] “but one of the

ways around that, to and maybe it’s just getting the school on board. I don’t think

the kids will, maybe some kids will, but I don’t think kids are going to wreck

something that they helped make or grow.” [2] “wreck it just for the fun of it.” [3]



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“at night, can’t even leave your house.” [1, student] “that’s too bad. So your plan

is to have an area, and have a fence around the area?” [2] “ya in an area where we

know it’s clean, no dogs have gone there before. Even around here they like to

leak all over the place. Where ever it’s clean they’ll take.”

• Ultimately, the Aroland gardeners planted their garden a considerable drive away

from the community in the bush.

A fourth theme to emerge is (d) the variable level of knowledge participants held about

their traditional lands and physical place. Some members of the communities displayed a deep

and profound knowledge of the traditional lands including the waterways, trade routes, hunting

and fishing sites, locations of family trap lines, historical regions of settlement and mingling

associated with different family groups, and so on. Some individuals displayed a clear sense of

quiet pride in this knowledge, some were keen to share their knowledge with others (youth, other

community members), while others were more cautious in this regard (particularly sharing with

researchers present). Nevertheless, there was definite and palpable foundation of what could be

called Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the communities. On the other hand, levels of this

knowledge varied downward to minimal as a result of lapsed years spent in residential schools

and subsequently in schools based on standardized and non-place-based provincial curricula.

This is also evident in our quantitative data on food sources discussed above. There were many

participants, particularly youth and young adults, who had little knowledge of the surrounding

lands and their relevance for acquiring food. For example, two participants in a garden workshop

indicated believing that rhubarb was an inedible garden weed, and very few indicated knowledge

of wild rice. Therefore, the levels of knowledge of place and particularly its relationship to food

could best be described as variable.



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Our initial emphasis on the traditional lands of the communities reflected our

assumptions regarding the meaning of “place.” We had assumed that when exploring the role of

place in learning, we should focus on the physical environment of the individuals in question, in

this case the traditional lands of the communities. Moreover, our initial assumptions surrounding

traditional place viewed place as entirely positive and associated with well-being and infused

with spiritual meanings. These assumptions were supported by the communities themselves, and

their motivation to discuss traditional land use and local food as most frequently viewed by

outsiders. However, our further analysis of the observations and dialogue in the study indicated a

wider view of place that was latent in the thinking and behaviour of our participants. Particularly,

many participants considered industry-based jobs, cash, grocery and convenience stores and

other trappings of Western culture to be a part of their “place” that was also critical to their

adaptation. As further discussed below, these Western ways brought changes, many of which

dramatically altered the ability of the communities to access food from traditional land-based

sources.

(2) Perceptions of the “global place”.

Through participants’ comments and behaviour, it appears that the globalized world of

urban fashion, popular media entertainment, technology and social networking is an important

part of the place in which they seek adaptation. This is particularly apparent in the context of

food. As observed in the quantitative data, participants relied heavily upon internationally

imported food from the grocery store, including fruits and vegetables, convenience food, and

meat. In Ginoogaming, several community members and Band leaders explored building a

greenhouse so that non-indigenous vegetables and fruits could be grown indoors in the

community. In both communities, the healthy snacks and lunches prepared in the workshops



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drew primarily from the local store, even to make a fruit salad at a time when local blueberries

were available. The participants from Constance Lake held a Diabetes-related health program in

their community in which individuals were instructed in making healthy fruit and yogurt shakes.

Each of these observations and the quotations below indicate that even when focusing on healthy

food, it is the mainstream, international food distribution matrix to which participants turn for

knowledge and adaptation.

• When the traditional values mapping exercise was conducted in Ginoogaming, children

present had been instructed by their teacher to come prepared with some examples of

traditional foods. Rather than speak with someone in the community, the students

searched the internet and brought examples of traditional foods that included corn and

sage, which were not traditional to the local area but to parts of Southern Ontario. When

prompted with questions like, “what berries can you find around here,” or “what fish can

you catch from the bridge,” more local examples were offered. However, the term

“traditional foods” did not prime these examples.

• When discussing healthy food choices in Ginoogaming, the coordinator described how

potatoes were brought in by the settlers, and bannock developed after European contact,

and that neither is healthy in excess. The following conversation occurred among

participants, [1] “and we say pasta too, only one starch,” [2] “what are we suppose to eat?

Rice, they say that’s supposed to be good for you too.” [3] “the brown is supposed to be

better, but like I said it has a lot of white stuff in it to.” The focus on white and brown

rice and pasta reflect store-bought foods. Wild rice was not mentioned in this

conversation.



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These observations and statements reveal that participants held a knowledge base

regarding the global place that was generally fairly high. Participants were able to access and

prepare healthy snacks and meals from the grocery store for the workshops, they were able to

access knowledge from the internet regarding “traditional foods” in Southern Ontario. Therefore,

the sense of place within which participants learn and adapt is broad and includes both the

traditional land and traditional ecological knowledge in which they are physically situated, and

the urban setting and Western knowledge base they access through media and local grocery

stores. Grocery and convenience stores have become part of the physical place in these

communities, and the messages of adaptation and healthy living gleaned from global knowledge

networks such television media and the internet are also part of the latent “place” to which

participants seek adaptation.

(3) Place-based learning in the Learning Garden Program.

Integration of food systems in a

Ginoogaming workshop snack





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By building the traditional food maps together, participants were also able to physically

observe and discuss changing animal behaviour and land patterns, and to share knowledge on the

suspected locations of industry-based contamination. Given that learning is a human tool for

adaptation to the environment (Richerson & Boyd, 2005), place-based learning facilitates the

exchange of knowledge within a community that is relevant to the dynamic environment in

which it is situated.

The Learning Garden Program provided us the opportunity to observe participants’

perceptions of place, and to see how learning unfolds within a dynamic and broad understanding

of place. Specifically, as indicated above, participants’ understandings of place included both the

traditional lands that surround them and the global place they see in the local stores and in global

media. While participants were keen to engage in learning that was based in their traditional

lands, the global place was also very important to them. For example, most workshops and

meetings, including the mapping exercises, began with coffee and snacks from the local coffee

shop. As another example, participants in Aroland were thrilled with their blueberry harvest, but

still purchased fruit snacks from the store. This reveals a dynamic and integrated notion of place.

While learning in place occurs everywhere, the “place” of these learners contains two strong

elements which are sometimes at odds with each other, as in the case of industry-based jobs

coming at the price of contamination to the local environment. Thus as individual learners seek

adaptation through learning in this integrated notion of place, there is the potential for conflict to

occur on both the individual and community levels.



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Discussion

The purpose of this research was to (1) examine the outcomes of the program in terms of

its goals of increasing holistic health as well as knowledge of gardening, forest foods, nutrition

and health, (2) to observe the process of learning that unfolded in the context of the program, (3)

to better understand participants’ current food behaviours, food values, and perceptions of the

food system, and how these correlated with holistic health and cultural identity, and (4) to

explore participants’ perceptions of place and the interactions among place, food, and culture.

Results will be discussed first as they relate to each research question. We will then discuss

integration of these findings and over-arching themes, along with implications and future

directions in the sections that follow.

Overview of Results

(1) Outcomes of the Learning Garden program.

It was unfortunate that the survey data we were able to obtain was not sufficient to make

direct quantitative tests of the outcomes of the program for knowledge and health. We did not

anticipate the degree to which participants would “drop in” on workshops throughout the

summer, as opposed to participating regularly throughout the season. People in these

communities were often away for significant portions of the summer, traveling to other

communities, visiting friends and family, and taking temporary work positions in town,

sometimes returning in the fall. Other individuals would spend time in the bush or on the lakes in

the summer, and still others suffered various health and family problems that took them away

from the workshop schedule at various intervals. Most workshops were well attended, but aside

for a core group from each community, the participants varied from workshop to workshop. This

made it impossible to carry out the planned pre- and post-test comparison of the survey



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responses, but by requesting that each new participant at any workshop complete a survey we

were able to collect quantitative data for descriptive and correlational analyses, particularly

relevant to the third purpose of this research.

Qualitative analyses did suggest that moments of transformative insight did occur for at

least some of the program participants. We observed moments of insight among youth first

bringing their attention to the experience and meaning of their food, among adults and elders

sharing stories of traditional food activities in the mapping exercise, and in a gardener at the

realization of food that had been growing in her own backyard. Several behavioural changes,

such as planting additional community gardens and participating in forest food acquisition, also

suggest that learning occurred. Likewise, there are some indications that a foundation for health

was provided by the program. Participants were consuming and sharing healthy and home-grown

foods, they were engaged in the preparation of healthy foods, and some described the emotional

benefits of time spent in the garden. Youth and program coordinators practiced leadership skills,

and program participants contributed their skills to their communities. However, future research

will have to take steps to ensure that a viable pre- and post- test analysis of the effects of a

program like this can be conducted.

(2) Process of Learning in the Learning Garden Program

The second purpose of this study was to examine the process of learning as it occurred in

the program, with a particular eye to determining if the holistic, experiential, and place-based

approach resonated with participants. The observation that participants consistently sought-out

opportunities for experiential learning in the program and responded well to the active

components of the program, support the emphasis placed on experiential learning in the First

Nations Learning Model (Canadian Council on Learning, 2007). Through this program, we also



The Learning Garden

learned a new depth to the holistic approach to learning that may be particularly suited to some

First Nations learners. Specifically, we learned that some Aboriginal learners prefer to immerse

their learning in their day to day lives, and the workshop format may not have been ideal for all

learners. While our coordinators were able to adapt the program design to meet these preferences

to some degree, we will incorporate this knowledge into future applications of this program.

Likewise, we learned that there are cultural differences in how the garden is understood. While

the program was flexible enough to adapt to these different understandings, future applications of

the program will incorporate this variability in its design. Further developments to the Learning

Garden program will be discussed under future directions below.

(3) Food behaviour, food system perceptions and correlations

The mainstream food system is particularly vulnerable in terms of its capacity to ensure

food security in northern communities (INAC, 2007; Lawn & Harvey, 2004; Heinberg &

Bomford, 2009). The purpose of the Learning Garden program was to increase knowledge in the

areas of both cultivated gardening and forest foods, with the long term goal of facilitating the

development of a sustainable local food system within each community. This was an area that

was of considerable interest within both communities, and the overall project began the process

of laying the groundwork for this development.

Participants’ ratings of how frequently they accessed food from each of 9 sources reveals

an integration of indigenous and western food systems, with fishing in particular being an

important source of food alongside the grocery store. However, there is also a clear emphasis on

the dominant food system, with the grocery and convenience stores being the primary destination

for regular food needs. Participants’ ratings of their currently eaten foods likewise reveals a diet

that depends largely on the dominant, global food system, with bananas and oranges being



The Learning Garden

consumed more frequently than blueberries and raspberries, both abundant in the region.

Participants’ self-rated knowledge of cultivated gardening and the forest food systems revealed a

relatively low to moderate knowledge base for the local food system overall, although this did

vary somewhat across the different components of the system with people more knowledgeable

about how to find and gather berries than about hunting, trapping, or harvesting wild rice.

Finally, analysis of participants’ self-rated food values revealed that participants’ food choices

were guided significantly more by the price, taste, ease, convenience, and familiarity of the food

than by the degree to which it connects the individual with their culture or land. In sum, these

analyses reveal that the knowledge base for cultivated and forest food is currently limited and it

is largely convenience and price that drive people to the dominant food system.

Nonetheless, correlational results indicated that engaging in forest food activities such as

hunting and fishing, and valuing local foods were associated with positive, healthy qualities such

as self-reported health, life satisfaction, and social capital. Therefore, even though knowledge

and use of the local food system is limited, there may be benefits to accessing this food system

for well-being. However, perceived food security, or feeling secure about one’s food system, was

associated with valuing healthy foods, valuing convenient and affordable food, and getting food

from the grocery store, and was not related to accessing or valuing the local food system. In

other words, accessing the local food system was not associated with perceived food security.

This is consistent with other research we have conducted with university students. People who

rely on the dominant food system generally feel quite secure about that as a source of food,

perhaps being unaware of the vulnerability of this international food distribution system to

changes in energy supply, geopolitical events, and extreme weather patterns in intensive

agricultural areas (Heinberg & Bomford, 2009). One might expect that people who are not



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exclusively dependent upon this system, and are able to obtain food self-sufficiently would feel

more food secure, but this is not generally what we see and is not what was observed in the

present study.

The food knowledge variables, reflecting participants’ knowledge of hunting, fishing,

gathering, and growing their own food, were not directly correlated with the health and well-

being outcomes, but were correlated with accessing the associated food source. These food

source behaviours were in turn correlated with some beneficial outcomes. In other words,

knowledge of hunting was correlated with hunting behaviour, and this hunting behaviour was

correlated with life satisfaction and social capital. In sum, participants in these two First Nation

communities indicated having a limited knowledge base of local foods and values that reinforce

the dominant food system. However, having knowledge of local foods and accessing local foods

was associated with various beneficial outcomes, reinforcing the broader objectives of the

learning garden program.

4) Place-based learning, culture, and food

Through this research, considerable insights were gained into perceptions of place, and

how learning in “place” impacts the development of culture and food security in a community.

Participants’ perceptions of their traditional lands were marked by concerns of contamination

and an awareness of change. The change they perceived in their lands was attributed to human

activities in the Western culture, such as climate change and industry. Participants’ perceptions

of place were much broader than the traditional lands of their communities. Specifically, their

notions of place included the physical structures of the global food system in their communities,

such as nearby grocery and convenience stores, and could also be argued to include less tangible

elements of the “global place”, such as media, popular fashion, and technology. This insight





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acquisition of food trigger cultural shifts in concepts, practices, beliefs, and unstated

assumptions. Thus, culture arises as people develop a food system in the context of a particular

place.

In our participants, we observed a broad and dynamic perception of place that included

two food systems, the globalized food system and the local indigenous food system. As noted

above, these two food systems can at times contain inherent conflict, as when the drivers of the

global food system (e.g., obtaining cash from jobs in local industry) undermines the health of the

local biosphere and thus local foods. Furthermore, adaptation within each of the two food

systems results in different worldviews, different views of nature and its relationship with human

activity. By seeking adaptation in this integrated place, individuals in these communities are

presented with two sets of messages regarding “how to adapt”, one reflecting survival in the

global marketplace, the other reflecting survival in the biophysical environment, and both are

undergoing transition. The process of indigenous place-based knowledge exchange and cultural

evolution, grounded in the local food system, has been disrupted by the residential school system

and other forces of cultural oppression. Likewise, while aspects of the global food system are

present in these communities, and the associated learning occurs through global media,

opportunities to actually engage that knowledge and display adaptation are largely absent in

these reserves. In future work, we will continue to explore how the existence and evolution of

two food systems within one broad perceived place shapes the learning of cultural information,

and how this process may impact well-being on both individual and community levels.

Integration and Implications of Findings

This report began with the recognition that one must understand the definition of health

that is held by a particular community before engaging in health promotion activities. Based on



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our earlier research, these two communities emphasized notions of connectedness within self,

and among community members, land, culture, and spirit. This holistic vision of health includes

a tightly connected, resilient local food system that is grounded in a positive vision of the land

from which it arises and a sense of connection between the people and their place. Our findings

of a positive correlation between the local food behaviour of hunting and fishing and both life

satisfaction and social capital supports this view of the role of food connectedness in health.

Therefore, by building connections among community members and between these members and

their sense of place, the Learning Garden program sought to build a local and sustainable food

system within each community.

Knowledge and learning are fundamental to the development of local food systems and to

the resilience of the community. A strong local food system in a resilient community requires the

local availability of knowledge relevant to all points in the food system, from production and

distribution through consumption (Feenstra, 2002; Petrini, 2007). It also requires that the

community has the capacity to generate new knowledge and innovation from within their own

culture and sense of place, and to draw in relevant knowledge and information from outside the

community. Therefore learning programs like this one are a key part of building local food

systems.

Human adaptation and cultural evolution occur through learning, and learning that is

grounded in the place or ecosystem of the people is particularly conducive to their adaptation to

that environment, even as that environment undergoes change (Gruenewald, 2003; Woodhouse

& Knapp, 2000). Place-based learning involves an openness that responds to the current reality

of the place, rather than imposing external assumptions onto the place, as such it is an emergent

style of learning that could be particularly beneficial for fostering novelty and innovation. In the



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present research, community members showed a definite recognition and valuing of place-based

learning in local foods. We have argued that since the acquisition of food is so critical to human

survival, it has been and continues to be one of the greatest drivers of human learning, and as

such plays a key role in shaping the culture of the people (Thu, 2006; McDonald, 2005).

One important insight gained from this research is that a program such as the Learning

Garden that is designed for Aboriginal learners must take into consideration the bicultural

context of the individuals participating. In our research, we observed that understandings of

place and place-based knowledge varied considerably among participants, with many showing a

blended understanding of place that incorporated both traditional lands and mainstream food

stores. We also observed different views of the garden in our research, with some learners

preferring a less invasive approach to cultivated gardening that included planting the garden in

the bush, while others preferred the more traditional western view of the garden. Likewise, we

observed different preferences for learning, with some preferring a more holistic and immersed

style of learning than the workshop structure allowed. Programs such as this one must work

within the variable and often blended cultural context of the particular community and the

particular community members involved. The cultural orientation of the participants is important

in driving health relevant behaviours, such as choice of food and food values, as we observed in

our findings where, for example, Canadian cultural identity was found to correlate with valuing

the health of food.

The results of this research are consistent with the vision of Aboriginal learning

articulated in the First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning Model (Canadian Council on

Learning, 2007). For example, our findings have revealed that learning occurs as people seek

adaptation in a particular place. This supports the purpose of learning in the model, that it is to



The Learning Garden

develop the skills and wisdom that will ensure the sustainability of life. Likewise, the

understanding of learning as a cyclical process that occurs throughout the lifespan, and is not

compartmentalized to a certain stage of development or educational structure, is consistent with

the range of participants we had in our workshops, from children and youth through adults and

elders. These communities’ understanding of health as a state of connectedness, and their desire

to foster connectedness within the community and with the land are consistent with the First

Nation worldview described in the model. Several of our participants described the emotional,

physical, and spiritual dimensions of connecting with the land, revealing a holistic and

interconnected view of the person-in-place, with learning and engagement being the vehicle to

bring about this state of individual and collective well-being. Finally, our findings regarding an

integrated vision of place and participants’ automatic integration of Western and Aboriginal

knowledge support this blended view of the core of the learner shown in the model.

Implications and Recommendations. It is important to consider this learning context in

further developments and revisions to the Learning Garden program. Our findings have revealed

much in terms of how to make this program more effective in achieving its goal of building

sustainable local food systems and community health through place-based learning. These

reflections will be discussed further below as we consider the limitations of the present research

and directions for future research. Meanwhile, our findings also offer insights into at least four

policy and practical implications as outlined as follows.

First, Aboriginal learning programs and curriculum in general should take an honest look

at the actual sense of place as perceived by the given learners, recognizing that those perceptions

can be interacting with multiple cultural streams. Cultures, and the places in which they evolve,

are inherently dynamic. Cultures evolve as their members strive continuously to adapt to a





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garden that we observed, from structured and scientific to unstructured and nature-based is

further testament to this cultural variability and its implications for learning programs.

Third, the process of exploring and discussing local foods may bring to the forefront

conflicts between the drivers of the mainstream food system, such as local jobs in industry, and

the local food system. People within one community are turning to both food systems to survive

and adapt. Therefore, we recommend building the capacity within the communities to lead the

discussion, to be aware of the value, necessity, and potential of local food sources within the

traditional lands, and to work with industry to protect key areas.

Finally, policies at all levels of government should be fostered that support Aboriginal

involvement in the food system, that acknowledge the value of traditional lands as food systems,

and that allow communities to protect their traditional sources of food. Meanwhile, since

mainstream stores are part of the place to which people adapt, they should be incorporated into

the local food system; for example, by ensuring that policies exist which support the sale of local

and traditional foods in the stores.

Limitations and Future Directions

There were a number of limitations in the present research and program design which

impact the generalizability and scope of the conclusions that can be drawn. The physical distance

between the participating communities and the research team and the time limits of the project

posed a number of logistical problems that limited the research design. We relied upon our

community-based coordinators to respond flexibly to the styles and preferences of their learners

in the execution of the program, which worked well, but often meant that workshops were

spontaneous. This spontaneity and the distance of the communities meant that we were not able

to have a student present for every workshop which posed challenges for the collection of



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qualitative and quantitative data. Furthermore, a research project of this scope and qualitative

depth would benefit from the consistent presence of a single dedicated researcher, where we had

three students participating in the collection of qualitative data throughout the summer. This

issue, combined with the tendency of community members to participate in workshops in an ad

hoc manner, also resulted in a low number of participants who completed the quantitative survey

and made it impossible to collect both pre- and post-test surveys from a single group of

consistent participants. The low number of survey participants limits the power of the statistical

tests and creates a self-selection bias in the sampling. Our inability to compare pre- and post-test

data also meant that we could not provide objective data on the outcomes of the program.

Nevertheless, the present research was effective in generating significant insight into the

participants’ perceptions of place, and the role of place-based learning in the evolution of culture

and the building of sustainable local food systems.

One outcome of this research is the continuing development of the Learning Garden

program. Based on our experiences with the strengths and limitations of the 2008 program, and

the insights we have gained, we will be developing the program into a toolkit that will be freely

available on the internet. This toolkit will be designed for First Nation communities who seek to

build sustainable local food systems that foster community health, connectedness and resilience.

The program will provide ideas and a framework that can help communities draw upon and then

expand their own place-based knowledge and capacity in local food, including cultivated and

forest foods. Instead of imposing a particular structure or set of “cultural teachings,” the program

will help community leaders identify and work within the models of health and learning and

perceptions of place that are held by the learners themselves. Thus, its aim will be to foster



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organically the emergence of an indigenous food system that is grounded within the cultural and

ecological place of the people.

Research on this program will also continue, feeding back to further refine and improve

the online toolkit. Individuals who use or adapt elements of the program in their communities

will be asked to voluntarily complete a brief self-assessment on the process and outcomes of the

program as it was run. They will also be asked to request that their learners complete a very brief

survey early and then later in the course of the program to assess the outcomes of the program.

In addition to research on the Learning Garden program, several questions have emerged

from the present research that warrant further investigation. Our findings of a correlation

between Aboriginal identity and grocery store use and between Canadian identity and valuing

the health of food suggest that participant definitions of their Canadian and Aboriginal identities

may not be as we had assumed. Similar questions regarding the meaning of the Canadian and

Aboriginal cultural identities had emerged in some of our earlier research (Ray, 2007; Trull,

2007; Harper, 2009) and is supported by research on social identity indicating that identity

content, or the meaning of an identity, is critical to understanding how these identities affect the

individual’s psychology and behaviour (e.g., Livingstone & Haslam, 2008). Further research

using qualitative methodology would be beneficial to gain insight into how Aboriginal Canadian

individuals define each identity and the relationship between them, as variations in how identities

are understood may have implications for well-being.

The present study’s findings relating to perceptions of place should also be further

explored in mixed methods research. Learning as adaptation grounded in place and specific to

food is essential to building resilient, sustainable and healthy communities. In our study,

participants held a blended understanding of place that included traditional lands and aspects of



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the mainstream food system. In their behaviour, participants are revealing a broad understanding

of the place in which they survive and adapt. Further research into the process of this blending

would be beneficial to understanding how the Aboriginal and Canadian cultures continue to co-

evolve as we collectively approach an era when climate change and peak oil reveal the

vulnerabilities of the mainstream food system. In addition, the opportunity to engage

dynamically and in dialogue with others, immersed in place was met with such enthusiasm by

learners of all ages in our research that a more focused qualitative analysis of the experience of

place-based food system learning would be valuable.

Conclusion

The purpose of the Learning Garden program was to increase holistic health in program

participants and to increase experience-based knowledge of both vegetable gardening and forest

foods, as well as nutrition and its link to health.. The program incorporated the principles of the

First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning Model (Canadian Council on Learning, 2007) and

sought to promote a holistic vision of community health and resilience centred on a sustainable,

local food system. In the context of this health program, the purpose of the research was to (1)

examine the outcomes of the program against its goals, (2) to explore the process of learning that

occurred, (3) to better understand participants’ current food behaviours, food values, and

perceptions of the food system, and how these correlated with other variables of interest,

including holistic health and cultural identity, and (4) to examine participants’ perceptions of

place and the interactions among place, food, and culture. The research findings form a solid

foundation for future work in this area and suggest several ways to expand on the Learning

Garden program. They also begin to articulate an understanding of culture as a dynamic

emergent property of a network of people, all seeking adaptation and food within a dynamic



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perception of place. This view of culture and place as interacting complex systems is particularly

useful in understanding the context of Aboriginal health in Canada.

.



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Appendix A: Workshop Outline

Workshop coordinator is to:- interpret this outline in light of the backgrounds and perspectives of participants and

the particular community- prepare or purchase any needed supplies or materials in advance of each workshop

($250 per workshop available, including prize groceries, snacks)- do any necessary research or background preparation- prepare specific demonstrations or discussion questions to achieve the aims of the

workshop as outlined- summarize the actual activities and topics covered after each workshop along with

their effectiveness and outcomes, provide to the PI.- Keep receipts from any workshop related expenses, provide to the PI

At each workshop:

• Experiential component (learning by doing)

• Discussion component

• Cultivated garden

• Forest garden

• Food journal

• Food map

• Traditional (opening) ceremony as preferred (coordinator or designate)

• Healthy food / snacks, prepared together (coordinator to bring each day)

• Draw for $20 worth of healthy groceries (coordinator to bring each day)

1. Introductory MeetingEarly May, 2008

• Introduce the Learning Garden Programo Explain Program goals (see proposal)o Discuss what the participants’ learning goals are… what do they hope to gain

from this experience?

• Describe the First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning Model (see model summary andwebsite: http://www.ccl-

cca.ca/CCL/Reports/RedefiningSuccessInAboriginalLearning/?Language=EN) andcritically discuss

o Discuss how the participants understand learning, how do I learn best? What isthe purpose of learning to me?

• Discuss current food use and sourceso What do participants currently eat, where does it come from? (store, garden,

forest and lakes?)o What do they think of this food in terms of health and nutrition?



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o Start the “food map”: on a large sheet of paper or a map of the region (see ifcoordinators can find one before this workshop), have participants discuss wherethey know that they can find food. For example, what lakes and water ways aregood for particular species of fish? Where do the moose go? Where is there wildrice, blueberries, etc?

o

This map will be revisited throughout the program. Coordinator can start them offwith 1-2 ideas from their own knowledge, but don’t give everything on first day.Participants can ask relatives and others for further ideas before the nextworkshop. Note that map stays in the community (shared with school perhaps).

• Introduce the cultivated garden, discuss what participants will learn how to doo Identify the foods that participants would like to grow (coordinator will find out if

those foods grow here and buy seeds); start a map of a garden plot (what to plantand where), discuss box-gardening (frame to be built), discuss supplies needed

• Introduce food journal, provide journalso Participants to keep track of the food they eat, include comments on their thoughts

about the nutrition of the food, how they feel to be eating it.

•

Participants to complete surveys (this meeting or next)

Between meetings in consultation with university team (Connie Nelson):

• Plan cultivated garden around preferred and nutritious food

• Buy seeds and supplies as needed (wood for frame, soil and compost, seeds, tools)

• Generate timeline and coordinate with workshops

2. Garden PreparationMid May, 2008Guest to assist with garden box design and compost: Connie Nelson, Jeff Burke (?)

• Establish garden siteo Build box frame together, fill with soil and compost (discuss purpose of

compost); discuss locations for plants from mapo Discuss seeds and tools purchased, which of their preferred vegetables can be

grown? What are the planting and other (e.g., watering) needs of thesevegetables?

• Discuss and/or engage in forest food activities as groupo Spring goose hunt, trapping, pickerel fishing.o Revisit the food map – anything further to add, has anyone acquired food from

one of these sources or a new source?

• Health Learning model discussion:

o Implications of forest and cultivated gardens for health and community well- being; apply the Health Learning model diagram to what is being learned with thegardens

• Personal and Community health discussion:o Perceptions of current personal and community health, what are their goals for

personal and community health/well-being.o What are the components of health and well-being for themselves and the

community as a whole – what makes them healthy?



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o What interconnections do they see among food, nutrition, and health; does itmatter where the food comes from? What is the effect of growing or gathering /hunting the food yourself on health, autonomy, food security?

o Referring to the food journal, where does their food typically come from? Whatchallenges and fears do they see with respect to hunting, gathering and growing

food from the lands around them? What benefits?o Referring to the food journal that they have been keeping, what is the nutritional

value of the food they have been eating, what is its effect on health and how theyfeel about themselves?

3. Garden PlantingEarly June or late May, 2008Guest to assist with garden planting: Connie Nelson, Mirella Stroink, Jeff Burke?

• Plant garden:o Seed planting, experiential learning, with workshop participants, coordinator, and

guest gardeners (Connie, etc). Should be a fun experienceo Identify and discuss the nutritional value of each food, implications for healtho Discuss and demonstrate the maintenance of the garden

• Health discussion:o Continue discussions from previous meeting, review food journals and mapo Discuss nutritional value of forest foods, compare with store foods

4. Cultural values and FoodMid June, 2008Guest: Mirella Stroink

•

Culture and Health Discussion / critical dialogue:o What are “Western Foods”? What do participants consider to be the Western

perspective on food? What do they think Western culture values with respect tofood? How are these values reflected in the types of food that are available, in thenutritional value of these foods, in the health of people in North America?Explore a range of options in response to these questions.

o What are “Aboriginal Foods”? What do participants consider to be the Aboriginal perspective on food? What do they think Aboriginal culture values with respect tofood? How are these values reflected in the types of food that are available, in thenutritional value of these foods, in the health of First Nations people? Explore arange of options in response to these questions, e.g., historical vs. contemporary.

o

Compare and contrast these cultural perspectives on food and food values. Arethere conflicts or differences in these values and perspectives? Does each culturetell you something different or the same thing about food and nutrition?

o Discuss how these conflicts might be resolved – is there a way to have both?o Have participants continue to think about this and about what perspectives/values

their food typically reflects as they write their food journals over the next 2weeks.

• Cultivated garden maintenance



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o Weed garden, discuss and identify growing plants, water garden

Cultural values, food, and healthEarly July, 2008

• Cultivated garden maintenance and early harvest

o How to harvest early cultivated crops (e.g., lettuce, spinach), experiential learningof how to prepare the food.o Garden maintenance, weeding, wateringo Discuss how to know when each vegetable is ready

• Continue discussion on food valueso How do Western and aboriginal values identified in previous workshop each

impact upon personal health and well-being, community health, sense ofconnection with community and culture?

o How does any conflict between these values impact upon these factors?o Discuss the role of diabetes and weight problems in terms of the store-bought and

local foods eaten, their nutritional value, and the cultural values they reflect.o Referring to the food journal, what cultural perspectives does their food typically

represent?o What perspective(s) and value(s) would they like their food, nutrition, and health

to reflect?o Lead into discussion on:

• Local and independent food sources:o What local food sources in the forest would they like increased access to, or that

they would like to use more often? (blue berries, wild rice, fish, large and smallgame). Discuss what to gather together the following workshop.

o What are the barriers to this access? (contested land base, environmental

degradation, lost traditional knowledge)o How can these be overcome?

The Forest GardenMid July, 2008

• Harvest forest garden products together: blueberries, Saskatoon berries, wild rice, etc.o As per available knowledgeo Coordinator to lead trip together, could recruit a local elder to help identify

locationso Add locations identified to the food mapo Identify and discuss potential benefits of forest and cultivated garden products for

health and well-being including nutrition and cultural connection.o Discuss ideas for cooking and preparation of food from forest garden

• Cultivated garden:o Discuss and engage in harvesting of crops that are readyo Weed and water garden as needed

Gardens and HealthEarly August, 2008



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• Cultivated garden:o Discuss and engage in harvesting of crops that are ready (experiential learning),

explain how to tell when these vegetables are ready.o Weed and water garden as needed

o Discuss challenges, strategies, and resources for managing one’s own garden;discuss benefits to community of gardening know-how spreading.o Identify and discuss strengths and resources existing in self, group, community,

wider community.o Identify and discuss barriers to understanding health and gardening, myths (West

Nile), pressures (drugs).o Discuss ideas for cooking and preparation of food from cultivated gardeno Prepare a menu for a healthy meal with local foods from forest and/or cultivated

garden

• Discuss food journals, any changes in what they are eating?o What may be preventing them from eating more local and nutritious foods? What

is helping them make changes?o Have their food values changed at all?

Kitchen WorkshopMid-August, 2008

• Cultivated garden:o Discuss and engage in harvesting of crops that are ready (late-harvest vegetables,

e.g., squash, potatoes), explain how to tell when these vegetables are ready.o Weed and water garden as needed

• Forest garden:

o Discuss harvesting of high bush cranberries, chokecherrieso Update local food map

• Cook a healthy meal to eat together with foods from the forest and cultivated gardens.

Harvest WorkshopEarly September, 2008

• Clean up cultivated garden, harvest all remaining vegetables, discuss nutritional andhealth benefits

o Discuss preparation of garden for springo Discuss participants’ feelings about managing their own gardens next year, do

they feel confident they can do so, what can be done to enhance that confidence ifnecessary?

• Food storageo Discuss and engage in food storage with harvested foods – freezing, canningo Discuss health benefits of having stored healthy local foods

• Forest garden



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o Prepare for and discuss wild rice and winter harvests from the forest garden(small and large game, ice-fishing). Organize groups or trips as needed or asinterest allows.

o Update local food maps, discuss final version, is it complete? Will it constantlychange and evolve? How to ensure the knowledge persists?

Final WorkshopMid September, 2008

• Review the holistic learning model and the goals of the workshop program and the goalsthat participants identified in the spring.

o Relate the experiences of the summer to those goals and the model. Was there afit between the model and their experiences of learning?

o Have the goals been approached or met?o What do they think now of the food values discussed earlier? Have their values

changed, have they found ways to balance competing values?o

Have them assess their own learning and their satisfaction with that learning – dothey feel like they have learned something or gained anything from participating?Was it worthwhile?

• Will it be possible to continue with cultivated and forest gardening? What will benecessary to continue or expand these activities in the community? How can thisknowledge be transferred to others in the community?

• Run the survey again

• Celebration

Appendix B: Cover Letter

[Appeared on Lakehead University Letterhead]

Dear Potential Participant,

We are a group of researchers at Lakehead University, and we are doing a study thatlooks at health and well-being, and the learning that occurs within the Learning Garden Program.This research should help us learn more about how to build healthy people and healthycommunities.

As someone who is attending the Learning Garden workshops, we are interested in yourthoughts and feelings about health and learning. If you agree to do the study, you will be asked tochoose how much you agree or disagree with several different statements. When you finish thequestions and hand them in, you will be entered in the prize draw that will take place this June.

This research has been approved by the Lakehead University Senate Research EthicsBoard. Dr. Mirella Stroink will be the only one allowed to see the information you give. Youranswers to the questions are anonymous. This means that we will not be able to tell which study



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package was yours, so we won’t know which answers you have given to the questions. Theinformation you give will be kept at Lakehead University for 7 years.

Participation in this study is completely voluntary. This means that if, for any reason,you do not want to finish the questions, or any part of the study, then you don’t have to. Also,

you can leave the study at any time without penalty. Note that you do not have to do this studyin order to participate in the Learning Garden workshops. If you want to be part of the study, youmust sign the informed consent form.

If you want more information about this study or have any questions or concerns pleasefeel free to contact Dr. Stroink using the e-mail addresses and telephone numbers at the top ofthe page, or ask your workshop coordinator to put you in touch with her. You may also contactthe Lakehead University Research Ethics Board at (807) 343-8283. We are very excited to haveyou help out by completing this study!

Thanks so much,

Mirella Stroink



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Appendix C: Informed Consent

This research measures your thoughts and feelings about health and learning as well assome of your beliefs about food and your culture. You will be asked to answer questions abouthow you see yourself, as well as some of your beliefs and opinions. The primary researcher inthis study is Dr. Mirella Stroink from Lakehead University.

By signing this form, I show that I understand:

1. That I am a volunteer; that I can choose not to answer any question or stop doing thesurvey at any time without penalty; I understand that I do not have to do the survey in order toattend the Learning Garden workshops.

2. That there are no risks in doing this study3. That those using the information I give in the study will not be able to tell which

answers were mine, and that no information from the study will be shared with anyone exceptthe researchers.

4. That I can ask to get information about the project after I have completed the study.

Placing my name below shows that I have read and understand the information above andI agree to participate in the study.

Name (please print): ______________________________

Signature: ______________________________________ Date: _________________



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Appendix D: Survey

Health Learning Survey

CODE NAME

Instructions: Please answer these questions carefully, by circling the correct response.

You may be taking a similar survey again in the fall, so we need to create a code name for

you that we can use to match your answers on the two surveys, but that cannot identify

who you are. It is very important that these questions are answered honestly and

accurately both times!

1. What is the second letter of your first name?

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

2. What month were you born in?

January February March April May June July August September October November Dec

3. What is the first letter in your mother’s first name?

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

4. What is the last number in your address (house number)?

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

5. What month was your mother born in?

January February March April May June July August September October November Dec

6. What is the first letter of your middle name?

We are interested in learning about some of the thoughts and feelings you have aboutyourself, the food you eat, and your health. There are no right or wrong answers! Try to

answer as honestly as you can. If you volunteer to take this survey, you can choose not to

answer any question that you do not want to answer, and you can stop doing the survey if you

want to without penalty. Please do not put your name on the survey. Nobody will be able to tell

which answers were yours. If you want more information about the survey, please ask your

workshop coordinator or phone: (807) 346-7874. When the whole study is done, you can get a

summary of the results using the contact information on the cover letter. We thank you very

much for your time and help! Please continue if you agree to participate in the survey.





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BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

1. Sex: Male_____ Female_____ Other_____

2. Age: _________

3. How would you describe your abilities in each of the following languages?

1 2 3 4 5 Not at all With Difficulty Somewhat Fairly Well Very Well

____ 1. How well can you understand the language of your Aboriginal ancestry (e.g. Cree,Ojibway)? ____ 2. How well can you speak the language of your Aboriginal ancestry (e.g. Cree, Ojibway)? ____ 3. How well can you understand English? ____ 4. How well can you speak English?

4. What is your first language (e.g. English, Aboriginal language): ___________________________

5. How many hours do you think you spend outside in an average week? _____

6. How many hours do you think you spend watching TV in an average week? _____

FOOD KNOWLEDGE

Instructions: Indicate how knowledgeable you currently feel you are in each area using the

following scale:

1. ____ locating where whitefish can be caught with netting2. ____ setting traps3. ____ hunting game (e.g., moose, caribou)4. ____ hunting birds (e.g., geese)5. ____ skinning the meat from hunted birds or game6. ____ locating places where edible berries grow in the forest7. ____ locating places where wild rice grows

1 2 3 4 5

Not at all A little Moderately Quite a bit Extremely



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8. ____ preparing soil for growing vegetables9. ____ planting seeds for vegetable plants10. ____ caring for vegetable plants (weeding, watering)11. ____ harvesting vegetables12. ____ preparing healthy meals

13. ____ knowing which foods are healthy14. ____ knowing how my health is affected by the foods I eat



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PHYSICAL HEALTH AND NUTRITION

Concerning your health in general, would you say your health is (circle one):1 2 3 4 5

Poor Fair Good Very good Excellent

Concerning your mental health, would you say your mental health is (circle one):1 2 3 4 5

Poor Fair Good Very good Excellent

Thinking about the amount of stress in your life, would you say that most days are (circle one):1 2 3 4 5

Not at all Not very A bit Quite a bit Extremely

Stressful Stressful Stressful Stressful Stressful

Concerning your weight, do you feel your weight is (circle one):

1 2 3 4 5Very Unhealthy Average Healthy Very

Unhealthy Healthy

In the past three months, have you done any of the following activities (mark all that apply)?

____walking for exercise ____home exercise ____skiing or snowboarding ____fishing ____gardening or yard work ____hockey ____bowling ____basketball ____swimming ____working outdoors ____baseball / softball ____jogging or running ____bicycling ____no physical activity ____dancing ____other: ________________

Thinking about your levels of physical activity, would you say that you are:1 2 3 4 5

Not at all Not very A bit Quite Extremely

Active Active Active Active Active

Instructions: The next questions are about the foods you usually eat. Think about all the

foods you eat, both meals and snacks, at home and away from home. Indicate how much

you eat each of the following using the scale provided:

1 2 3 4 5 Not at all A little Occasionally Often Very often



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1. ____ Potatoes (not counting potato chips)2. ____ Carrots3. ____ Turnips4. ____ Lettuce5. ____ Tomatoes

6. ____ Cucumbers7. ____ Broccoli8. ____ Squash9. ____ Beans10. ____ Fish11. ____ Moose meat12. ____ Caribou meat13. ____ Beef14. ____ Chicken15. ____ Pork16. ____ Apples

17. ____ Oranges18. ____ Bananas19. ____ Blueberries20. ____ Raspberries21. ____ Other vegetable (specify): ____________________22. ____ Other meat (specify): ________________________23. ____ Other fruit (specify): ________________________

Thinking about what you typically eat on a day to day basis, do you feel your eating habits are:1 2 3 4 5

Very Unhealthy Average Healthy Very

Unhealthy Healthy

Have you been diagnosed by a medical professional with any of the following chronic healthconditions (circle yes/no):

1. Heart disease: Y N2. Cancer: Y N3. Diabetes: Y N4. High blood pressure: Y N5. Stomach ulcers: Y N6. Crohn’s disease or Colitis: Y N7. High cholesterol: Y N

Do you smoke? Y N (circle one)



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SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING

Instructions: Below are five sentences that you may agree or disagree with. Read each

sentence and then tell us how much you agree with it by putting a number from 1 to 5 on

the line.

1 2 3 4 5Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

Disagree Agree

_____ In most ways my life is close to my ideal. _____ The conditions of my life are excellent. _____ I am satisfied with my life. _____ So far I have gotten the important things I want in life. _____ If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.

Instructions: Below is a list of words that describe different feelings and emotions. Readeach one and tell us how much you generally feel that way by putting a number from 1 to 5

on the line next to it. On average, how much do you feel each of these emotions?

____interested ____irritable ____distressed ____alert

____excited ____ashamed ____upset ____inspired ____strong ____nervous ____guilty ____determined ____scared ____attentive ____hostile ____jittery ____enthusiastic ____active ____proud ____afraid

SOCIAL CAPITAL

Instructions: Below are twelve sentences that you may agree or disagree with. Read each

sentence and then tell us how much you agree with it by putting a number from 1 to 5 on

the line next to it.

1 2 3 4 5

Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

Disagree Agree

1 2 3 4 5

Very slightly

or not at all A little Moderately Quite a bit Extremely





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9. I am able to access nutritious food in ways that are acceptable to myculture.

1 2 3 4 5

10. I know how to get enough nutritious food to meet my needs. 1 2 3 4 5

11. The ways that I access food are safe. 1 2 3 4 5

12. I sometimes worry that I will run out of food. 1 2 3 4 5

13. I trust my sources of food. 1 2 3 4 5

14. I am confident in my ability to get the food that I need. 1 2 3 4 5

15. I worry that I will not be able to access enough food to meet myneeds.

1 2 3 4 5

16. I am not confident in my sources of food. 1 2 3 4 5

17. I do not have a secure source of food. 1 2 3 4 5

18. In the past year, you or your family have worried that food would run

out1 2 3 4 5

19. In the past year, the food that you and your family had ran out, andthere was no way to get more.

1 2 3 4 5

20. In the past year, you and your family could not access the food youneeded to eat balanced meals.

1 2 3 4 5

21. In the past year, you or members of your family did not eat enough because there was not enough food.

1 2 3 4 5

Instructions:

Think about the food that you usually eat and where it comes from. How

much do you use each of the following methods to get your daily food (use the scale below

to fill in a number next to each method):

Not available

in my

community

Never or

very rarely

Rarely Sometimes Often Always or

almost

always

0 1 2 3 4 5

____ 1. Grocery store in Thunder Bay

____ 2. Grocery store in nearby town ____ 10. Fishing ____ 3. Convenience store ____ 11. Hunting ____ 4. Gathering berries ____ 12. Trapping ____ 5. Gathering herbs ____ 13. Food bank ____ 6. Gathering medicinal plants ____ 14. Sharing food with others ____ 7. Gathering wild rice ____ 15. Other: _________________________ ____ 8. Gathering other forest products ____ 16. Other:__________________________ ____ 9. Growing vegetables in a garden ____ 17. Other: __________________________



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Are there certain foods that you need or would like to eat that are difficult to get, or are notavailable, in your community?

[ ] Yes [ ] No

If yes, what are those foods - and why are they difficult to get or not available? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ __________

Instructions: Think about where your food comes from, and everything involved in getting foodfrom where it comes from to your plate. What do you think of this food process? Use the scale below to fill in a number next to each statement. How much is it...

Not at all

or very little

Slightly Somewhat Quite a bit Completely or

very much

1 2 3 4 5

____ 1. Under your personal control? ____ 2. Reliable? ____ 3. Understandable to you? ____ 4. Transparent? ____ 5. Trustworthy? ____ 6. Safe?

____ 7. Affected by forces outside of your personal control? ____ 8. Protected or regulated by governments? ____ 9. Influenced by business or corporate interests

Instructions: When choosing food, how important is each of the following to you in guidingyour food choices? Think about the food you eat for your primary meals. Use the following scaleto make your answers:

1 2 3 4 5

Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

Disagree Agree

When choosing food to eat, it is important to me that the food… ____ 1. is affordable. ____ 2. is easy to prepare. ____ 3. does not require cooking. ____ 4. is familiar (you have eaten it before).



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____ 5. is convenient. ____ 6. is eaten by other people I know. ____ 7. is accessible at the grocery or convenience store. ____ 8. tastes good. ____ 9. is healthy.

____ 10. has a unique flavour. ____ 11. connects me with my cultural heritage. ____ 12. was also eaten by my ancestors. ____ 13. is not overly processed. ____ 14. is not too salty. ____ 15. is not too sweet. ____ 16. comes from the land nearby.

Instructions: We would like to learn about the skills that you think you need in order to be

a successful, well-adjusted person. Please rate each of the following on how necessary it is

to your understanding of what it means to be a successful person using the scale provided.

Not at all

necessary

Slightly

necessary

Somewhat

necessary

Quite

necessary

Very

necessary

1 2 3 4 5

1. ____ Being a good steward or protector of the land that provides for me.2. ____ Being able to catch, hunt, grow, or raise my own fish, meat, or vegetables to eat.3. ____ Being able to buy the latest or best fashions.4. ____ Knowing the landscape in which I live.

5. ____ Learning the skills and knowledge necessary to find and keep a good job.6. ____ Being able to buy a cool or high status car or truck.7. ____ Being able to buy the latest or best new technologies (e.g., cell phone, computer, ipod).8. ____ Understanding how to find and access the services of any store or business I need.9. ____ Knowing how to preserve food for winter.10. ____ Understanding the climate, seasons, and geography of the region I live in.11. ____ Being able to give back to the land that provides for me.12. ____ Making enough money to be able to buy new things regularly.



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CULTURAL IDENTITY

Instructions: Please respond to each of the following statements twice: once representing yourthoughts and feelings about your Canadian culture, and again representing your thoughts andfeelings about your Aboriginal or First Nation culture. Circle the number that most closelyreflects how much you agree or disagree with each statement as it reflects each culture.

Answer Each Question Twice

My Canadian Culture My Aboriginal Culture

S t r o n g l y D

i s a g r e e

D i s a g r e e

N e u t r a l

A g r e e

S t r o n g l y A

g r e e

S t r o n g l y D

i s a g r e e

D i s a g r e e

N e u t r a l

A g r e e

S t r o n g l y A

g r e e

1. In general, being a member of this cultureis an important part of my self-image.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

2. I often think about the fact that I am amember of this culture.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

3. I find it difficult to form a bond with othermembers of this culture.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

4. In general, I’m glad to be a member of thisculture. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

5. I don’t feel good about being a member ofthis culture.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

6. I have a lot in common with other membersof this culture.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

7. The fact that I am a member of this culturerarely enters my mind.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

8. I don’t feel a sense of being “connected”with other members of this culture.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

9. I often regret that I am a member of this

culture.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

10. I feel strong ties to other members of thisculture.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

11. Being a member of this culture has verylittle to do with how I feel about myself.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

12. Generally, I feel good when I think aboutmyself as being a member of this culture.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5



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Instructions: Please respond to each of the following statements twice: once representing howyou see your Canadian culture, and again representing how you see your Aboriginal or First Nation culture. Circle the number that most closely reflects how much you agree or disagree witheach statement as it reflects each culture.

Answer Each Question Twice

My Canadian Culture My Aboriginal Culture

S t r o n g l y D i s a g r e e

D i s a g r e e

N e u t r a l

A g r e e

S t r o n g l y A g r e e

S t r o n g l y D i s a g r e e

D i s a g r e e

N e u t r a l

A g r e e

S t r o n g l y A g r e e

1. This culture has a real existence for me. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

2. This culture is a distinct entity, or thing, inmy mind.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

3. To me, this culture exists as a distinct unit. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

4. This culture is a self-contained entity in mymind.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

5. It is obvious who is, and is not, a memberof this culture.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

6. It is easy to know whether or not someoneis a member of this culture.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

7. I have a clear idea of what it means to be amember of this culture. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

8. This culture is clearly separate and uniquefrom other cultures.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

11. The core characteristics that define thisculture can change over time.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

12. The fundamental characteristics of thisculture are permanent.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

13. The values that this culture holds canchange over time.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

14. The basic values of this culture will

always stay the same.1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

15. In the future, the values and characteristicsassociated with this culture may be verydifferent from what they are now.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

16. The basic nature of this culture will not beaffected by changing fads or trends.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5



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17. Individual members of this culture cannotchange the meaning, values, and attributes ofthe culture.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

18. What it means to belong to this culturewas permanently established by our ancestors.

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

Instructions: Please respond to each of the following statements. Circle the number to the rightthat most closely reflects how much you agree or disagree with each statement.

S t r o

n g l y D i s a g r e e

D i s a

g r e e

N e u

t r a l

A g r e e

S t r o

n g l y A g r e e

1. I believe that I can be a full member of both the Canadian and Aboriginalcommunities.

1 2 3 4 5

2. It is not possible for me to be both Aboriginal and Canadian. 1 2 3 4 5

3. It is possible to be a fully accepted member of both the Canadian andAboriginal cultures.

1 2 3 4 5

4. I believe that in order to be truly Canadian I cannot also be a full memberof my Aboriginal culture.

1 2 3 4 5

5. I believe that in order to be a full member of my Aboriginal culture, Icannot also be truly Canadian.

1 2 3 4 5

6. I believe it is possible to identify with both Canada and my Aboriginalculture.

1 2 3 4 5

7. To be fully Canadian, I have to hide or alter my Aboriginal identity. 1 2 3 4 5

8. To be fully Aboriginal, I have to hide or alter my Canadian identity. 1 2 3 4 5

9. I am simply a member of my Aboriginal culture who lives in Canada. 1 2 3 4 5

10. I keep my Aboriginal and Canadian cultures separate. 1 2 3 4 5

11. I feel Aboriginal -Canadian. 1 2 3 4 5

12. I feel part of a combined culture. 1 2 3 4 5

13. I am conflicted between the Canadian and Aboriginal ways of doingthings.

1 2 3 4 5

14. I feel like someone moving between two cultures. 1 2 3 4 515. I feel caught between the Aboriginal and Canadian cultures. 1 2 3 4 5

16. I do not feel trapped between the Aboriginal and Canadian cultures. 1 2 3 4 5



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Appendix E: Debriefing Letter

[Appeared on Lakehead University letterhead]

Dear Participant:

Thank you for your participation in this study. You have been entered in a draw for a $50 prizeand two $25 prizes that will take place this June. Your answers to the questions will help us to better understand how people learn about health, nutrition, local foods, and culture.

You answered many questions about yourself, your health, well-being and nutrition, aswell as your thoughts and feelings about the food you eat and your connection with Canadianand Aboriginal culture. Our study is trying to find out more about how your health and well- being are related to nutrition and food, and whether any of these are also related to how you balance different cultures. You will be asked to do another survey in September, at the end of theworkshop program that is similar to this one.

If you have any questions or concerns about the study, please feel free to contact Dr.Stroink at the e-mail address or phone numbers indicated above, or ask the workshop coordinatorto put you in touch. Concerns about the research can also be taken to the Lakehead UniversityResearch Ethics Committee at (807) 343-8283. Please contact us if you want to be given moreinformation about our research, or a summary of the findings from this study.

Thank you very much for your help with the study,

Documents

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