{"id":107530,"date":"2026-08-05T08:18:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T12:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=107530"},"modified":"2026-08-05T08:18:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T12:18:56","slug":"first-nation-looks-to-expand-gardening-programs-after-landing-national-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/05\/first-nation-looks-to-expand-gardening-programs-after-landing-national-award\/","title":{"rendered":"First Nation looks to expand gardening programs after landing national award"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com Terry Lerat is not only thrilled his First Nation has garnered a lucrative national award but pleased with what it will mean for the future of his community. Lerat is a councillor for Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan. Cowessess First Nation and its economic arm, Cowessess Ventures LP, along with Saskatoon-based company B.Nature Biotech, were recently awarded $450,000 through the national HARVEST wasteCANcreate program. This funding came on the heels of a provincial investment of $125,000 from Innovation Saskatchewan this past January. Along with some other contributions, almost $800,000 in total, this will allow Cowessess First Nation to utilize its local organic waste and convert it into enriched soil, which will in turn be used to grow food. Dr. Babak Roshani, the&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F08%2F05%2Ffirst-nation-looks-to-expand-gardening-programs-after-landing-national-award%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com Terry Lerat is not only thrilled his First Nation has garnered a lucrative national award but pleased with what it will mean for the future of his community. Lerat is a councillor for Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan. Cowessess First Nation and its economic arm, Cowessess Ventures LP, along with Saskatoon-based company B.Nature Biotech, were recently awarded $450,000 through the national HARVEST wasteCANcreate program. This funding came on the heels of a provincial investment of $125,000 from Innovation Saskatchewan this past January. Along with some other contributions, almost $800,000 in total, this will allow Cowessess First Nation to utilize its local organic waste and convert it into enriched soil, which will in turn be used to grow food. Dr. Babak Roshani, the... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F08%2F05%2Ffirst-nation-looks-to-expand-gardening-programs-after-landing-national-award%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>First Nation looks to expand gardening programs after landing national award - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/05\/first-nation-looks-to-expand-gardening-programs-after-landing-national-award\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First Nation looks to expand gardening programs after landing national award - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com Terry Lerat is not only thrilled his First Nation has garnered a lucrative national award but pleased with what it will mean for the future of his community. Lerat is a councillor for Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan. Cowessess First Nation and its economic arm, Cowessess Ventures LP, along with Saskatoon-based company B.Nature Biotech, were recently awarded $450,000 through the national HARVEST wasteCANcreate program. This funding came on the heels of a provincial investment of $125,000 from Innovation Saskatchewan this past January. Along with some other contributions, almost $800,000 in total, this will allow Cowessess First Nation to utilize its local organic waste and convert it into enriched soil, which will in turn be used to grow food. Dr. Babak Roshani, the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/05\/first-nation-looks-to-expand-gardening-programs-after-landing-national-award\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-05T12:18:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/05\\\/first-nation-looks-to-expand-gardening-programs-after-landing-national-award\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/05\\\/first-nation-looks-to-expand-gardening-programs-after-landing-national-award\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"First Nation looks to expand gardening programs after landing national award\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-05T12:18:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/05\\\/first-nation-looks-to-expand-gardening-programs-after-landing-national-award\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":777,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/05\\\/first-nation-looks-to-expand-gardening-programs-after-landing-national-award\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/05\\\/first-nation-looks-to-expand-gardening-programs-after-landing-national-award\\\/\",\"name\":\"First Nation looks to expand gardening programs after landing national award - 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