05/07/2025
Attended the Annapolis Valley Food Network Food Links Symposium today. I offered the land acknowledgement and it seemed to "land" with people in a meaningful way. I JUST spoke from the heart. I did not read from a script. I did not come as an authority on the topic. I JUST showed up, paused, and invited a room full of community changemakers who are passionate about food from cultivation to consumption, from home grown to local large production, to continue to steward the land with the mindfulness of peace and friendship and with gratitude for the knowledge keepers and land caretakers that walked before us.
This post is a nice reminder that "we are what we eat". We feel more connected to our local lands when we eat from that land. We are all treaty people ♡ and we are the product of our environments. How can we do what's just right, now and for the future ♡
I am land. I am water. I am the history of these lands and waters in the food and drink that nourishes me. I am because we are.
Many Indian, Mi'kmaw, African, and Japanese friends and elders have brought versions of these ideas into our consciousness. .
For example:
Mi'kmaw elders have shared the idea of history in the water that nourishes every cell in our bodies. That water carries our history.
African teachers have shared the concept of Ubuntu, which has different meanings across Africa, and one of them being "I am because we are"
What comes up for you when you read this?
