Grade 12 Nutrition Students Explore Indigenous Cuisine with Chef Shawn Adler

Food is more than what we eat. It tells stories, reflects culture and connects us to the land. For Lakefield College School’s Grade 12 Nutrition students, a visit from Anishinaabe chef Shawn Adler offered an opportunity to explore these connections firsthand, bringing classroom learning to life through food, culture and hands-on cooking.

Chef Adler, owner of The Flying Chestnut Kitchen in Eugenia, Ontario, joined students in the OE kitchen to share his culinary expertise and perspective on Indigenous cuisine. Drawing on his mother’s Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation heritage and his studies in Indigenous Studies at Trent University, he creates dishes that celebrate Indigenous ingredients and culinary traditions.

During his visit, Chef Adler encouraged students to think about the relationship between food and culture. As he explained, food is often one of the first ways we experience another culture when we travel. Yet Indigenous restaurants remain relatively uncommon across Canada, even as Indigenous cooking and cuisine continue to gain recognition.

For students, this conversation offered a chance to look beyond recipes and nutrition facts to consider the stories behind what we eat, whose traditions are represented in our food culture, and how ingredients connect people to place and history. These perspectives are an important part of understanding food in a broader context, including the cultural influences that shape our choices and experiences.

Students put their learning into practice by preparing a menu inspired by Indigenous ingredients and seasonal flavours: corn soup with smoked duck and kidney beans, sweet corn bannock with maple butter, and wild rice, cranberry and squash clafoutis.

Experiences like this reflect LCS’s commitment to Authentic Learning, giving students the opportunity to learn directly from professionals, ask questions and apply their knowledge in meaningful ways. By working alongside a chef whose practice is rooted in cultural knowledge and culinary innovation, students could connect what they study in class with the wider world and encounter perspectives that deepen their understanding.

Chef Adler’s work has been featured on Food Network Canada’s Wall of Chefs, APTN’s Pow Wow Chow and CBC’s Forage. Through his cooking and storytelling, he continues to introduce wider audiences to Indigenous food traditions and the diversity of Indigenous cuisine.