The Farmers' Market Nutrition Coupon Project

Among our many goings-on here at the Food Security Institute, we have now added another weekly program. The Renfrew Collingwood Food Security Institute is pleased to be one of several sites for the 2009 Farmers’ Market Nutrition and Coupon Project. This innovative program is a provincial initiative of the BC Association of Farmers Markets. The program is aimed at low-income pregnant women, and low-income parents of young children. Families in the program attend a series of classes and workshops that teach cooking and nutrition skills. They also receive weekly coupons to be used at their local farmers’ markets, giving them access to fresh, nutritious, locally grown fruits, vegetables, meats, eggs, or dairy products.




At the Food Security Institute, many of the weekly classes we are running as part of this project are taught by community volunteers. Two weeks ago, the class was presented by Barry, a retired chef who lives in the Collingwood neighbourhood. Under Barry’s expert guidance, program participants learned to make fresh pesto sauce, and simple ways to prepare fresh seasonal vegetables, such as carrots and beets. Did you know that the leafy, green tops of beets are not only edible, but highly tasty? Barry showed us how to cook beet greens for a few minutes with a bit of butter, nutmeg, salt and pepper, and the results were delicious.

Last week’s class was taught by Emily, an avid volunteer at the Food Security Institute. Emily works in a bakery, and she was taught participants how to bake several types of bread. Many of the program participants are recent immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries, and Emily happens to speak Spanish. Emily’s workshop was our first bilingual presentation in this program (but hopefully not the last!)



So far the Farmers Market Coupon Project has been fun, educational, and provided opportunities for both nutrition skill-building and increased social connections for participants. We are looking forward to future workshops on salmon canning, blackberry jam preserving, vegetarian cooking, and more!