Next TFPC Meeting about Indigenous Foodways, Wednesday July 10th 

Join us for the July TFPC meeting to learn more about Toronto’s Indigenous Foodways.  Guest speakers include Selina Young, Manager of the City of Toronto’s Indigenous Affairs Office; and Johl Whiteduck Ringuette, Indigenous Chef, TFPC Member and Chair of the Board of Ojibiikaan Indigenous Cultural Network.

When: Wednesday July 10, from 2-5 pm
Where: Toronto City Hall Committee Room 4

Bios:

Selina Young
Selina is the Manager of the City of Toronto’s Indigenous Affairs Office. She is Métis from north western Saskatchewan and grew up in Caledonia, Ontario along the shores of the Grand River. Selina has over 20 years of experience in the public service, having worked for the federal government, the Scottish government and with the Ontario Public Service. Selina’s deep commitment to implementing reconciliation brought her to Toronto in 2018 to lead the City’s first Indigenous Affairs Office.

Johl Whiteduck Ringuette
Chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette is Anishnawbe and Algonquin. He is the sole proprietor of NishDish Marketeria and Catering, a First Nations owned and operated catering business specializing in Anishnawbe cuisine since 2005. As one of Tkaronto’s leading First Nations food sovereigntists, Chef Johl’s journey has led him to identifying, sourcing, re-learning and reclaiming the traditional Anishnawbe diet. As a public speaker and teacher, he has taught countless traditional food skills, demos and workshops. Chef Johl has written curriculum for his own Ojibiikaan Indigenous Culinary Arts Program, a ceremonial in-depth land and food-based program. Gifts he received of ancestral seeds started an extensive Indigenous seed bank and led to establishing the four urban Indigenous teaching gardens. Johl is also the founding Board President of Ojibiikaan Indigenous Cultural Network, the first and only not-for-profit dedicated to Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the GTA. Chef Johl’s vision is to inspire the return of ancestral lands back to the community for the purposes of growing Indigenous teaching gardens. In December 2017 Chef Johl founded TIBA, the Toronto Indigenous Business Association, renewing the pursuit of an Anishnawbe district for Toronto and building a strong coalition of First Nations social entrepreneurs and business owners. In 2018 he launched the first Indigenous Harvesters and Artisans Market with multiple partnerships at the Bickford Centre, where he curated a series of murals painted by Indigenous artists. Chef Johl received Aboriginal Businessman of the Year award in 2013, and is also an active member of the Toronto Food Policy Council.

See you there!