Land Acknowledgement

The Wooden Boat Food Company acknowledges that the land on which we live, work and benefit from is of the Haldimand Tract and are within the territory of the land promised to the Neutral, Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee people in the Haldimand Treaty of 1784. 

As chefs, food professionals, and community members we recognize that we are direct beneficiaries of the green spaces, farmlands, and open vistas that provide us with fresh, nutrient-dense food because of past and current policies of expulsion and assimilation of Indigenous peoples, from whom this land has been stolen.

One of our values as a community-centered Kitchen is to contribute to food security for all members of our community. Indigenous people living off-reserve are more than twice as likely to experience hunger and food insecurity compared with non-Indigenous Canadians; 27% of Indigenous Canadians are food insecure compared with 11% of non-Indigenous households. In 2022, we at Wooden Boat, opened our doors as a community kitchen for up and coming chefs as well as to newcomers in the region who are often excluded from spaces to develop food security and food sovereignty for their ethno-cultural community. 

We will educate ourselves to better understand this history and of the current experiences of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. We pledge to continously and publicly engage as accomplices and advocates for Indigenous landback and sovereignty and will hold ourselves accountable for the language and actions in which we use.

Today, we honour and thank all Indigenous communities throughout Canada for the work they have done and continue to do for our lands, food and our planet.