Introductions

Christopher Giese My name is Christopher, and I am a 3rd year Global Resource Systems student from Frankfurt, Germany. My specialization focuses on food market analysis of traditional and geographically distinct meat and dairy processing techniques within western Europe. My goal is to analyze and assess distinct production methods and possibly bring people closer to the roots of food processing and the traditions behind it. Cooking and preserving food has always been a passion of mine, but since I started studying within LFS I get to look at food in various contexts.

Christopher Giese
My name is Christopher, and I am a 3rd year Global Resource Systems student from Frankfurt, Germany. My specialization focuses on food market analysis of traditional and geographically distinct meat and dairy processing techniques within western Europe. My goal is to analyze and assess distinct production methods and possibly bring people closer to the roots of food processing and the traditions behind it. Cooking and preserving food has always been a passion of mine, but since I started studying within LFS I get to look at food in various contexts.

Nikki Lax I’m a 3rd year Applied Plant and Soil Biology student. I am focused on implementing environmentally conscious agriculture methods and connecting the public to sustainable agriculture. I work for a farm-education nonprofit called the Amir project, and assist in research at the UBC Farm. I spend as much time as possible adventuring in the outdoors, and in respect try to live an earth conscious lifestyle.

Nikki Lax
I’m a 3rd year Applied Plant and Soil Biology student. I am focused on implementing environmentally conscious agriculture methods and connecting the public to sustainable agriculture. I work for a farm-education nonprofit called the Amir project, and assist in research at the UBC Farm. I spend as much time as possible adventuring in the outdoors, and in respect try to live an earth conscious lifestyle.

 

 

 

 

Aubrey Doherty I’m a 4th year student majoring in Plant and Soil Science. My main focus is on investigating and promoting sustainable agriculture and as such, I’ve been involved with Inner City Farms, a local urban farming non-profit, for the past two seasons. In addition to farming and generally tending to plants, I also enjoy hiking, ceramics, and I’ve recently taken to cycling and learning about bike mechanics.

Aubrey Doherty
I’m a 4th year student majoring in Plant and Soil Science. My main focus is on investigating and promoting sustainable agriculture and as such, I’ve been involved with Inner City Farms, a local urban farming non-profit, for the past two seasons. In addition to farming and generally tending to plants, I also enjoy hiking, ceramics, and I’ve recently taken to cycling and learning about bike mechanics.

Mylo Williamson I am a 3rd year Dietetics student! I am passionate about the role that food plays in our health, not only physical, but mental and social health as well. I love food and grew up cooking from scratch with my mother and sisters! I believe that food is so much more than just energy and nutrients; it plays a role in culture, social celebrations, enjoyment and is a common ground for people to connect with one another- everyone eats after all! When I’m not studying I enjoy weight lifting, reading and sharing a meal with friends and family!

Mylo Williamson
I am a 3rd year Dietetics student! I am passionate about the role that food plays in our health, not only physical, but mental and social health as well. I love food and grew up cooking from scratch with my mother and sisters! I believe that food is so much more than just energy and nutrients; it plays a role in culture, social celebrations, enjoyment and is a common ground for people to connect with one another- everyone eats after all! When I’m not studying I enjoy weight lifting, reading and sharing a meal with friends and family!

Saman Mohsen Sarrafi I am currently a third/fourth year student majoring in Nutritional Sciences and I am planning on pursuing a nursing degree after I finish my bachelors in Food, Nutrition and Health. I am currently an executive member at UBC Cancer Association, a club that aims to promote healthy living within students and raises funds for Canadian Cancer Association. Some of my other hobbies include wrestling, poetry and classical music.

Saman Mohsen Sarrafi
I am currently a third/fourth year student majoring in Nutritional Sciences and I am planning on pursuing a nursing degree after I finish my bachelors in Food, Nutrition and Health. I am currently an executive member at UBC Cancer Association, a club that aims to promote healthy living within students and raises funds for Canadian Cancer Association. Some of my other hobbies include wrestling, poetry and classical music.

Brennan Lew-Cooke I am currently in my final year of study in the Global Resource Systems program. I have focused my studies on Indigenous Health. It is my goal to investigate methods of decolonization within the Western medical system. What I have already learned is that our relationships are critical to fostering this change. We must acknowledge the importance of food and community if we are to move forward. I work at the First Nations House of Learning and at Musqueam First Nation as the Student Coordinator for two youth camps. I love my job because I am able to connect with the bright young indigenous minds of our community.

Brennan Lew-Cooke
I am currently in my final year of study in the Global Resource Systems program. I have focused my studies on Indigenous Health. It is my goal to investigate methods of decolonization within the Western medical system. What I have already learned is that our relationships are critical to fostering this change. We must acknowledge the importance of food and community if we are to move forward.
I work at the First Nations House of Learning and at Musqueam First Nation as the Student Coordinator for two youth camps. I love my job because I am able to connect with the bright young indigenous minds of our community.

 

Project goals and why we chose Health Initiatives for Men

Interest, passion, excitement and goals all separate excellency from mediocrity.

Our group took interest in this particular project because we passionately dislike food waste and loved the opportunity to use “wasted” food in a productive manner. This project gives us the ability to explore possible actions that can be taken to increase healthy food and nourishment availability in a food insecure community. We are excited to have the opportunity to build sustainable connections between Vancouver farmers markets and nonprofit organizations in need of produce. Our group looks forward to developing our communication skills with different stakeholders in the food system, as many of our future jobs will require us to do so. Most importantly we aim to see how our community is providing resources to minority groups such as the LGBTQ community and the Indigenous community living in the Greater Vancouver area.

What we aim to learn in LFS 350

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn” – Benjamin Franklin

From LFS 350 our group hopes to:

  • Gain an in depth understanding of community food security
  • Better be able to see assets within the community that can be built on to improve the quality of life for the members within the community
  • Gain experience collaborating with the community and peers to make substantial, meaningful, and long-lasting impacts in the community.
  • To see a program that we create go through all the steps of implementation: research, outreach, brainstorming, interviewing, surveying, planning, and eventually successful running of the program!
  • Investigate what type of learning environment we are most effective in.
  • Use our learnings in class in a practical setting.

About Health Initiatives for Men

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well” – Virginia Woolf

Health Initiatives for Men is an organization within the Greater Vancouver area with the goal of bettering all aspects of gay, bi and other men who have sex with men’s health – physical, mental, social and sexual – by providing health promotional services through community volunteer engagement. HIM often plays a role as a mediator for bridging gaps between community members who have goods and services to offer, and organizations within the community that are in need. Our project’s objective is to determine vendors’ willingness to donate leftover produce from the West End Farmer’s Market, and other markets or CSAs (community supported agriculture) to go to food kitchens and food banks that serve at-risk communities, such as the Dr Peter Centre, Rainbow Refugees and Rainbow soup. Our goals are to develop an understanding of what the organizations are in need of as well as determining what vendors would be able to offer and the logistics involved in that, such as transportation of food, and how this would benefit the vendor. Additionally we would like to see sustainable connections built so that once the project is done, and the people who initiated it are no longer working on it, the relationships built between community members continue to grow and non profits continue to receive donations.

First Impressions

“For me the greatest beauty always lies in the greatest clarity” – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Initially there was a lot of unclarity as to what our project goals were. After our first meeting with Josh, our community partner, the goals of our project were evident. Josh had lots of outcomes that he would like to see from our project and was able to suggest an initial step to take. We hope to incorporate an Asset-Based Community Development approach to our project. Josh has initiated the use of this approach by recognizing that there is a wonderful opportunity within the community -the left-over farmers market produce- and would like to help the members within the community to work together and better the quality of life of a vulnerable group within Vancouver (2). Additionally, during our meeting with Josh, we had a list of questions for him, however we ended up using the methods discussed by Ernesto Sirolli, by sitting and listening to Josh’s ideas (3). This was more beneficial than we could have anticipated as Josh was eager to tell us about not only his goals, but HIM’s goals for the project. Josh shared with us how organizations like Dr Peter Centre, Rainbow Refugees and Rainbow Soup all reassure that fresh, nutritious and locally-grown food is the centrepiece for encouraging health and community. By providing such food to at-risk communities, HIM is leading by example in this social-justice movement (1). Our conversations exemplified how community members should be the one’s identifying areas of improvement and areas in which they find strength and resiliency in any community based project (3). Such learnings were instrumental in fostering our “idea” of how ethically sound asset-based community development should be done (2).

If you enjoyed learning about us, our aspirations, Health Initiatives for Men and what HIM strives towards we invite you to continue following our journey. Keep an eye out for our next blog post as we will dive into our team’s project proposal, achievements, fondest memories and future strategies in implementing this worthwhile change. If you are passionate about community food security and health initiatives among minority groups then this is the blog for you!

Thank you for reading.

Works Cited

  1. Allen, P. (2008). Mining for justice in the food system: perceptions, practices, and possibilities. Agriculture and Human Values, 25(2), 157–161. Retrieved through the UBC Library Website.
  2. Mathie, A., & Cunningham, G. (2003). From clients to citizens: Asset-based Community Development as a strategy for community-driven development. Development in Practice, 13(5), 474–486. Retrieved through the UBC Library Website.
  3. Sirolli, Ernesto. Ernesto Sirolli: Want To Help Someone? Shut Up And Listen!. 2012. Web. 17 Sept. 2016.