THUNDER BAY – A non-profit organization is offering hundreds of grants to Indigenous households across Northern Ontario, looking to boost projects that help families feed themselves.
The Sovereign Household Supports Program awards up to $2,000 for Indigenous households in remote communities in the north, and up to $1,000 for those in urban and rural communities.
The deadline to apply is Sunday, Feb. 13 at midnight. Applications can be submitted in written or video format, and more information is available online.
Offered for the first time last year, grants helped recipients purchase things like freezers, materials to build smoke shacks and hunt camps, and launch a business selling traditional foods.
The grants are distributed by Gaagige Zaagibigaa (formerly known as the Northern Ontario Indigenous Food Sovereignty Collaborative), an organization whose mission is to help Indigenous people achieve overall wellness through food.
The household program has resonated across the north, said co-lead Jessica McLaughlin, last year attracting 1,600 applicants.
She’s hoping for similar results again this year, when the organization will have far more to hand out.
Last year, 60 households (including some in Thunder Bay) were approved for a total of $110,000 in grants.
Increased funding allowed the group to offer 250 grants this season, with around $360,000 in funding available. A second round of household grant funding is planned for August.
A stewardship council with representation from around the region selects successful applicants.
The program aims to build longer-term food sovereignty, not just meet a family’s immediate needs, McLaughlin said.
The approach brings benefits beyond the dinner table, she added.
Supporting a family to hunt, for example, encourages physical activity and social wellness, bringing mental health benefits, she said.
The federal government has increased funding for food security initiatives during the pandemic, but McLaughlin said groups like Gaagige Zaagibigaa felt too much of that aid was going towards emergency food packages largely consisting of processed food.
“I said no – let families make the decisions on their own – especially Indigenous families,” she said.
The government eventually reallocated some funding for longer-term food sovereignty approaches after lobbying on the issue, she said.
In addition to the household grants, Gaagige Zaagibigaa offers community grants that have supported larger projects, like a butcher shop for the Red Rock Indian Band.
The non-profit organization is funded by a number of family and corporate foundations, as well as Community Food Centres Canada.
More information is available at the group’s Facebook page, or by contacting jessica@gaagigezaagibigaa.ca or 807-355-1986.
Note: An earlier version of this story stated Gaagige Zaagibigaa plans to award 250 household grants this year. In fact, the organization is distributing that number of grants this season, with plans for another round of applications in August. TBNewswatch apologizes for the error.
