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Working to Restore our local food systems Wild harvest complemented by domestic animals Tuesday September 29 2015 15 OP-ED AGRICULTURE The Honourable Jackson Lafferty Minister of Education Culture and Employment ECE invites the public to attend the 2015 Ministers Culture and Heritage Circle Ceremony. Monday October 5 2015 - 1100am Great Hall of the Legislative Assembly The Ministers Culture and Heritage Circle recognizes youth individuals Elders and groups in the Northwest Territories who exemplify excellence and dedication to the promotion and preservation of the arts culture and heritage in their community or region. 2015 Award Recipients Youth Category 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games NWT Youth Ambassadors Individual Category Berna Beaulieu Behchoko Elder Category Jeanna Graham Hay River Reserve Group Category Yellowknife Ukrainian Association Ministers Choice Vivian Edgi-Manuel Fort Good Hope By Kim Rapati Everyone is thinking about hunting this time of year as Northerners we have a spe- cial relationship with wild animals. We help protect their environment and har- vest what we need with re- spect. In our modern context and with our higher popula- tion though we also know that a local food system in the North could be comple- mented by raising domes- tic animals in order to take the pressure off of our wild herds. Now the question is how do we do it Where can I buy some chicken feed to ship up This was one of the first phone calls I got when I started at the Northern Farm Training Institute NFTI. Well I didnt know the answer then and since learning more I kind of have a kaleidoscope of an- swers instead of one simple one. We need to shift our question. We need to build a system in the North that does not require constant outside inputs one that honours our own abundance and creativity. Before industrial agricul- ture the tradition of raising domestic animals was an in- tegrated part of the waste energy cycle and an expres- sion of what was in the local environment. If we are will- ing to take the time and do the work we and our ani- mals can be fed from the land around us. The first place we should look is at our own waste. NFTI has been collecting distressed food from the Super A Grocery Store in Hay River since the end of August. We collect old pro- duce that no one will buy remove the packaging and sort it into things for our animals or the compost 150-200 lbs of food waste we collect every day Some of our previous stu- dents in Fort Good Hope mentioned that they are fortunate to receive old produce from their North- ern Store that their chick- ens love. Another thing we have an abundance of is fish scraps. Chickens are omnivores and absolutely love fish Youre thinking they will taste fishy if you feed them fish right No weve experi- mented with that feed them fresh cooked fish scraps and you will not have any problems. The next option is to gather wild foods for your animals. Rabbits are a indoor fodder systems that you can use even in the winter and without soil wrigglers cost me 75 from just outside Alberta to ship up Since then I have grown enough worms to start about 100 other worm bins small business idea anyone. Anyways the point is that chickens love worms and you can grow your own all year round. The last thing Ill mention is a case of turning lemons into lemonade. Our president and lead instructor Jackie Milne had a box of caribou bones mailed to her from her cousin for a biochar demon- stration. Of course it was in the summer and so when she went to pick it up from the post ofce it was not a pleasant package. When she brought it home she found it was full of swarming ies. Well wouldnt you know she put the whole box in the chicken coop opened it up and the chickens had a field day those bones were cleaned right up in no time and the chickens had a wonderful nutritious meal Insect harvest is a legitimate way of feeding our birds you can even purchase black y larvae kits. I have heard many times from people that it is not feasible to keep animals in the North because feed is too expensive to ship in. If we truly want to restore the local food system we need to do a bit of research planning and use our cre- ativity to find ways to see the abundance in our local communities that will make raising domestic animals a sustainable reality. Kim Rapati is the operations manager at the Northern Farm Training Institute a non-prot society based in Hay RiverNWT.Since2013NFTIhasprovidedimmersivefarm training to residents of the NWT committed to improving local food systems. Their goal is to provide foundational knowledge tools and support to empower local people to build a sustainable industry in the territory that addresses our food security issues creates economic opportunities and healthy lifestyles. Find out more or apply for training at www.nftinwt.com. pile. So far our pigs sheep goats and roosters have been extremely happy with the natural part of the NWT e c o s y s tem a nd m a ny weeds that grow here are perfect for your domestic rabbits they love plantain lambsquarter dandelions willows etc. In the late summer you can collect an abundance and pack it into airtight bags and let the bags fer- ment this is a called si- lage helping store food for the winter and making it more digestible for your animals. Lastly grow your own Fodder is the term used for food given to animals. There are some really neat to basically sprout grains and almost double the nu- tritional value of feed. In time we hope NFTI will be able to produce grains like barley that could be available for feeding north- ern animals and could be sprouted for fodder. Another way to feed the omnivores on your farm is to grow worms. All of our students get a starter bin of red wrigglers which are very easy to keep and are prolific composting worms. Ive been trying to convince young entrepreneurs that they could grow up to be worm farmers 1 lb of red If we are willing to take the time and do the work we and our animals can be fed from the land around us. Kim Rapati NFTI PhotocourtesyofNFTI Northern Farm Training Institute students create silage or animal feed.