Weekly objectives and achievements, upcoming objectives

Our objectives this week have been to schedule interviews with as many of the producers and people involved in food production on Galiano Island as possible during our visit next weekend. To do this efficiently, we created a list of contacts to organize them into categories, including food trucks, restaurants, farms, value-added goods and grocery stores. These were then delegated for calling to increase the maximum coverage and to prevent overlap, and increase efficiency. We created a Google Calendar to organize the interview time, which gives a clear visual of our schedule, thus allowing us to account for travel time in between interviews.

So far we have made good progress getting in touch with our list of contacts, however there have been several who are unsure of their upcoming plans, or may not be on Galiano Island during the weekend that we will be visiting. This means we will have to be flexible, which affects the efficiency of our routes as we cannot visit all the vendors in the same area in the same time frame. As in the podcast we listened to this week, sometimes even the best laid plans do not work out as you have intended, so hopefully our scheduling comes to fruition. Unlike the geese, however, we do not believe that complete freedom is a wise option for us because we only have one opportunity to complete our objectives. We aim to fill up our time on the island with as many in-person interviews as the time allows, and the only way to do so is to plan in advance and form a tight schedule.  

Another unplanned change we made was to email some of the producers and proprietors in addition to calling. We had thought that contacting people by phone was more personal, as well as more direct in that we can obtain an immediate answer. However, not all of our contacts were able to be reached by phone and it was difficult to explain the extent of our project over the phone, an email was both informative and allowed the recipient to respond at their convenience.

Additionally, we realized that it would be advantageous to make our schedule based on not only time, but geographical location as well. In the midst of the complicated process of mapping out the locations of all of our contacts, we stumbled across a map provided by the Galiano Island Tourism website that already had this information.  This simplified the process, and enabled us to quickly plan several stops within the same vicinity.

Some issues that arose, which slowed the planning process is that some producers do not live on Galiano Island, and thus may not be available on the weekend that we are visiting. A remedy for this is to set up a phone or email interview to be conducted following our stay. The other is that not everyone is available in a sequential order based on our map and schedule.  Again, this is reminiscent of the foie-gras geese: despite Dan’s every effort to achieve a perfect world for his geese in which they would have a happy life and produce delicious, cruelty-free foie gras, it did not have the expected results. We are, of course, hoping that our trip will be more productive, but it is true that life has all kinds of funny twists, turns and curve balls, and we need to be prepared for both the predictable and the completely unforeseen.  

Our upcoming objectives are possibly the most relevant and important ones in our project. Next weekend we will be heading to Galiano Island to conduct our interviews, and the information we gain from these interviews will form the basis of the index of agricultural products. Our objectives on Galiano Island are to conduct the scheduled interviews, aid the Galiano Food Program in events happening during that weekend, and to weed the community garden. In order to achieve these objectives, the most important strategy is time management. We will need to strictly follow the schedule we have created beforehand, which may mean limited time to sightsee on the island. Another upcoming objective is to add to our preliminary list of interview questions and finalize which questions will be used in the interviews conducted at the island. We can achieve this by discussing them with our TA to ensure they are appropriate and obtain feedback for improvement. We will also assign the roles of interviewers or note takers for each group member for every consensual interview.

Significance

As our project develops and our trip to the island comes closer at hand, we have begun to face new challenges in coordinating amongst ourselves in regards to preparing for the trip. A problem occurred this past week, when it came time to book our accommodations and ferry tickets. Confusion began to surface over where we were staying, what our budget was, and who would be purchasing which items. Although we were aware that we would be reimbursed for the majority of our expenses, we knew that it was important to keep track of who was reserving what, in order to prevent double-booking and to ensure that all of our receipts could be easily accessed. Giving each member of the group one specific job or part to keep track of helped us stay as organized as possible for counting funds used; for example, Nic is taking care of all the fuel costs for the van as it is simpler than everyone splitting those costs and then reimbursing each individual contribution.

This problem was confusing for everyone, especially as many of us were uncertain about our personal financial limits that we could contribute at the moment, knowing that it could take some time before we were fully reimbursed. And while it may seem trivial, it caused us to see that the broader issue at hand is being able to be flexible and understanding of individual and group needs. Close organization and close communication within the entire group was important to be certain that everything is complete, and that nothing is done more than once. In order to solve the problem, it was important take a step back and listen to everyone’s opinions and issues with how the problem was initially being addressed. Once everyone was involved in the conversation, everyone got on the same page, and individual tasks were assigned and easily completed.

Working to be more flexible around each other’s budgets and availability to communicate with those helping us to plan our stay, we were able to address the problem so that the burden did not fall on to just one team member’s shoulders alone. Being more understanding of individual and group constraints helped us all to formulate a solution to our problem while still respecting each other and our needs. Upon finally dividing everything up and organizing our list of objectives, we were able to accomplish all of our travel plans on time and made the alterations that we had to, whilst staying organized and maintaining a simplistic approach to our trip planning. Although they were not as extreme as Dan’s in the podcast, they will still be helpful in running this trip smoothly.

References

Barber, D. (2011). Poultry Slam 2011 [Podcast]. Chicago, IL: This American Life.

Objectives

With only two weeks left until we travel to Galiano Island, we have begun to meet the more critical stages of our planning and strategizing process. Since our main method of creating the index is done through interviewing the island producers, it is necessary that we schedule our meetings prior to our arrival to guarantee that we are able to fit in as many in person interviews as possible. This week we will be calling the local farms and producers to introduce ourselves and to inquire about their availability during the weekend of October 30th. We also plan to contact the restaurants on the island with the hopes of learning whether they utilize any local ingredients, and if so, which products they use during each season. Because our time on the island is short, we decided that it would be best to focus on interviewing the actual producers in person, and communicate with the restaurant owners or buyers from here in Vancouver. Also, given that the buyers for many restaurants are not usually available during regularly scheduled operating hours, communication via email or telephone may be the more effective way to reach them.

Other objectives we have accomplished this week included planning our method of transportation, our overnight stay, as well as outlining timelines for various interviews. We have determined the allotted length for each in-person interview, after factoring in the amount of time left in the day and transportation time in between visits.

 

Significance

When we started our project, we were not certain what our community partner specifically wanted in an index. Miscommunication between our group and the project leader(s) led to some confusion within the group about what was to be drafted for the final product. Some previous planning and ideas became irrelevant, such as questions involving food costs. A clear understanding may have been achieved from the beginning if we had the opportunity to meet the community partner for a greater length of time to ask questions in greater detail. Moreover, some aspects that we originally planned to include in our project, such as the incorporation and promotion of local produce and its nutritional value, may be too ambitious to complete.

These were small hiccups in the long run, and was soon remedied once we directly spoke to two representatives from the community to clarify any misconceptions we might have had regarding their goals with this project. Overall, there was no great loss in of time, however, it was a good reminder to establish the true objectives of the project and to stay focused on these objectives. We also realized that every group member also has to be on the same page, so that the group can work and move forward together.

Once we had a clear direction, delegating tasks followed suit, and we were able to arrange the next steps of the project. These next steps involve contacting producers and businesses on the island in order to document what they grow and when they grow it. In order to streamline this process, two group members will be making all of the telephone calls to arrange interviews. This will prevent possible double-booking or calling. Another step in the next part of our plan is to make a map of all the producers whom we have contact information for. A map will allow us to plot out the groupings of businesses and best routes between them in order to maximize our short time on the island, as we have only two days to conduct what could be 20 or more interviews with locals. This is important as we only have one vehicle so only one interview can be conducted simultaneously. This means that efficiency will be of utmost importance when on the island. By locating where the Galiano producers are located, we can improve efficiency by scheduling with producers that are near each other to avoid wasting time by travelling back and forth.

 

Podcast 1

In The Fish Bank podcast, there is a theme of conservation of the local environment to benefit the local people. The disappearance of coral and fish from Bali waters was tragic, but the impact of their disappearance on the local people’s’ livelihoods was profound too. This ties into the importance of our community project, our index will encourage the conservation of local producers that will also benefit the local people. This is because local producers live within the same community they serve. Therefore, they have a very personal investment into the wellbeing of the community, in contrast to companies of the imported food found on the island, who only seek to profit. On the other hand, local producers give back to the community in the form of employment, allowing the money to circulate back within the local economy. In contrast, supporting foreign companies will support the employment of workers outside of the local community, thus if Galiano Island does not have any more local producers, employment opportunities within the community would decrease. The result of Jensi and Nyoman’s fish bank was exactly as they had hoped – more and bigger fish. Similarly, we hope that our index, by supporting local producers, will encourage more people to become local producers, and allow existing producers to increase the scale of their production to eventually sustain the entire island’s population.

Podcast 2

In the podcast Grandma Mahembe’s Farm, there is a theme of encouraging young people to pursue a career in agriculture. Lindiwe recalls when her grandmother told her, “I wish that all my grandchildren will grow up to be farmers, and feed not just their families, but all of Zimbabwe.” Her grandmother was an excellent example for Lindiwe, with her 1 acre plot and her livestock that fed not just her 6 children but the community as well. The Galiano Food Program wishes that in the future, more Galiano Island residents will become farmers and help feed the community. After graduating college, Lindiwe spoke about how she would indulge in fast food because it was affordable and right at her doorstep. This reinforces our belief that people are drawn to certain foods because they are easily accessible, and affordable. Our wish is that residents and visitors of Galiano Island will be able to find accessible foods that will encourage nutrition security. Lindiwe defined nutritional security as having access to foods that are nutritious, as well as affordable and convenient. Therefore, we believe that because local produce fulfills this criteria that they are the best way for Galiano Island to also achieve nutritional security.

Podcast 3

In the Pragmatic Idealist podcast, Sisonke Msimang talks about how it is important to listen to not only words, but to silence as well. She demonstrates this lesson in forms of a story she experienced, about her friend Alice. Alice was a strong, confident woman battling HIV AIDS, however this did not limit her from pursuing her goals of being an activist and creating awareness of the fact that it is not something to look down upon. One of the themes that struck out the most was social acceptance within a certain community, and supporting people in your surroundings regardless of the circumstances. This relates to our community project, as the index created will not only support local producers, but will inform the residents of Galiano Island of local food sources. This in turn provides the residents with a greater selection of nutritious and fresh foods that contribute to food security.

Msimang also talks about how her parents suffered a different type of ‘struggle’ in South Africa in the olden times, and how the new generation has it slightly easier with all the improvements in health, education and much more. This provides hope that in the generations to come ahead, the world will place a greater emphasis on acceptance and community building to achieve food security.