Feature Story: Cooking in Two Worlds Gathering

Inspired by the document “Cooking in Two Worlds — A Process Guide for Incorporating Indigenous Foods into Institutions,” the two-day Cooking in Two Worlds gathering brought together chefs, students, and community leaders from across the UBC network to explore Indigenous food traditions.

As Chef Andrew George shared, “This is a new beginning, this is a new way of doing food.” Spanning two schools, leaders from Vancouver Community College and UBC–including the UBC Food System Committee and UBC Food Services– collaborators fostered a space for togetherness over food. Fiona Devereaux emphasized, “This is our work. This isn’t Indigenous people’s work. It’s our work to start breaking down the barriers in the institutions.” 

Chef Sarah Mireau added, “It’s a lot more than just a recipe. We’re teaching you how to source things, how organic and local is super important to Indigenous people and getting the food from the land we live on. Also, when we teach you different protocols like energy transfer when you’re cooking, we put energy into our food.”

The event showcased how institutional food systems can support Indigenous businesses, cultural protocols, and wellbeing through food, stewardship, and community. Art Napoleon highlighted these values, noting in his talk how “stewardship is a responsibility that comes along the good food we all like to cook.”