Program Overview

As part of the Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation Council’s (I·SPARC) Healthy Living programming, the Food Systems Program (FSP) supports Indigenous communities in reaching their food security and food sovereignty goals. The FSP distributes grant opportunities and provides support with capacity building, technical training, networking, and cultural sharing through in-person gatherings, online education/events, and resource sharing. I·SPARC is committed to being inclusive of all aspects of food relations while offering a low-barrier strengths-based approach. Building on over ten years of prior momentum, I·SPARC is now in the third year of delivering the FSP in 2024-25, funded in partnership with the First Nations Health Authority. 

Program History

The First Nations Food Systems program (FNFS) grew from BC’s Access to Produce in Rural and Remote Communities initiative, previously funded by the Ministry of Health and supported by the Ministry of Agriculture. From 2009 to 2022, the Heart & Stroke Foundation delivered the FNFS program; first in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, and then with the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) since 2014.  

I·SPARC was identified by the FNHA as a new partner that could help steward the Program from an Indigenous, community-led perspective. This builds on nearly fifteen years of trusted partnership as one of I·SPARC’s founding and ongoing partners for health and wellness programming. 

On April 1, 2022, I·SPARC began delivering the FNFS under a modified name, ‘Food Systems Program’ (FSP). FSP’s community-driven projects have grown to include gardening and Indigenous food-related initiatives such as ceremony, harvesting, fish & game hunting, medicinal gardens & food forests, and revitalization of historical infrastructure (e.g. clam gardens and harvesting areas), preserving techniques and food skills, as well as climate change mitigation strategies—all factored into overall health and wellbeing on a community’s pathway toward food sovereignty and food security. 

What We Do

We are working to develop the program “in a good way”, with community, to address the unique needs of First Nations communities and Indigenous populations across the province. The program follows a community-driven approach and focuses on knowledge sharing and capacity building centered around food relations. A longer-term goal of the FSP is to offer tiered grant amounts to better serve the unique needs of communities with getting started, scaling up, or sustaining their food-related projects.  

Opportunities 

  • $5,000 grants* for food-related activities  
  • A community driven approach to technical and educational supports, through the Learning Together, Growing Together Fund and virtual gatherings/webinars 
  • Regional and provincial Gatherings for networking and knowledge exchange 

*  I·SPARC is committed to providing flexible, low-barrier, and trust-based granting processes. 

Granting

The Food Systems Program provides First Nation communities and Indigenous populations with grants to fund a wide range of projects that support Indigenous-led food sovereignty, food security, and Indigenous food relations. 

  • The Food Systems Program Grant in an amount up to $5,000 focuses on food related activities and can be applied towards food security planning, building of infrastructure, purchase of materials, tools, equipment, honoraria, wages and more. 
  • Successful applicants to the Food Systems Program grant will be eligible to apply to the Learning Together, Growing Together Fund in an amount up to $3,000. This fund is provided as a top up and focuses strictly on capacity building through education, workshops, training, mentorship, and knowledge sharing and can only be applied to in connection with the regular FSP grant.   

The funding cycle of the Food Systems Program Grant is currently closed.

Gatherings

Each year, the FSP organizes in-person gatherings to support program participants through technical training, networking, knowledge sharing and cultural exchange in relation to food. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to participate in regional or provincial gatherings held in 2024-25. 

Webinars

In 2023, the FSP launched a three-part online webinar series to deliver workshops on priority topics and provide continued learning opportunities in addition to in-person gatherings. A total of three (3) webinars were held in 2023 and recordings can be found below. The FSP team plans to continue organizing virtual opportunities for networking and knowledge sharing.