March 27 - Free Workshop: Soup, Frittata, Salad & Muffins

Come join Red Seal Chef Ilan Wright to learn, cook & eat a healthy meal. 

Location: Gilmore Community School, Burnaby. 

Registration required: information below.

March 15 - Explore the Income-Food Connection

Join us March 15 @ Burnaby Neighbourhood House (Metrotown) (6:30 - 8:30pm)

Speakers, Q&A and Discussion

According to
the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition a leading cause of health problems is
lack of food. "B.C. is facing a chronic hunger problem and significant
food insecurity. After paying for rent, heat and electricity, people
with low income have little money left over for food so they are less
likely to eat fruit, vegetables, milk products, and other food that
provide the nutrients they need for good health."

SPEAKERS: 

Trish Garner,
Community Organizer of the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition, will provide
inspiration and practical tools to support you in becoming a champion
for change in tackling the root causes of poverty. The BC Poverty
Reduction Coalition is a broad-based network of over 400 organizations
throughout BC. Trish will talk about a variety of ways to support the
provincial call for a poverty reduction plan for BC through community
engagement, public education and effective advocacy. Trish provides a
space for everyone to get involved. Trish is the co-author of A Poverty Reduction Plan for BC and a regular media contributor and commentator.

Amy Weeks
is the Food and Education Coordinator for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank (GVFB). Amy has been working with and supporting community
organizations and their food programs for over 10 years. Amy will talk
about The Role of Food Programming and how it contributes to community
connection and resilience.

Come and join a community conversation on how we can all advocate for greater equality and a more food secure future.

Register at Eventbrite: https://incomefoodconnection.eventbrite.com

Put Food First in 2017: Come to a Food Workshop

Burnaby Food First Invites you...

January 19th & 25th to

Join us & learn about Canning & Fermenting

Best Wishes for Healthy Holidays!

Come Cook with Us! - Dec 7

Come cook with us one last time in 2016

Join Chef Sherry Strong & learn to make festive vegetarian leftovers this month. 

Workshop is FREE, but registration is required. Children are welcome!

Delicious, Nutritious Holiday Giving

Join Burnaby Food First Tomorrow, Sun. Dec. 4

Free Workshop, Children Welcome

Upcoming December Workshops from Burnaby Food First

Four New Burnaby Food First Workshops in November

These workshops are FREE and child-friendly, but registration is required. See the poster below for e-mail & telephone contact information.

 

Save the following dates: 

 

November 2nd: Healthy After-School Snacks for Kids

November 16th: Soups On! Healthy, Low Cost, Great Tasting

November 23rd: How to Use Leftover Bread in Tasty Meals

November 30th: Healthy Holiday Gifts from the Kitchen

Doing More with your Bread Basket

Doing More with your Bread Basket

What: Learn what to do with your leftover bread, pita, tortilla & rolls

When: Monday, October 17th, 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Where: Tommy Douglas Branch, Burnaby Public Library

Cost: FREE

Registration Required:

Contact Meghan by e-mail: burnabyfoodfirst@gmail.com, or phone: 604-209-2404

Greater Vancouver Food Bank Fall Workshop Series

Join the Greater Vancouver Food Bank for 5 workshops this fall:

Poster Courtesy of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank

 

Click on the events below for details, including times, registration and cost.



October 13th: Free Community Kitchen Round Table



October 21st: Community Kitchen Leadership



November 3rd: Knife Skills



November 17th: Let's Talk Food Access



November 21st: Food Sovereignty and Food Justice

Asian Dumplings Workshop

Burnaby Food First is pleased to announce a new workshop! 



Asian Dumplings Workshop

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Brentwood Community Resource Centre

(2055 Rosser Avenue, Burnaby)



Join Burnaby Food First member Gloria, and learn to make both vegetarian and meat Chinese dumplings. Children are welcome.



The workshop is FREE, but space is limited. To register, please contact Meghan at (604) 209-2404 or by e-mail at burnabyfoodfirst@gmail.com.



Parking is limited: please consider taking transit, biking or walking.



-----

Enjoy Burnaby Food First workshops? Want to get involved as a volunteer?



All are welcome, and we'd love to have you on board! For more information, send us an e-mail at burnabyfoodfirst@gmail.com.

Things to do in October...

Welcome to Autumn, Food First-ers!

Here are a few events to add to your calendar for October.

Courtesy of: https://gwfoodconnection.wordpress.com/events/

What: Sally Ann's Healthy Eating Kitchen

When: Monday, October 3, 11:30am - 2:00pm

Where: 3213 Fraser Street, Vancouver

Why: To learn cooking skills, nutritional and food safety information, & budgeting tips

Registration Required: Call Chelsea Marsh (604-872-7676)

Cost: FREE

Courtesy of: http://ca-en.naturespath.com/about/movements/eat-well-do-good

What: 8th Annual Eat Well Do Good Foodraiser

When: Tuesday, October 4th, 7:00am - 3:00pm

Where: Robson Square & London Drugs (Granville & W. Georgia)

Why: To combat hunger by raising money for Food Banks in BC & enjoying delicious food together

Cost: Purchase by-donation grab 'n go breakfast & lunch bags

What: Harvest Fest 2016: Tastes of South Vancouver

When: Thursday, October 6, 3:30pm - 6:00pm

Where: Fresh Roots Farm, SW corner of David Thompson Secondary

Why: To enjoy stone soup & veggie skewers, participate in 3-legged races, carve pumpkins, compete in the community dessert contest, take home freshly-pressed apple cider

What: KPU Commercial Beekeeping Info Session

When: Saturday, October 15th, 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Where: The Honeybee Centre, Surrey BC

Why: To find out about BC's first certificate program in Commercial Beekeeping

Registration Required: Click here to sign up on the electronic form

Cost: FREE

What: Restaurants for Change

When: Wednesday, October 19

Where: Burdock & Co, Cabrito, Farmer's Apprentice, Jamjar

Why: To support Community Food Centres Canada

Cost: Make a reservation to enjoy a meal at a participating restaurant (above)

Food Security and Food Culture

Food Security includes not only ensuring access to food but also achieving good nourishment and nutrition. This is described as 'Utilization of food' as described in a previous article about this topic. Intake of a well balanced diet goes hand in hand with the diversity, customs and cultural traditions that are associated with food preparation and consumption. In order to achieve Food Security therefore, it is necessary to recognize the importance of culture in relation to food habits. This cultural aspect is further explored in this post. It is part of a series of articles about Food Security. 

We are what we eat

The experience of cooking and eating food is determined by lifestyle, resources, community influences, aesthetic preferences and all such factors that prescribe culture and identity. Food is usually a very important part of celebrations, holidays, festivals and events. Food production, preparation and intake are often collective activities among family, friends and community. These collective and cultural influences therefore are integral to continued intake of sufficient and nutritious food. 

For instance, meals are traditionally long, leisurely and eaten with together with family or friends in Latin cultures such as French, Italian or South American. In India and some other Asian cultures, elaborate cooking processes and use of a wide variety of ingredients are a common feature of everyday meals. Traditional Middle Eastern family meals are served in a communal plate in the centre of the table. Food is eaten without cutlery or plates but using hands.

Cultural traditions and customs are not fixed. They are continuously evolving but they remain part and parcel of Food Utilization and therefore Food Security. 

Impact of Culture on Food Security

Due to a modern lifestyle people are switching to a fast food culture and perhaps no longer attach enough importance to cultural traditions in food habits. The increasing trend towards eating out, take away meals moving away from home made food has negative consequences. Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer are attributed among other factors to fast food, industrially or commercially prepared meals all of which often have high levels of sodium and fat and may be lacking in necessary vitamins and diverse nutrients compared to a traditional fresh home cooked meal. Many such articles are available on this subject. The likelihood of diseases like cancer being caused by consumption of processed meat has also recently been in the news. 

Source: Wikipedia

In a multicultural community, some families switching from their traditional cuisine to a western diet may adopt unhealthy cooking or eating habits. This may be because of losing touch with their own culture over generations as a result of modern developments like migration and globalisation. At the same time they may struggle to adapt to local cuisines due to lack of sufficient knowledge not having grown up with the local foods. Furthermore a move away from cooked meals using fresh ingredients to pre-packaged, processed, fast food can also diminish the importance and richness of our ecosystem which supports and creates our food. 

Suggested Measures

It is suggested that work done towards improving Food Security could include efforts to promote the importance of nutrition as well as a suitable cultural environment. This can be done by officially acknowledging the impact of diverse cultural habits and preferences while developing Food Security programs, training or services such as in food bank distribution programs, food related workshops/conferences or while subsidizing/incentivizing local food markets. Introducing an element of cultural awareness, celebration of traditional customs through food festivals, fusion cooking workshops or promotional food events are also part of the measures that encourage communities to better engage with food and eat well. 

Medical treatments are often prescribed after identifying likely deficiencies in a patient's traditional diet and eating patterns by doctors currently. For instance certain vegetarian diets result in deficiency of vitamin B12 with specific medical consequences and accordingly the treatment addresses the deficiencies. The impact on diet of cultural differences should perhaps be taken into account at a prior stage in the work done to improve Food Security.  

Burnaby Food First has been offering many interesting workshops this month to promote local food preparation techniques and locally produced food such as 'cooking with winter greens', 'cooking with root vegetables', 'drying and storing foods' and more. Please check our website for details or contact us to be included in our mailing list. 

Some links for further reading:

http://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/foodsecurity/publications/articles/FoodIdentity.pdf

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/food-culture/

http://ideas.ted.com/what-americans-can-learn-from-other-food-cultures/

Nutrition: An Important Part of Food Security

Food security means not only having enough food but also having a healthy, nutritious diet as described in the first post of this series. We need to eat the right type and range of foods to get the nutrients we require.

Calorie Intake

There are different ways to assess the levels of nutrition in our food. Many people focus on their calorie intake. This is the energy obtained from food including carbohydrates, proteins, fats and fibre. This information is available on the Nutrition Facts label that is found on most pre-packaged foods. The recommended healthy level of calories depends on one's gender, age, body size, and activity level as per the energy requirement chart offered by Health Canada. For example, the average female in the age group of 30 to 50 years is recommended about 1,800 to 2,000 calories per day.

Risks from artificial trans fat

The nutrition facts table also provides information about core nutrients such as vitamins, calcium, iron, and fibre -- all of which are good for the body. Information about salt content, cholesterol, fat content helps to monitor and avoid excess intake. 

The nutrition labeling regulation that came into effect in Canada almost eight years ago also mandated the publishing of trans fat levels present in the food causing bad cholesterol or 'LDL cholesterol'. Statistics show that Canadian consumption of artificial trans fat has declined 40% over the past decade. A recent US Food and Drug Administration announcement about partially hydrogenated oils, the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods will further eliminate their use over the next three years. So consumers in Canada may now also look for similar regulations. Artificial trans fat can still currently be found in crackers, cookies, cakes, frozen pizzas and pies, microwave pop corn, refrigerated dough products like biscuits and cinnamon rolls etc.

Source: Diabetes.ca

The Food Group Approach: We cook food, not nutrients

Working out nutrient and calorie levels can be too much sometimes on a busy day. Canada's food guide offers some simple guidelines for a healthier diet such as 

• buying staple fresh foods from the essential food groups of vegetables and fruits, grains, meat, dairy, oils and unsaturated fats


• avoiding excessive processed foods. 


• eating one dark green vegetable and one orange fruit or vegetable daily if possible 


• consuming fish once a week if possible


• protein alternatives for vegetarians including beans, lentils and tofu

Ultimately consumers can take the common sense approach to adopt a nutritious diet and use available guidance as best suited to their health and lifestyle. 



Burnaby Food First is offering an interesting, relevant free workshop Fats: The good, the bad, the ugly. Please register for this if interested.