Almost a year after their greenhouse project started running, Yale First Nation said they've seen members form a stronger sense of community connection through addressing food insecurity.
"The main goal is for this project to help with food security in the Nation," said Sarah Bélair-Bergman, the food sovereignty program director for Yale. "And then to make sure that it can be a really self-sustaining project in the next however many years, and to keep empowering members to come get involved."
Up and running since May 2024, the Yale First Nation Greenhouse was created to combat food insecurity for their members and to help foster a stronger sense of community spirit. This is their first community greenhouse and the experience so far, according to Bélair-Bergman, has been a positive one for Yale. Their first year of harvests yielded an impressive 1,300 lbs. of vegetables that was shared with band members and the Fraser-Cascade School District. The district, where many Yale youth attend school, used the vegetables for their food program.
The project has also succeeded in helping to strengthen relationships between community members who live apart from each other, and to help foster stronger cultural connections.
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