Ep 7: Food is Medicine -- with Chef Jenni Lessard

Ep 7: Food is Medicine -- with Chef Jenni Lessard

How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation between Métis Chef Jenni Lessard and host Sherry Huff offers one answer: food, land, and culture working together as medicine. Aimed at Indigenous communities and anyone interested in addiction, mental health, and cultural healing, this episode blends humour, storytelling and practical kitchen talk.

Chef Jenni shares how eating from the land supports her physical, mental and spiritual health, saying, “I hope people can integrate harvesting into the healing process… maybe you can get on the land and allow some of these plant nations to help heal you too.” You’ll hear vivid stories from Jenni’s childhood in northern Saskatchewan, where blueberries, cranberries and mint were everyday staples, and how a tiny 14-seat café grew into a career centred on Indigenous ingredients.

She talks about wild rice cinnamon buns, dandelion and sunflower dip, spruce tip pesto, and the bannock inspired by her grandmother’s cooking and careful table-setting. The episode also looks at land-based healing in a very practical way: respectful harvesting protocols, using tobacco, taking only what you need, and listening when plants “say” they’ve had enough.

There’s a powerful section on the return of bison to Wanuskewin and how cooking bison stew and bannock for that event felt like one of the most meaningful meals of Jenni’s life. For people in recovery, service providers, and families, this chat offers a different perspective on healing: community-oriented food, time on the land, and reconnecting with traditional foods as part of wellness.

As Jenni puts it, hope grows like a snowball, each shared meal and story making it a little bigger. It might leave you asking yourself: what would “food as medicine” look like in your own life?