Join Njoki Mbũrũ and Naiya Tsang for “Nourishing our Roots: Food, Climate Change and Culture,” an interactive workshop to discuss your experiences of food, the climate crisis and diaspora. *This session is geared towards newcomers but all are welcome. We ask that participants are mindful of language barriers, cultural differences, and respect the lived experiences of newcomers in the room.* 

About the Facilitators

Njoki Mbũrũ is a grandchild of subsistence farmers who grow a variety of local fruits, vegetables, and trees in a village called Ol Rongai in Kenya’s Rift Valley region. She graduated from the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Science in International Development. Informed by her experiences in Ol Rongai, and observations of the evolving political and environmental landscape in her birthplace, Njoki feels drawn to pursue a career in food and land policy and, community development. Over the past four years living in Vancouver, Njoki has immersed herself in community service, environmental and climate justice advocacy and, public speaking. Most recently, she completed a nine-month long policy program with the Vancouver Foundation where she published and presented a comprehensive policy brief titled “Anti-racist Approaches to Effectively Address Food Insecurity and Social Isolation among Indigenous and Black Seniors in Downtown Vancouver.” Currently, she serves on the Board of Directors for the Vancouver Farmers Markets. Through this she hopes to support in ideating and facilitating policies, projects, and partnerships grounded in the recognition, celebration, and reverence of Indigenous and Black nature-stewards. She hopes that young, Indigenous and, racialized-immigrant folks feel more welcomed across all Farmers Markets.

Naiya Tsang is a fifth-generation Chinese-Canadian settler who grew up on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. From an early age, Naiya has been engaged in community organizing spanning from Chinese Head Tax Redress efforts, to climate marches, to feminist writing collectives, to community art projects exploring food, culture, and land. A recent graduate from Simon Fraser University, Naiya majored in Gender Studies and minored in Biological Sciences, in addition to attending the Semester in Dialogue program. There she focusing on dialogue-based approaches to climate change, climate emergency adaptation, and sustainable agriculture, as well as co-organizing a major public dialogue on collective climate action and working across differences. With professional experience in communications and community engagement, Naiya hopes to one day work as a community planner in order to aid in developing resilient and equitable food communities, as she believes that a just and sustainable world hinges on the cultures, practices, and systems we build around food.

For more info and to register, visit https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/nourishing-our-roots-food-climate-change-and-culture-tickets-137712454659

This program is funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.