How Indigenous leaders are changing the future of food

The food industry is being hard hit by COVID-19. And the pandemic is impacting the food security in Indigenous communities.

This week, from Indigenous chefs cooking up comfort, to a community freezer stocked with seal — we're talking with Indigenous leaders working to change the future of food. 

Sean Sherman is an award-winning Oglala Lakota Sioux chef, cookbook author, and Indigenous cuisine educator. He's preparing to launch a new project, The Indigenous Food Lab, which will be a restaurant, education and training centre about everything related to Indigenous foods. 

Trudy Metcalfe-Coe is one of thousands of Inuit living in Ottawa, the Canadian city with the largest Inuit population outside the North. As a chef and caterer, she incorporates northern ingredients into her own cooking, often with a little twist.

On a recent weekend, Anishinaabe chef Joseph Shawana headed out with his wife and son to harvest wild leeks in the forest. He served them up in a virtual cooking competition alongside Indigenous chefs from across the country. The cook-off was spearheaded by the Indigenous Culinary of Associated Nations. 

The Nain Research Centre takes samples from ringed seals for scientific purposes. But it's also used for preparing meat for a community freezer. The freezer is often stocked with Arctic char, seal and moose. Carla Pamak, an Inuit researcher at the Centre, says the freezer is helping people to feed their families in a region that struggles with access to affordable food. The CBC's John Gaudi has that story. 

This week's playlist: 

Pura Fe - Sunlight 

Saltwater Hank - I'm Going to Throw this Shovel (As Hard as I Can)

Kalyani and Isha - A Leaf, A Flower