Westside Food Collaborative

Free and Low-Cost Community Food Resources Westside list is updated! See below or follow the link here:https://www.kitshouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Free-and-Low-Cost-Community-Food-Resources-Westside-_WFC_-February-2024-.pdf

Support a Nutritional Coupon Program Fund in Canada! Sign a petition here:
https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4719&fbclid=IwAR3L_ST7fKoZB1fzRPAspkAtHKJ-ThRkKE4u1ycnUfcLxY4D2bchOU_BWLs

Are you familiar with the BC Farmers Markets Nutritional Coupon Program? It is a healthy eating initiative that supports farmers’ markets and strengthens food security by providing coupons to lower-income families, pregnant people and seniors. Coupons can be spent at all BCAFM member farmers’ markets that participate in the FMNCP, and can be used to purchase vegetables, fruits, nuts, eggs, dairy, herbs, vegetable & fruit plants, honey, meat and fish. Nutritional Coupon Program provides healthy, fresh, local, and seasonal food in a dignified way and makes a real difference in the lives of many!

Unfortunately, spaces for the coupon program are limited and most community partners are at capacity, so not everyone can enjoy the benefits.

Sign the petition encouraging the Government of Canada to create a national nutrition coupon program fund that will strengthen and grow all existing and proposed provincial and territorial farmers' markets nutrition coupon programs across Canada. https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4719&fbclid=IwAR3L_ST7fKoZB1fzRPAspkAtHKJ-ThRkKE4u1ycnUfcLxY4D2bchOU_BWLs

Event alert! Learn more and register here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/succession-soup-community-conversation-tickets-791642262317?utm_source=eventbrite&utm_medium=email&utm_content=follow_notification&utm_campaign=following_published_event&utm_term=Succession+Soup%3A+Community+Conversation&aff=ebemoffollowpublishemail&utm_experiment=follow_template.B

Build a dried soup kit and share stories about gardening and culture as we dive into “succession planting,” an agricultural practice that increases crop availability over the growing season.

Join the February 22nds workshop where MOV's Director of Collections & Exhibitions, Viviane Gosselin will introduce the MOV and UBC’s Backyard Garden exhibit while UBC Research Assistant Cat Hung, will lead the discussion and workshop.

Bring items from your own garden OR favourite soup ingredients to share with the group for a discounted ticket!

Register here: https://museumofvancouver.ca/succession-soup

Happy Holidays from Westside Food Collaborative!

As the year draws to a close, we would like to take the opportunity to extend our deepest gratitude for all the incredible work of the members and partners of WFC towards the vision of a sustainable and just food system in the Westside! Whether supporting local food production, improving food distribution, providing reliable access to free and low-cost food resources, reducing food waste and everything in between – their tireless efforts make a world of a difference for many in our community during these increasingly challenging times. Thank you for coming together and being open to collaboration, forming partnerships, generously sharing knowledge and resources and supporting one another in many creative ways. We look forward to building on the momentum in the upcoming year towards meaningful and sustainable impact, together!

Food For All: Seniors Food Security in the Westside Community Dialogue Final Report is here! 🍉 https://www.kitshouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Seniors-Food-Security-Westside-2023-_-Community-Dialogue-Report_Final.pdf

Food For All: Seniors Food Security in the Westside community dialogue was hosted in March 2023 to hear first-hand perspectives of older adults experiencing food insecurity in the Westside. Co-led by Westside Food Collaborative and Kitsilano Neighbourhood House, with the generous support of United Way of BC, the conversation aimed to better understand in order to effectively address the unique needs of seniors in the Westside of Vancouver. Dialogue participants had a chance to review the preliminary results at the feedback session in August. The final report, Food For All: Seniors Food Security in the Westside, co-authored by Ksenia Stepkina and Karen Giesbrecht, is now available.

Given the growing senior population in Canada, addressing food insecurity for those 65 and older is a critical public health issue. In order to develop effective, evidence-based programs and policy solutions to seniors’ food insecurity, it is critical to center community voices of those directly affected by the issue. We hope the findings and recommendations of this report will inspire many productive conversations and lead to meaningful action as we work collaboratively on addressing food insecurity among the senior population in the Westside and beyond. The work is just getting started, but this is a significant milestone worth celebrating!

We extend a big thank you to Kitsilano Neighbourhood House, United Way of BC, as well as the City of Vancouver's Sustainable Food Systems Grant for making this meaningful work possible! house