Skip to content

Art Borups Corners

Northwestern Ontario Living Lab
  • Home
  • About
    • About Art Borups Corners
      • Artists, Researchers and Collaborators
      • Governance
      • Mission, Vision and Values
    • Arts Incubator Winnipeg Hub
    • The Art of Serving Community
    • Melgund Township, Northwestern Ontario
  • News
    • Latest News and Updates
    • Northern Ontario Arts
    • Borups Corners News
    • Community Garden
    • Community Lens
    • Food Security and Innovation
    • Photos and Short Stories
    • Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Tracker
  • Programs
    • Art Borups Corners Living Land Lab
    • Food Security
      • Food Preservation Training and Curriculum Development
      • Melgund: Come Eat With Us Cookbook
      • Relationship Development and Engagement with MCAD and UMD
      • The Art of Canning and Creative Entrepreneurship
      • Towards a Framework for Food Systems Innovation
    • Spring and Summer Arts Incubator
    • Storytelling Club
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Canada Day Festival 2026
    • ARTSPOT Under $100 Art Show in Winnipeg
    • Summer Artists and Vendors Market
    • 2026 Spring Exhibition
  • Support
  • Contact
Home / Food Security and Innovation

Food Security and Innovation

Our Food Security & Climate Resilience Program empowers Indigenous and Northern communities through land-based, sustainable agriculture and food innovation. Originally piloted in 2024 with funding from the Manitoba Agriculture Indigenous Food Systems and Agriculture Program and the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, this initiative weaves together traditional knowledge, regenerative practices, and climate entrepreneurship—fuelled by the creativity of the arts. In 2025 the program expanded to work with Northwestern Ontario, Minnesota and Nunavut.

Reclaiming Food Sovereignty through Living Labs, Sustainable Agriculture and Creative Leadership

From local food production and preservation to the development of culturally relevant food products and community-led agri-innovation, the program strengthens food sovereignty while building skills and pathways for the next generation of land stewards, artists, and changemakers. By connecting agriculture, climate action, and artistic expression, we’re growing a resilient, just, and thriving food future—rooted in community, culture, and care.

The berries were thick on the branches this year, heavy and sweet in the August sun.
Food Security and Innovation

Bush Roads and Blueberries

Art Borups Corners connects food security and land-based learning with a favourite August tradition: blueberry picking.
Read More →
A dense carpet of Star-tipped Reindeer Lichen (Cladonia stellaris), characterized by intricate, lace-like branching that radiates into 4- to 5-pointed star shapes at each node. Its pale, creamy-green color comes from usnic acid, which helps protect it from intense sunlight.
Food Security and Innovation

On the Land: Star-tipped Reindeer Lichen and Labrador Tea

Nestled right beside the fuzzy leaves of Labrador Tea, Star-tipped Reindeer Lichen creates iconic ground cover across high latitudes.
Read More →
This is our first year growing cantaloupes at the living lab and community garden program!
Community Garden

In the Garden: Hardy Cantaloupes at the Living Lab

Curious about growing hardy cantaloupes?
Read More →
A classic August sign in Northwestern Ontario: wild chokecherry clusters ripening under the sun. Keep an eye out for these drooping fruit strands—chokecherries are about to hit peak ripeness!
Food Security and Innovation

Crimson Clusters: Chokecherries

Wild chokecherries in Melgund Township turn red to dark purple, signaling peak late-summer forage for local wildlife.
Read More →
Clusters of winged rhubarb seeds hang heavy on their stalks in early July, slowly transitioning from a pale green to a warm, papery rose. Harvesting these pods right as they begin to dry ensures a high yield of viable seeds before summer winds scatter them across the garden. Saving them now guarantees a brand-new generation of hardy, tart perennials for future spring plantings.
Food Security and Innovation

Beyond the Pie: Why You Should Save Your Rhubarb Seeds

Don't throw away bolted rhubarb stalks. Learn how to easily harvest, dry, and store rhubarb seeds for next spring.
Read More →
Blueberries are starting to ripen. A few more weeks and we'll be picking!
Food Security and Innovation

Blueberries. Coming soon!

Firm green blueberries soak up the July sun, promising a sweet, midnight-blue harvest very soon.
Read More →
Look closely at the white flowers of Ontario's highbush cranberry. Its unique blossom design and maple-like leaves make it easy to spot in the wild.
Food Security and Innovation

Meeting the Highbush Cranberry

Spotting white, lace-like flowers in Northwestern Ontario? It might be Highbush Cranberry.
Read More →
This unique seedling continues to produce vibrant maroon leaves long after its siblings reverted back to a standard green rhythm. Fresh, tender growth actively unfurls at the main shoot, proving that the striking color is a permanent genetic trait rather than temporary stress.
Food Security and Innovation

Orchard Notes: Tracking Our Maroon Apple Seedlings

Tracking the health and resilience of our unique apple seedlings in Melgund Township, Northwestern Ontario.
Read More →
Northwestern Ontario's Saskatoon berries are flowering two weeks later than normal, but the bushes are bursting with life. Here is why we are keeping a close eye on the woods and getting ready for pie season.
Food Security and Innovation

Worth the Wait: Saskatoon Berries Flowering

Spring arrived a little behind schedule this year, but the promise of a summer harvest is finally turning our northern forests white.
Read More →
Get a sneak peek into our berry expansion project, featuring saskatoons, blackberries, and blueberries.
Food Security and Innovation

Friday in the Kitchen: Baking Muffins

Join our community program as we dive into Friday baking.
Read More →

Posts pagination

1 2 3 … 8 Next »

Latest Local News

  • Golden Hour in the Garden: Catching the Last of the Pumpkin Blossoms
  • Fire Restrictions Lifting
  • Bush Roads and Blueberries
  • Understanding Leadership Pipelines and Succession Planning
  • On the Land: Star-tipped Reindeer Lichen and Labrador Tea
The Under $100 Art Show is coming to Winnipeg, Manitoba August 13-16, 2026!
The Under $100 Art Show is coming to Winnipeg, Manitoba August 13-16, 2026!

ART BORUPS CORNERS SOCIETY

Art Borups Corners is a non-profit arts incubator based in Melgund Township, Northwestern Ontario. We bring artists, youth, and local residents together through hands-on creative projects, workshops, and storytelling rooted in everyday life in the North. Our focus is on making space for people to try things, share skills, and build confidence through art that grows out of where they live.


We’re also a place for testing ideas and working across different ways of making — from land-based practice to digital work and everything in between. Much of what we do happens through partnerships and shared projects, connecting local creative work with wider conversations while keeping things grounded, practical, and community-led.


BN: 790519573RC0001

ESTABLISHED WITH FUNDING FROM

Canada Council for the Arts Digital Greenhouse Logo

This program was seeded with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts Digital Greenhouse program. This program allowed us to explore strategic arts innovation, capacity building and new technologies. Programming was also supported by the OpenAI Researcher Access Program, the Ontario Arts Council Multi and Inter-Arts Projects Program and the Province of Ontario. We thank them for their support.

PROGRAMMING SEEDED BY

Ontario Arts Council Multi and Inter-Arts Projects Program
Ontario Arts Council Multi and Inter-Arts Projects Program
© 2026 Art Borups Corners Society. All rights reserved. Template by artsincubator.ca