Iyé Blog

“Some seeds carry more than food — they carry memory. And memory is the beginning of liberation.” Across the African diaspora, black-eyed peas — also known as cowpeas — have traveled oceans, survived war and enslavement, seeded revolutions, and nourished kitchen tables from Salvador do Bahia to Santiago de Cuba. Today, these same seeds are helping us imagine new futures in the face of climate change. A recent harvest on the Sandown Centre for Regenerative Agriculture grounds

By: Ariel Reyes Antuan from Iyé Creative Framing Land Access as a Policy Problem, Not a Power Problem My biggest mistake was that I often analyzed land access primarily through policy and programmatic lenses such as bylaws, zoning, and administrative barriers rather than through power and ownership structures . This can inadvertently center governments as the problem-solvers instead of positioning communities as the stewards and decision-makers. So –in my opinion– Land acces

By Ariel Reyes Antuan , Iyé Creative When talking about Land and Land Access, Indigenous Nations, Black Canadians and other racialized groups have stood in the crossfire of government policy and corporate interests in the past 200 years. Exclusionary laws, forced displacement, chattel slavery, cultural loss, and continuous extraction have left us exhausted. The shapeshifting nature of corporate power has taught us a painful truth: dependency is not survival — it is erasure.

Agri-food makers are vital to the resilience and diversity of our local food systems—but they face a wide range of challenges when starting or growing their businesses. From accessing commercial kitchen space to navigating food safety regulations or finding culturally relevant mentorship, the barriers can be especially steep for underrepresented and equity-deserving food makers. To help address these gaps, we created two complementary tools: Food Makers Mapping Report This r

The story of African diaspora cuisine is a tapestry woven with threads of resilience, adaptation, and the profound connection between...

Food is not just sustenance; it’s a powerful tool for peace and justice. In Palestine, food insecurity is weaponized, perpetuating...

Have you ever wondered how your favourite local dish finds its way onto your plate? Or how food entrepreneurs become cultural...

The City of Victoria, is currently updating its Official Community Plan (OCP). This vital document shapes the city's growth and...

On Saturday, William Stevenson Park bloomed with the joy of community gathering at our Seedling Distribution Day supported by the Get...

📷: Mohanned Ghadban In the heart of culinary innovation, we were graced the fiery love and unwavering dedication of women...

📷: Mohanned Ghadban At The Ways We Eat III, Morrie Dawson illuminated the power of visual facilitation, transcending boundaries and...

📷: Mohanned Ghadban 📷: Mohanned Ghadban Last week, we hosted The Ways We Eat III: Meet the Makers, and what an incredible night it was!...

In the transformative year of 2023, Iye's strategic approach artfully addressed the exploration of an ecosystem of relationships among...

Finding Community. Eager Anticipation. Empowering Participatory Learning. Building Confidence. Dignity. These are the resounding...

We are honoured to share with you the words of our Senior Activities Coordinator for the Palenke Seniors Program in 2023 - Sophia Leblanc!...

It’s hard to put into words what it meant to us to gather together with the folks from our Palenke Seniors Program one last time to...

📷: Mohanned Ghadban “Salt, koji, and soybeans”. That’s the traditional recipe for the most common misos in the world. But as we learned...

Knowledge is the light that illuminates our path, and praxis is the shadow that proves the sun is shining. Plant & herbal medicine has...

The Ways We Eat: An Invitation to Reimagine our Relationships with Food and Land 📷: Mohanned Ghadban “Planting seeds of abundance in the...

We as a collective - Ariel, Jess, and Anna Maria, had the privilege of going to visit Sandown Centre for Regenerative Agriculture last...