Meet Our Speakers - Kathy Loon
Name: Kathy Loon
Title: Executive Lead for Indigenous Collaboration & Relations
Q: Tell us a bit about your work and how it relates to or involves the governance of food systems?
I have a background in business and corporate development, but I have always used my skills to improve Indigenous communities. I shifted my focus to the healthcare field when I took a job as an interpreter for the Meno Ya Win Health Center. I speak fluent Ojibway and using my language skills, I began to interpret for the Center, gradually transitioning into my position now.
My work centers around providing five traditional programs to provide culturally appropriate care to our patients through the method of holistic healing. MiiChim is the program that provides traditional foods to our patients.
Q: What is an ongoing and/or emerging food law and policy issue that you have come across through your work?
I think that the Canadian Food Guide could do a better job of emphasizing the importance of eating traditional foods with respect to one’s culture. Indigenous communities are often part of a hunter gatherer society, and this is not appreciably reflected in the Canadian Food Guide.
New laws and policies have also steered people away from the traditional way food was meant to be cultivated and shared in Indigenous communities. The introduction of “trapping” resulted in people claiming wild meats as property instead of a communal resource. The restriction of reserves often results in land that is less fertile for farming. Further, the onset of freezers, though useful and necessary, have resulted in greater amounts of wild meat being stored by individuals instead of shared with the community.
Q: Can you give us a hint of something you will talk about at the conference?
I will be talking about the “Medicine Wheel” at the conference and how every program connects and is necessary for holistic healing. We provide five traditional programs: Odabiidamageg (Governance and Leadership), Wiichi’iwewin (Patient and Client Supports), Andaaw’iwewin and Mashkiki (Traditional Healing Practices and Traditional Medicines), Miichim (Traditional Foods), and Bimaadiziwin (Cultural Awareness Training). None of the programs work in isolation; for example, you need governance and leadership (Odabiidamageg) in order to provide traditional foods/meals (Miichim).
Further, it takes a village to provide the proper care that our communities deserve. We need workers and volunteers from the community to donate hunted wild meats such as moose, to interpret between staff and patients to find their meal choices, and to prepare meals in kitchens.
Q: In previous articles, you have been quoted saying “Food is Medicine”. Could you elaborate on its relevance to food sovereignty?
“Food is Medicine” is a central concept in the care we provide at the Meno Ya Win Health Center. It is difficult to understand it’s importance without a little background. The onset of residential schools meant that knowledge and traditions could not be passed on. However, in recent years, schools have mandated that there be two weeks where teachers cannot teach new curriculum material, which allows Anishinaabe students to go out and practice traditional food preparation, farming, and hunting. This shows a clear interest from the government to empower Indigenous children to learn more about their culture. I think this is incredibly important because Indigenous communities still have disproportionately negative health outcomes compared to the general population due to the unavailability of healthy foods. As foods traditional to an individual will be the healthiest foods for that person, we want to ensure the next generation can continue our traditions and eat foods that are healing for our communities.
*Kathy was scheduled to present on the keynote titled “The Regulation of Wild Meats: Perspectives from Indigenous Food Sovereignty to Food Safety”, but was unfortunately unable to attend.