Course:LFS350/Projects/Fall2016/GNH FoodHubHelpers

From UBC Wiki

Project Summary

Purpose

This project focus is an on-going development of food literacy workshops and demos for members of the community food hub

  • Plan, implement, and evaluate creative, engaging, and useful workshops at the food hub.
  • This could include ideas such as: harvesting and drying your own herbs, making pickles, cheap and easy sauces and spreads, etc.

Areas of Focus

  • Food literacy
  • Food justice
  • Community food hubs

Skills

  • Food literacy skills
  • Educational workshop program development
  • Workshop evaluation

Location

Special Considerations

  • Availability on Friday mornings (9am-1.30pm) - not necessarily for the entire period of time, but enough to travel to GNH and contribute to workshops
  • Students must come with a sense of respect for the community participating in the Food Hub, and a willingness to listen to them.

Background Information

The Community Food Hub is a partnership between Gordon Neighbourhood House and the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. Each Friday (except cheque issue week) between 9:30am-1:00pm, approximately 250 food hub members come to Gordon House to pick up some groceries, visit a low-cost produce market upstairs, and perhaps stay for some soup, coffee and conversation. The 'food hub' model is a transition away from the 'food depot' model of emergency food access. As such, this partnership has been working very hard to ensure the food hub is a place where members feel respected, welcome, listened-to and supported in their food access needs. In August, we asked food hub members what kinds of additional activities and services they would like to see at the food hub, and one of the top responses was "food skills workshops and demos".

The Food Hub and associated initiatives support our Food Philosophy, and our work as a Good Food Organization. As a Good Food Organization (http://cfccanada.ca/good-food-organizations) we aim to provide a multitude of healthy and dignified food programs to our community. In addition, as discussed above, when food hub members were surveyed and showed interest in food skills workshops and demos, we began to plan ways of following through. As a result, we are looking for support in planning and executing at least 2 food skills demos/workshops with students, within the semester. Workshop ideas should consider the students' interests and skills, and fit well into the desires of the food hub members, as well as the Good Food Organization and Gordon Neighbourhood House food philosophy.

Organization Information

Name

Gordon Neighbourhood House

Vision + Mission

Vision: As a place-based community organization, we work alongside our community, sister organizations, local businesses and policy-makers to animate and support dynamic programs, services and initiatives that respond to the needs and dreams of the community.

Mission: Gordon Neighbourhood House strives to ensure that the West End of Vancouver is a vibrant and active community, where everyone is empowered to play an active role in civil society.

Principles + Goals

  • Gordon Neighbourhood House offers a wide variety of programs (many of which are related to food).
  • Our Food Philosophy is detailed on our website: http://gordonhouse.org/about-gordon-neighbourhood-house/right-to-food/
  • Gordon Neighbourhood House uses food to nourish our community in a variety of ways, including the facilitation of intercultural exchange and dialogue, community capacity-building, and community development.

Principles:

  • An understanding that food brings us together and can act as vehicle for community-building.
  • A recognition that all members of our community have a Right to Food based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, while also acknowledging that we as a community enjoy various levels of access to food.
  • A commitment to sharing fresh, non-expired, healthy, and locally-sourced food whenever possible.
  • A commitment to sharing food that is nutrient-dense, low in refined sugar and sodium, and not overly-processed.
  • A commitment to working toward increased access to food for those who are nutritionally vulnerable.
  • A commitment to providing opportunities for increased food literacy and community capacity-building for our neighbours.
  • A commitment to sharing foods that reflect the diversity of our community, city, country and world.
  • An awareness of the impact that our food choices have on the environment.
  • A commitment to the reduction of our organizational ecological footprint by minimizing packaging and ongoing composting.
  • Support for the development of urban farms and healthy food cooperatives.

Primary Contact

  • Contact Person(s): Susanna Millar
  • Email: susanna@gordonhouse.org
  • Address: 1019 Broughton Street
  • Phone: 604 683 2554
  • Website: www.gordonhouse.org
  • Best time(s) method(s) to contact: Email

Project Description

  • Plan, implement, and evaluate food literacy workshops at GNH community food hub
  • We would like this to be an ongoing / repeat project that happens each term with a different group of students. As such, the students would be responsible for documenting their activities and the results (e.g. how was the activity received by participants? What were the challenges in carrying out the project? What were the main learning outcomes?) in a log or report, from which subsequent students learn.
  • Students with an interest in food justice and food security will be working to plan and complete an engaging activity, workshop, demonstration, or service at our Community Food Hub (Fridays, 9am to 1pm) at Gordon Neighbourhood House. The activity/service will be something in direct response to a request from the community, to ensure that it is something that is needed and in-demand.

Skills Preferred

  • Interpersonal skills
  • Basic numeracy skills
  • Strong verbal communication skills

Skills to Be Developed

  • Educational workshop planning
  • Communication with diverse community members
  • Food literacy

Preferred Days of Week and Hours

  • Food Hubs take place on Fridays from 9:30am to 1pm at Gordon Neighbourhood House. Set up begins at 9am.

Project/Partner Orientation

  • Orientation will consist of helping at the Produce Market during the Community Food Hub (at least once) at Gordon House in order to get oriented to the space, the Food Hub coordinator, the House, and the community.

Experiential Learning Opportunities

  • Students will have the opportunity to participate in Produce Markets at the Food Hub (Fridays 9am – 1pm).

Expected Outcomes

Learning Outcomes

I hope students will learn about…

  • Group facilitation
  • Workshop/group session planning

I think students will come to appreciate…

  • Some of the diverse challenges, dreams, needs, and viewpoints of the community that accesses the Food Bank

Students will develop a…

  • Sense of the importance of food security issues and the need for advocacy and the right to good food

Organizational Outcomes

  • Support in delivering a service or workshop that is needed and requested by the community that accesses the food hub
  • Support at the Food Hub produce market
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