Exploring the Food System on the West Side: A Series of Talks and Tours

Presented by Garden Heart Productions and the Westside Food Security Collaborative
Speaker/Tour Host: Spring Gillard, author of Diary of a Compost Hotline Operator

Talks: Wednesday Evenings in June. Time: 7 to 9pm
Location: June 3, at the SPEC building, 2150 Maple;
June 10,17, 24 at Kits Neighbourhood House Hall, 2305 West 7th @ Vine

June 3: Feeding Ourselves. How Do We Fare on the West Side?
What is food security? What is a food system? How resilient is ours? Why in a neighbourhood of plenty, are people still going hungry? What resources and programs are in place to ensure our food security and where are the gaps? An introduction to food security from the local perspective. Students will take home a concrete list of at least 10 things they can do to help strengthen the food system in their own neighbourhood.

June 10: West Side Food Woes
A recent study revealed a malnutrition problem on the affluent west side of Vancouver. How is that possible? The Buy-Low Foods Store at 4th and Alma has just closed down. How will that affect the neighbourhood? A look at access and mobility issues and the role grocery store design plays in enhancing public health, community vitality and helping to ensure a secure food supply.

June 17: The Gauntlet
As we walk in our west side neighbourhoods, many of us run the daily gauntlet of outstretched hands, from the homeless to the NGO's. We look at the emergency food system and the charity model and ponder: To give or not to give? Learn about food programs on the west side that cater to vulnerable populations, as well as other initiatives that help increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables for all.

June 24: Waste Not, Want Not
A look at the waste management system on the west side. From backyard to commercial composting, food recovery programs and innovative initiatives designed to waste not. Find out what you can do in your own backyard to reduce edible and inedible food waste.

Tours:
Saturdays in June; limited to 20 participants. Meeting place provided upon registration.

June 6, 10am to 12 noon: Feeding Ourselves. How Do We Fare on the West Side?
How resilient is our food system on the west side? What resources and programs are in place to ensure our food security, and where are the gaps in our food system? We visit a Green Table accredited restaurant, a roof top garden, a co-op that has a food garden, a mid-size composting system and interesting and historical roots in the local food community. We'll also stroll along community gardens including a fruit orchard. Take home at least ten things you can do to strengthen the food system on the west side.

June 13, 1:30 to 3:30: The Farm Connection. A Guided Tour of UBC Farm
Why should city people care about farmers and farmland? We look at our very own west side urban farm and its vital role at the University and in our community. We discuss how important farmland is to our food system. Catch the Saturday Farmers' Market before the tour, then tour the market garden that supplies the market. We talk with gardeners in the Mayan Garden, the Aboriginal Garden and beekeepers. Learn about the intergenerational landed learning project and other innovative programs operating out of this local gem.

June 20, 10am to Noon: Urban Agriculture: A Ride on the Upper West Side
We visit the Dunbar and Kerrisdale area with a focus on urban agriculture. Highlights include a visit with a local entrepreneur who has an urban farm venture at one of his backyard farms. We will learn about another fruitful backyard program, the Fruit Tree Project. We'll also tour The Seed to Table Garden. This multicultural youth program from the Jewish Family Service Agency sees participants growing organic food, and contributing the harvest to their community food bank, while connecting youth more closely to food sources and to the values of giving. If you don't have a bike, you can still come along, by taking transit (fare not included in price) or car pooling.

June 27, 10am to Noon: Going Hungry on the Westside: The Role of Grocery Stores in a Healthy Community.
It may be surprising to learn that some west side residents are having difficulty accessing fresh fruit and vegetables. Seniors and the physically challenged have trouble accessing some stores because of design issues like narrow aisles or bulky end of aisle displays. On this tour we will visit grocery stores of various sizes, formats and locations to learn about their role in enhancing public health, community vitality and helping to ensure a secure food supply on the west side. We will examine links to public transportation and street design, local economic development and cultural diversity. Stores will include 'traditional' food retail, 'natural/organic' stores, and green grocers.

Registration/Prices: Register by May 22/09; Tour space limited to 20 spots.
Talks/Tours are $35 each or $125 for any combination of four, incl GST. Total series package price: $235, incl GST. Payable by cheque/cash in advance. Contact Spring at gardnhrt@shaw.ca or call 604.714.1394 for payment info.

About Spring Gillard
After abandoning a successful advertising career, Spring Gillard worked at City Farmer, an urban agriculture group for 14 years. Her book Diary of a Compost Hotline Operator, Edible Essays on City Farming (New Society, 2003) recounts her adventures there.

Spring sat on the Vancouver Food Policy Council for two and a half years and now volunteers with the Westside Food Security Collaborative. She is an associate at SFU's Centre for Sustainable Community Development and co-teaches the Applications Course for a new certificate program in sustainable community development jointly offered with City Program.

Through her communications company, Garden Heart Productions, Spring plans special events, organizes green tours and helps promote a variety of groups working on sustainability and food security issues.

About the Westside Food Security Collaborative (WFSC)
The WFSC is a coalition of groups and individuals who live or work on the west side of Vancouver and who are interested in local food security. Our member organizations include Kitsilano Neighbourhood House, Jewish Family Service Agency and Vancouver Coastal Health. The WFSC is working on setting up fresh produce "pocket markets" as well as a low cost food store on the west side. To find out more, attend one of our monthly meetings, visit our web site: kitshouse.org (under community) or call one of our co-chairs: Lisa Ross, 604-257-5151 Catherine Leach, 604-736-3588.

Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Food Security Practicum Opportunity

Renfrew Collingwood Food Security Institute
c/o Collingwood Neighbourhood House
5288 Joyce. St, Vancouver BC
V5R 6C9, 604-435-0323

Description of Organization: The Renfrew Collingwood Food Security Institute is a non-profit organization established in 2002. We support and encourage initiatives focused on organic growing, healthful cooking, harvesting, sharing of knowledge and resources, leadership development, and capacity building. The Institute works in collaboration with Collingwood Neighbourhood House to develop community learning, leadership and networking around the issues of food security and food sovereignty through a community development model.

We believe that food is a human right, and that the “right to food” means more than meeting basic nutritional requirements. We use food as a meeting point for community capacity building, inter-cultural and inter-generational understanding, and making Renfrew Collingwood a place of safety and belonging.

Description of Roles and Responsibilities:
• Assist the Coordinator in promoting and developing food and food growing programs and resources, including rooftop gardening, community kitchens, and mason bee monitoring
• Facilitate or co-facilitate cooking and food preservation workshops with participants
• Work with volunteers and leadership teams to harvest and/or collect locally produced fruits and vegetables for distribution to low-income residents
• Document residents’ food traditions through photography, interviews, and storytelling transcription. Examples include immigrants’ gardening practices and Aboriginal food traditions
•Help map community food resources and facilitate participatory initiatives through volunteer support and leadership teams
• Assist in hosting community celebrations, food education, and events around organic food growing and sustainable food systems
• Document and evaluate progress of work through weekly reports to supervisor

Specific Qualifications: Due to restrictions from HRSDC funding, the suitable candidates must be 15-30 years of age, legally able to work in Canada, and have been in full-time studies in the previous year and be returning to full time studies in the fall of 2009.

Preferred Qualifications Include:
• Knowledge and passion for food issues and urban agriculture
• Familiarity with “food security” and “food sovereignty” issues
• Experience working with/leading volunteer teams
• Organizational and time management skills
• Willingness to work flexible hours including weekends and evenings
• Preference will be given to person living in the Renfrew-Collingwood Neighbourhood.

Training Provided:
• Program development and delivery
• Community development models for sustainable agriculture practices, food sharing, and related issues
• Skills around gardening, food preservation, leadership, and participatory workshop facilitation
• Opportunity to achieve Food Safe Level 1 certificate

Level of education: Post-secondary (relevant fields include planning, geography, sociology, social work, environmental sciences, agriculture/land and food systems, anthropology)

Projected start date: Flexible within the last week of June 2009

Compensation: $11/hr + 17.72% MERCs (35 hrs/week; 10 weeks)
This position is subject to funding through HRSDC Canada.

Closing Date: May 15, 2009.

We thank all individuals who apply for this position, and will be contacting shortlisted candidates directly. No phone calls please.

Please send resume and cover letter to foodsecurity@cnh.bc.ca
Attention: Stephanie Lim.

Heart of a Citizen - A Public Dialogue Series at SFU's Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue invites you to:

Growing Citizens: Gardening as a Catalyst for Civic Engagement

Wednesday May 6, 6:30 - 8:30 PM

Can gardeners change the world?

Join eco-urbanist/guerrilla gardener David Tracey, City Farm Boy Ward Teulon, and street gardener/planner Sylvia Holland and others to explore:

- What makes gardening an act of civic engagement?
- What opportunities for engagement are available to citizens of Metro Vancouver?

Special musical performance by Vanessa Richards and the Cultural Medicine Cabinet community choir.

Bring your perspective to what promises to be a fertile conversation. It just might get you back to the garden in ways you had never imagined.

Wednesday, May 6, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Simon Fraser University’s Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue 580 W. Hastings
This session is free but seating is limited and pre-registration is required. See website for details: or register online.

For more information contact: 778-782-7925