A Feast for the Peace Potluck
Every once in a while at the Wilderness Committee's Vancouver office we have a staff potluck. This month, inspired by our friends at Fight C, we made it a Feast for the Peace.
Feasts for the Peace are a creative and community building way of taking action for a political purpose.
The Peace Valley is part of Treaty 8 First Nations' territory, many landowners live there and it is some of the best farmland in BC. It is also under imminent threat of destruction by the Site C dam. That's why we wanted to show our solidarity with the people fighting to save their homes, and consider the impacts it will have on all of us.
From the organizing kit:
"This autumn, we are inviting you to help raise awareness about the irreparable damage that the Site C Dam will do to the lives of our farmers and B.C.’s food security.
Living in the city, it is often easy to forget the broader systems and hardworking people that keep our friends and family fed.
With the election just a few months away, it is now more important than ever to help others learn about the Site C dam. We are hoping that through getting together over good food, we will all be reminded of how connected we all are, both to this land and to each other."
Yesterday, we talked about the connections that we have to our food systems. The discussion centred around grocery stores, including delivery from SPUD, how expensive or affordable food is and how to balance budgets with sustainable and local production.
We enjoyed Emil's chickpea flour dhokla (pictured left) with cilantro chutney and coconut flakes. Butternut squash by Beth, roasted leeks and beets from Chloe and Sue's famous slaw graced our plates. Vegetarian empanadas from a local Peruvian restaurant hit the spicy spot.
Can you believe Joe grew these kiwis in his New Westminster back yard?
Can you believe Sarah sugared those Richmond-grown cranberries herself?? They were so decadent, especially paired with the sticky sweet gingerbread cake made with molasses and cream cheese icing.
While we feasted, we considered where we would rather see $9 billion of public funds spent in this province. Recent reporting has brought to public attention that 1 in 5 children live in poverty in BC. There have been an awful lot of budget cuts to post-secondary education and school boards. We want the BC government to be investing in kids and their educations, not bleeding money on expensive hydropower that we must sell at a loss.
As a wilderness preservation group, of course we are passionate about nature. We'd rather see some of those public funds invested in the BC Parks system: more rangers and conservation officers, more campsites, affordable shuttles to Parks. We also want these experiences to be subsidized for kids so that all families, regardless of income, can enjoy outdoor recreation in BC
Locking in our electricty infrastrucutre on this project that dispossesses Indigenous peoples, farmers and landowners, destroys precious wildlife habitat, and dangerously affects water flow through the Peace River is revolting.
It's a good thing so many people are speaking up and taking action to stop the Site C dam. It's not too late. You can host your own Feast for the Peace by filling out this Google form.
