New workshop series.

Collingwood Community Gardeners,
The Renfrew Collingwood Food Security Institute,
Trout Lake-Cedar Cottage Food Security Network,
And the Vancouver Community Agriculture Network (VCAN)
Present:

Decision-Making for Community Gardens
February 23rd 6:30-8:30

How do we make decisions in the community garden setting? How can we design a decision-making system that is inclusive, empowering, and efficient? This reflective and practical workshop is a space to tailor decision-making processes to best serve your particular community gardening context.

Communication for Community Gardeners
March 9: 6:30-8:30

An integral part of growing in community gardens is forming relationships with a diversity of people. Through this workshop, we will develop tools to interact compassionately, in any situation, in a way that allows everyone’s needs to be equally valued.


Roles and Responsibilities in Community Gardening
March 23rd: 6:30-8:30

Participants will consider the skills in their “comfort zone,” and explore their skill-set “Edges”. Participants will be encouraged to push their boundaries, and will leave with the confidence and tools to contribute thoughtfully to community life.

Each participant will receive a workbook, and light snacks and beverages will be served. Participants who attend all three workshops will be eligible for prizes! Workshops are free of charge, but space is limited.

All events will be held at Collingwood Neighbourhood House
5288 Joyce St., Vancouver BC (604.435.0323)

To register, email us!

Inaugural Seniors' Telling Stories Event: January 22.

A storytelling series might like an odd initiative from the Food Security Institute. But we are excited to provide a forum for community seniors to share their wisdom and life stories. We want to create a space for different generations to explore the cultural importance of food, our changing food systems, and imagine a more sustainable future.

In October, I attended the biennial Food Secure Canada National Assembly. People came from across the country to search out and share ideas to make our food systems sustainable again. But even for farmers and fishers, it is difficult to explain the human experience of unsustainable food systems. No one can tell the story of these changes quite like our community elders.

We were honoured to hear stories of traditional foodways from First Nations Elders. Elizabeth Penashue has been imprisoned dozens of times for trying to protect the Innu People and their land. She traces the diabetes epidemic among the Innu to nutritionally poor convenience foods, and mourns the mercury poisoning of fish through contamination of local waterways.

Henry Lickers is a Haudenosaunee citizen of the Seneca Nation who raises awareness of environmental contamination at Akwesasne. He shared memories of harvesting fruit from neglected trees in Downtown Toronto, and how classmates called him poor for eating goose sandwiches instead of processed bologna and Kraft cheese slices!


Reclaiming Our Food System

The 2008 theme of Food Secure Canada’s National Assembly was Reclaiming Our Food System: A Call to Action. “Food system” refers to many things: where food is grown, what livestock are fed, how fish are caught, who earns a profit from our groceries, and so on. The workshops were diverse, but all speakers referred to the sweeping food system changes that occurred through the 20th Century and continue today.

In the space of our grandparents’ lifetimes, the food system has shifted from local farming/hunting/gathering to industrial farms thousands of kilometers away. Much of our food is flown or trucked to Vancouver, using lots of fossil fuels and adding to air pollution. Pesticide use has increased, affecting environmental and human health; most local rivers and streams are too polluted for us to fish; and food just doesn’t taste as good as it used to!

The Renfrew Collingwood Food Security Institute is always looking at ways we can reclaim our food system (and make food delicious again!). Please contact us if you’d like to get involved.

Thanks for reading, and happy eating!

Growing Food in the City Certificate (Burnaby Continuing Education).

Hello! The first 2009 issue of The Farmers Market Newsletter is available here. There is a lot of excellent information to be gained from reading the newsletter, from volunteer and educational opportunities to nutrition information.

You might be interested to know that Burnaby Continuing Education is offering a new course in growing food in the City. I've included in the information below:


Organic fruits and vegetables not only keep you healthy, they create sustainable local food systems. If you are concerned about where your food comes from, what's in it (or on it), or simply getting the best nutrition possible for your family - growing your own vegetables and fruit is the answer.

In this unique and timely course, learn essential organic gardening and permaculture techniques to·
Create and maintain healthy soil, which in turn can grow nutritious food
Analyze and optimize the growing conditions in your garden
Creatively collect, use and preserve water for optimal garden health
Use holistic solutions for plant health problems ('pests' and 'diseases')
Select, plant, maintain, and harvest a large variety of food plants for year-round enjoyment · Store your harvest
Save your own seeds

This practical, hands-on course is open to everyone, no prior education or gardening experience required. Computer access is essential for access to resource materials, class communications and educational updates. This is a paperless course.

Students are encouraged to grow their own garden during the year, putting the newly acquired knowledge and skills to practice. Of the 16 sessions, 8 will be classroom sessions and 8 sessions will be held in the garden. The course will end with a celebration and potluck event, for all to share their experiences and recipes.

To receive a Certificate of Completion, students must attend 90% of all classes and submit a satisfactory assignment. There are no exams in this course. There are no pre requisites, but the Organic Master Gardener program would be beneficial either before, during or after this program.

Class will run Wed., Feb. 25, March 4, 11, April 15 (6:30-9:30 pm) and then on Saturdays March 28, April 25, May 2, 23, 30, June 6, 13, 27, July 4, Sept. 19, Sept. 26, Oct. 3 and 10 (9 am-12).
Number of sessions: 16
Start date: Feb 25.09 End date: Apr 29.09
Time: 6:30p - 9:30p
Cost: $545.00
Seats avail.(approx): 12
To register go to: www.burnabyce.com

Distance education course and certificate in Sustainable Local Food.

St. Lawrence College is pleased to announce a new distance education certificate program in Sustainable Local Food for All Canadians which will be launched with a first course on January 9th, 2009 (course registration open until Jan 16):

Field to Fork: Introduction to Local and Global Food Systems

The text of the program description will be available online after Jan 6.

This course and certificate program are designed to meet the rising interest in, and need for, "how to" training for local food system development that is sustainable, socially just, economically dynamic and ecologically specific to the countrysides, cities and regions of Canada . The curriculum is being developed in collaboration with food and farm related organizations who have expertise to share, training needs to be addressed, and positions to be filled.

Courses have a practical orientation and include problem-based and experience-based learning components. The focus is on how to change the food systems in the communities we live in. There is a particular emphasis on the challenges, lessons and successes from regions across Canada and beyond, with plenty of reading and discussion of models, concepts and ideas as participants analyze and compare problems over time and space and debate solutions relevant to specific communities, ecologies and economies.

Please spread the word about this exciting, affordable, distance education opportunity through your networks. And do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or would like to be involved in curriculum development for future courses.

Sincerely,

Andrew McCann
Coordinator
Sustainable Local Food for All Canadians
613-767-4127
amccann [at] sl.on.ca