UBC Farm (UBC Farm Volunteer – Indigenous Health Research and Education Garden)

The Indigenous Health Research and Education Garden (IHREG) aims to serve educational and research needs related to Indigenous food sovereignty while increasing participants’ knowledge and access to both traditional and non-traditional plants. As with the other Indigenous programs at the UBC Farm, the IHREG is guided by the principle that ‘food is medicine,’ and thus that a holistic understanding of health and healing includes the food that people eat. In addition to its international, community-based research, the IHREG supports three main program areas: The Culturally Relevant Urban Wellness program (CRUW) brings urban Indigenous and recent immigrant youth to the Garden from March to October. To find out more about the program, view the program booklet and watch the CRUW promotional videos and the CRUW video from SPARC BC on Vimeo. The Indigenous Health Research and Education Garden grows over 40 varieties of medicinal plants that are native to the region. These are cared for and used by the Medicine Collective, a group of Indigenous Elders and Knowledge-keepers who lead medicine-making workshops and walks in the Garden with the community. Food harvested from the Indigenous Health Research and Education Garden is used as part of the monthly community Feast Bowl meal, which brings together Indigenous students, staff, faculty, and allies at the First Nations House of Learning Longhouse on campus to cook and eat traditional and seasonal foods (watch the video below). Volunteers can get involved working in the garden, participating in the Feast Bowl, and more. For updates about the garden’s programs and ways to get involved, sign up for the newsletter here. You can sign up for shifts on our online volunteer portal here (https://secure.landfood.ubc.ca/farmvol/new/application/mi-login.php), or learn more about all of our volunteer opportunities on our website (http://ubcfarm.ubc.ca/community/volunteer-program/). You do not need to attend orientation before getting involved with the Indigenous Health Research and Education Garden, but orientation is required for our Urban Farmers and other programs.