2017 In Review

2017 was a year for a lot of introspection, growth, and adaptation-- especially considering the drastic shift in weather and climate here in the Greater Vancouver Regional District, on the Territory of the Coast Salish Peoples.

Harvest from Bodega Ridge,
Galiano Island

Administration, management, and facilitation of MuseumEats fell entirely into the hands of its sole proprietor-- me -- Camille Flanjak. That means that any of the website design, emailing back and forth, social media, and workshops associated with MuseumEats were my responsibility, so I hope everything was lovely on your end!

That said, if you have any feedback, please don't ever hesitate to get in touch, or fill out this form to submit it anonymously. I strive to keep MuseumEats workshops fun, approachable, inclusive, and as socially equitable as I can and welcome any suggestions or calls to areas needing improvement.

MuseumEats conducted a couple dozen workshops and of course, they were ever-inspiring. Some of them were free, ASL-interpreted, or taught exclusively in ASL because of the support of organizations like the WestEnd Food Fest and Forest and the Femme, and others were advertised through the website or contracted privately. For any workshop enquiries for next year, check out the website or shoot me a message and remember that MuseumEats has a No-one-turned-away-for-lack-of-funds policy.

I did a talk at the Vancouver Food Fest about the #Foraged Food Trend alongside some very inspiring Chefs and leaders in Food Security such as Andrea Carlson (Burdock & Co) and Cease Wyss (Indigenous Plant Diva).

The Vancouver Mycological Society Foray at Manning Park was elucidating albeit incredibly dry and totally lacking fruit. Let's hope next year we get more rain in September to give our studies and mushroom harvests a boost.

There were a couple really fun contests on social media that gave participants a chance to win a free workshop, too! Look for more of that in the coming year and get your wildcrafty friends involved.

Outside of harvesting wild foods and medicine I cooked, crafted, and ate wonderful things from the wild, shared with my loved ones and friends.

Despite feeling so busy and facilitating lots of workshops, there were a lot less events and collaborations this year, which I want to drastically change in 2018! Stay tuned for a call for submissions and educators early in the year if you're interested in contributing or working with MusemEats.

To keep abreast of workshop dates and events, tune into @museumeats on Instagram and Facebook.

See you all in 2018!

Camille
Founder, MuseumEats

MuseumEats in 2017

Hello Fellow Wild Creatures. Welcome to the winter of 2017 in Vancouver...

what's this white stuff?

...where the regularly tame streets have been overcome with the forces of nature. Luckily there are some lovely ways that we can beat the winter wonderland blues and build our immune systems with wildcrafted nourishment.

Bone Broth, Curried Chicken,
 Ramen Noodles, Asian Greens

This past year I was lucky to venture into the wild across BC many times. I learned about and harvested some delicious, medicinally potent, and sacred things that I preserved in order to sustain my health when all these gifts are buried under snow. I've written a lot about my wildcrafting adventures in my personal blog - including my experiments with medicinal broth.

Processing Amarena Cherries
and their Medicinal Pits

Besides broth, I made delicious medicinal liqueurs that can be used as digestive aids or cough syrup; made jams, jellies, and pickles; blended wild botanicals for teas to treat various ailments from stomach upset and menstrual cramps to sluggish energy levels and stress; crafted tinctures with alcohol and glycerin; fashioned bath salts and dry shampoo; and even fermented some of my harvests for lightly alcoholic wild sodas.

Wild Liqueurs

2017 is a year for growth and change. MuseumEats will continue to leads its wild food forays but we also have access to some amazing spaces so we can follow-up with workshops on medicine-making, social justice, cooking with wild foods, tea blending, and so much more. Stay tuned to our website for the launch of the wild food workshops through a new collaboration with Kris Barnholden, James Timms, and Lone Pine Publishing at 'Altá.' Until then, be well and stay wild.

Cam XO