Which parts of the wild prairie rose plant are edible?
learn and do
LEARN: HOW DO TRADITIONAL PLANT FOODS INCREASE FOOD DIVERSITY?
DO: RETURNING TO TRADITIONAL ROOTS
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traditional foods
Traditional foods can be considered to include those foods that have been used far back in time. The foods that Indigenous peoples in Canada have been eating for thousands of years are often described as traditional foods. This does not mean that these foods have not changed over time or are no longer important. Traditional foods also involve the practices used to hunt, gather, harvest, prepare and process food.
Traditional foods include wild game animals, fish and other seafood or water mammals, berries and wild growing vegetables and fruits. Indigenous peoples see these plants and animals as part of an interconnected system of all living things.
These traditional plants and animals include a great diversity of species, which include about 150 different plant food species – root vegetables, greens, fruits, seeds, nuts, seaweed and mushrooms and inner bark of some trees – as well as about 300 different animal species – mammals, birds, eggs, fish and shellfish.
Alberta traditional food stories
In 2015, an organization called Alberta Culinary brought an international group of chefs to Alberta. The Alberta chefs who participated with this group looked at food traditions, stories and identities in Alberta. They selected seven local ingredients. Those ingredients are beef, bison, canola, honey, Red Fife Wheat, root vegetables and Saskatoon berries.
The filming of this Cook It Raw Alberta – Paskwâmimostos video occurred in May in Lac La Biche, Alberta. Chefs from both Alberta and around the world tented and cooked on Cucumber Island, hunted, foraged, fished and participated in two powerful First Nations traditions – the Sweat Lodge and the breakdown of the sacred bison for a shared meal with the people of Beaver Lake Cree Nation.
Before you watch this video, be aware that images of hunting and preparation of bison meat are shown in addition to the use of traditional plant foods.
Find out more about the Cook It Raw stories at www.albertaontheplate.com/albertafood/7-signature-ingredients/.
Is there a difference between local and traditional foods? Why do you think this?
