Duncan Ebata

Food and Story Facilitator | Community Builder

Current Projects

Front Street Community Oven

In 2019 we built a wood-fired community oven in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, as a space for collective healing, happiness, social connection,  radical empathy, and accessible and joyful food literacy. Through the power cooking together, eating together, being together, and sharing stories in a public park,  we  transform ourselves, the community, and our world into the more beautiful world we know is possible. Since 2019 we’ve hosted thousands of people at more than 100 gatherings at the oven.  Learn more

Future of Food Scenario Planning

How We Thrive, in partnership with WeavEast, is embarking on a Future of Food scenario exercise with a group of 20-30 people actively working towards sustainable, equitable food systems. This group will come together to craft compelling, plausible scenarios about the future of food in our region. We will identify key global and regional trends, share knowledge about what is and isn’t working, and apply a scenario method that generates “alternative futures.” Learn more

The Narrative Project

The stories we tell are the stories we believe. The Narrative Project brings 453 people together to strengthen the narratives and stories we want to live by in Atlantic Canada.
Learn more

Blog

Wood Fired Sourdough Bread Masterclass

Wood Fired Sourdough Bread Masterclass

It was a real pleasure to co-host this workshop our community oven space, Front Street Community Oven, with Jess Ross of Gold Island Bakery. I hope we can offer this again. Here are a few photos of the magical event. The class include: 3-hour hands on workshopSmall...

The Power of Cheese

The Power of Cheese

The surrounding air is crisp, carrying the scent of sweet fall leaves and hinting at the scent of the coming cool winter. A family is seated nearby, waiting in quiet anticipation for their fresh, fire-baked pizza. They continue to munch on leftover toppings, silently observing the glow of the coals while their dinner transforms before their eyes.

About Me

Food and community are at the heart of what I do. I’m passionate about creating community models which work for both humans and our planet. 

I’m driven by the urge to understand how we might renew our connections to the earth and to each other, and how we might re-author the narratives that describe and support such relationships. 

I look to the power of food. In its growth, harvest, preparation, and consumption we can engage with the wisdoms of the hand, heart, and head, coming to deep understandings of the relationships we share. We bond over food, we share it, we learn, we get to know ourselves with it, we come to know each other and the land from which it grows.

Throughout history, food has provided the roots for peace and stability, sewn the seeds of change and progress, and nourished cooperation and innovation all across our planet. Food supports all. Cooking together helps us see the gifts in our differences. As we transform food, it transforms us.

In the first decade of my career, I was privileged to be a part of the growth of a new food system in Canada, one which places a high value on farmers and food producers. I was able to use my background in marketing to help develop food based social enterprises all across the country.

Fast forward to 2020; after helping to establish Wolfville’s Front Street Community Oven in 2019, I’ve shifted my attention to begin understanding the role narrative plays in shaping Atlantic Canadian communities. I’ve been working with the Narrative Project and coaching clients to re-author the collective and individual narratives that shape our view of the world and our actions. We’ve been exploring our preferred identities, mindsets, and the community narratives we want to live by; we are taking back the pen that writes the stories of our lives and communities.

In my downtime you can find me in the lovely town of Wolfville, Nova Scotia, beside my life-partner, Anne. I live an active lifestyle by walking, cycling, swimming, gardening, and playing basketball, and I love to be creative, play music, and spend time with friends and family; and of course, I love to cook and share great food, too.

For free resources and inspirations, or for more information about what I am up to, please journey over to my blog or sign up to be a part of my email community here.

And of course, don’t hesitate to drop me a line below! I’d love to start a conversation.

Cheers!

Duncan

Guiding values: generosity, inclusion, diversity, respect, and kindness. Nurturing lifelong learning and supportive, collaborative relationships is important to me.

Let’s Start a Conversation

Duncan Ebata