Culturally Significant Food Crops

Ariel (Iyé Creative) has been working closely with Lisa Willott (farmer-researcher, Farm Folk City Folk) for 4 years to advance applied research on culturally relevant crops grown on Vancouver Island. Together, they've explored varietal adaptation, seed stewardship, and family-centered education strategies. This collaboration is helping position culturally relevant crops as viable climate-adaptive crops for the region, particularly in the face of changing growing conditions.

Come learn about these two’s experiences growing food with purpose - ensuring that the crops they are nurturing are aligned with the cultural needs and traditions of the communities they are serving. Learn about unique plants that you can grow in your yards, and some tips and tricks for growing those (for example, amaranth, unique tomato varieties, collards), and how you might share those with your neighbours and communities.

Ariel Reyes Antuan is an Afro-Caribbean cultural practitioner, social entrepreneur and community investor whose work restores culturally relevant foods as pathways to collective wealth and wellbeing. As co-founder of Iyé Creative, his work blends ancestral knowledge with modern tools to create investment pathways for growers, makers, and families.

Lisa Willott has been involved in small scale farming for the past 20 years with a focus on seed saving in the last 14 years on Vancouver Island. She is still always motivated by curiosity with the question that started her down this path: how do farmers make it work? From her master's research on farming in Cuba, to her current work with FarmFolk CityFolk, the answers to that question shift and change but the richness of learning about the cultural, historic, environmental, economic and deeply personal reasons are a constant inspiration to continue this work.

How to Register for this Event

This workshop is happening in person only. Please dress appropriately for all types of weather, the workshop may be outside or in our heated strawbale building.

Only current members in good standing are eligible to use the free ticket option as a part of their member benefits package.

There are a limited number of Pay What You Can tickets available for folks who self-identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC), and people who are facing significant financial barriers to their involvement in our programming. The Compost Education Centre is continually in the process of examining the ways in which our program accessibility can be improved for all members of our community. This ticket gesture is by no means a fulsome examination of the systems of oppression that exist for people inside and outside of our community. We welcome your ideas and feedback.

You must pre-register for this event. You can purchase a ticket through Eventbrite. You can also register for the event by calling our office at 250 386 9676 or via email by contacting [email protected]

Customers can receive a full refund (less the Eventbrite processing fee) up to 7 days before the workshop. Customers who request a refund less than 7 days before the workshop can request to switch their ticket to a different workshop within the calendar year if tickets are available. To request a refund or switch your ticket, email [email protected].

VERY IMPORTANT: Please be in touch if you are no longer able to attend but hold a ticket so we can make your space available to someone else.

Accessibility

The Compost Education Centre site has flat paths made of woodchips. The strawbale learning classroom is accessed via a wooden ramp and has a wide double door and a ramp leading up to it. Once inside everything is flat.

There is a single-stall gender neutral washroom on site. The washroom is not wheelchair accessible. There is a steep ramp from the wood chip pathway onto the washroom boardwalk, and a 2-inch step up from the washroom boardwalk into the washroom.

About the organization

The Compost Education Centre is located on unceded and occupied Indigenous territories, the land of the Lekwungen people— specifically the Xwsepsum and Songhees Nations. These nations are two of many, made up of individuals who have lived within the porous boundaries of what is considered Coast Salish, Nuu-Chah-Nulth and Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw Territory (Vancouver Island) since time immemorial. At the CEC we seek to respect, honour and continually grow our own understandings of Indigenous rights and history, and to fulfill our responsibilities as settlers, who live and work directly with the land and its complex, vital ecologies and our diverse, evolving communities.

Compost Education Centre memberships get you free workshops, discounts at garden centres around town and more great perks! Sign up or learn more on our website.

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