Stewardship and Community Care: A Country Foods Journey through Newfoundland and Labrador
Perspective/Stories
National Cohorts
Indigenous Foodways
Almost smack dab in the middle of Newfoundland you’ll find an area called Sandy Badger. Also known as Moose Management Area 16, Sandy Badger is prized by outdoor enthusiasts for its forests, lakes, and trails. And, it’s where first-time visitor Denley Jacque found a moose.
Working as a Fisheries Officer with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Denley Jacque was born and raised in a hunting and trapping family. “Canoeing, boating, spending time net fishing, that was my childhood,” he said. “My father is from the north coast of Labrador. I am an Indigenous individual through the Nunatsiavut government, which is the Inuit government of Labrador North.”
The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador offers charitable moose licenses, where hunters and charitable organizations can partner to hunt a moose. The hunter then donates the animal, working with the charitable organization to get nutritious, locally sourced food to those whom it can benefit most. The initiative aims to enhance local food security, increase people’s access to nutritious and healthy local food, and help manage big game in the province.
Working with partners
Last year, Denley was connected with Dana Marshall, Regional Food Animator for Labrador with Food First NL, about the possibility of hunting a charitable moose license. Food First NL is a non-profit organization working to advance everyone’s right to food in Newfoundland and Labrador. As Project Lead for Team NL in Nourish’s Anchor Cohort, Dana works with Food First NL and the Labrador Anchor Collaborative to build supplier relationships between health care and Indigenous communities, organizations, and governments, and to help integrate country foods into health care menus.
Bridging hunters and health care
With Denley as the hunter and Dana as the bridge and connector between the hunter and health care, they worked together to make the moose hunt a reality. Both Dana and Denley have childhood memories of visiting family members in the Paddon Home, a former long-term care facility in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador. And, both speak passionately about the importance of country foods as a part of community life.
Country Foods in Health Care
Bringing more country food into health care is part of a movement to support people’s health and healing by offering people foods that are familiar, comforting, and culturally appropriate. Culturally appropriate food considers food within a cultural framework; it is not only the food itself, but also the cultural practices around the preparation and consumption of the food. This includes where, how, and with whom the food is sourced, prepared, and eaten.
“Working with the Labrador Anchor Collaborative we’ve been able to get partridge, moose, and even some caribou from our partners…. providing periodic special menus for our residents to give them a taste of home.”
Tracey Duder, Regional Director, Food and Environmental Services, Labrador Grenfell Zone, Aramark Canada Ltd.
