Introduction

Who are we? 

Hi! My name’s Rose, and I am in my third year at UBC, and am on track to complete a Bachelors of Science degree in the Global Resource Systems program. I’ve always had an interest in food, I grew up eating home cooked meals every night with my parents and two older brothers. When I was finishing high school, I read Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and realised how little I knew about the food system. This inspired me to take an interest in how our food is produced, and my passion for farming begun. I had always loved making things, I sew and enjoy the challenge of making things myself. When I finished high school, I wasn’t ready for University, so I took a year off and spent 6 months travelling around New Zealand volunteering on 8 different farms. I have also working on a  small organic vegetable farm in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island. Although I have a background of growing food, my interests have veered more towards health, specifically how healthcare is approached in the developing world. My specialization within the Global Resource Systems program is Global Health. I think my background in farming and my understanding of the food system is valuable to understanding food’s role in healthcare. In terms of our kitchen project, I’m interested in how healthcare is addressed in community kitchens. Are specific groups of people with healthcare problems targeted as participants in these kitchens? What about people with mental or physical challenges? Are they included in kitchen programs? I think that community kitchens can be therapeutic for people who have suffered in our healthcare system. My personal goals in this project are to gain a better understanding about how community kitchens can be social initiatives and to learn how I can do more to join health focused initiatives such as community kitchens.

My name is Naomi and I am a 3rd year dietetics student from Port Moody, BC. Dietetics merges my interest in wellness and creativity, with my scientific side. I was particularly inspired by dietitian bloggers who shared recipes with beautiful food photography. It fascinates me that the way that food is consumed can be as impactful to our health as the nutrients, which is why I find the topic of mindful eating particularly interesting. I appreciate that dietitians, beyond promoting people to eat nutritiously, encourage us to fully enjoy the experience of eating. Outside of school, I love doing anything creative including making hand-made cards, specifically ones with food puns! I also love trying out new recipes or checking out the Vancouver food scene and always ready to snap photos of my food, especially when it’s a beautifully styled plate. I’m also a big Harry Potter nerd, stationary hoarder, and enjoy exploring the many hikes and trails here in BC. I think that food is such a powerful way of bringing people together and I am excited by the opportunities of community kitchens in doing just this. Some of my best memories revolve around food, including family potlucks and baking with friends. I can’t wait to learn about how community kitchens foster social connection and contribute to promoting the enjoyment of eating delicious, nourishing food.

My name is Oliver and I am in my first year of the dietetics program at UBC.My journey to dietetics started in my early teen years when I found my passion for food and cooking. At first I started by helping my older brother cook family meals and by watching the food network. Eventually my brother moved out for university, and I took over the family cooking responsibilities. Food was an extremely important part of my life and I would often come from school and sit in front of the television watching hours of food network programs. In addition to cooking, I also enjoy camping, sports, growing food, working out, and strolling through food/farmers markets. Sports was a big part of my childhood and growing up I played almost every sport under the sun.
One of my favourite television personalities was Jamie Oliver; he was young, cool, and cooked vibrant, fresh and healthy meals. When he started his food revolution I was really hooked by his message. I followed Jamie’s revolution and saw the power of food and how it could be used as a tool for positive change. Since my teen years, I have developed a real interest in food security and food sovereignty. I think community kitchen’s provide a great opportunity for people to learn to cook, which I believe will lead to a healthier diet and a more positive relationship with food. In my opinion, food is a great tool to share culture and build community.  I am really excited to take part in our project because the information we will compile will help community kitchens in Vancouver to reach their full potential and will help the City of Vancouver achieve greater food security and community building. I think my experience volunteering in community kitchens on campus and in my community gives me a great foundation of information regarding the benefits and purpose of community kitchens.

Hi my name is Nimmie, I am a fourth year Food Nutrition and Health Student and am currently finishing up my degree and looking forward to a well deserved graduation! Food has always been something that interested me especially on a nutrient specific level. My interest in food sparked from leading a very active lifestyle as a teenager. I was involved in competitive soccer programs my entire life and being an athlete meant it was necessary to have an understanding about food and the affects on performance. Being in the Land and Food Systems Faculty gave me an opportunity to understand the impact of food on multiple levels and scopes that where beyond my imagination. My personal goals for this project are to learn about food-related components such as how equipment is affecting food-security in Vancouver. I would love to learn about the impact that these community kitchens have on the community and how we can aid in enhancing their efforts. In the future I would love to have a career in which I can help people, and this project has the potential to illustrate avenues to make that possible.

I’m Patrick, I’m in the 3rd year of the B+MM Dual Degree program and I love food, fitness, and business! I fell in love with nutrition after as I fell in love with fitness. The two just came together so closely I couldn’t help myself! My major is in Food, Nutrition, and Health but the
whole faculty of Land and Food Systems at UBC has really opened my mind to the realities of food. My academic journey brought me to a combined degree in food and business here at UBC. The two faculties are very different but I am slowly learning that they are both integral into life and I hope to be able to utilize what I learn to really push positive change in the world.

I’m Patrick! I am a 4th year student in the Dietetics program. I love food, and I am a huge fan of going to the gym. Food and fitness are a passion for me and I enjoy every opportunity I can to experience either. Beyond my degree, I really want to be able to motivate others to living a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Being at UBC has been great at broadening my perspective about the kinds of people there are in the world, and the things that interest them. One day, I hope to do work that can help people feel good about themselves, so I can see some great smiles!

Project Objectives 

Our project is focused on gathering information about the available community kitchens in the Downtown Vancouver area. Our objective is to assess the condition of a number of different kitchens, by interviewing key informants who are involved in organizing the kitchens’ functions. Through our assessment, we aim to identify the opportunities unique to each kitchen and develop an overall understanding of the potential of community kitchens in the Downtown area. This assessment will allow us to make recommendations to the City of Vancouver’s Food Strategy Implementation Team, which will be allocating resources that will enhance food programming at community kitchens.We hope that throughout our project, we are able to work effectively with our community partners in order to gather the required information to gain a more complete understanding of the community kitchens in the Downtown area.

As we will be working with a number of kitchen directors in a variety of settings ranging from religious to cultural centres, it will be essential to the success of our project that all members maintain an open mind. Since the final product of our project will be recommendations for the City of Vancouver, one of our community partners will be Sarah Carten, a member of Vancouver’s Food Strategy Implementation Team. Sarah Carten has directed UBC students to interview 4-6 kitchens in various parts of Vancouver to gather and understand overarching themes in Vancouver community kitchens. We are one of five groups that are working on this project. Our specific area Downtown Vancouver where we will visit community kitchens and survey them with a pre-made questionnaire provided by the city itself. The information collected by all of the groups will bridge the gap of knowledge for the city of Vancouver so they are better able to assist community kitchens and enhance programming for community members.

First Impressions

When we were first assigned this project we were unclear of the objectives or the goals of our project. We thought that our project would primarily involve interviewing members of the community to discover their relationships with food and the community. After meeting and hearing from Sarah we realize that our project will be more centered on identifying existing enablers for community kitchens, assessing kitchen facilities, and ease of access to them. We are also pleasantly surprised at how well the project is organized, and how clear the instructions are.

Initially, we thought we would be working with community centers and city housing projects. Alternatively, we have been assigned community kitchens unaffiliated with the City of Vancouver. Working with non-city community kitchens will definitely present more challenges, but we are excited about working with different communities and cultures in Vancouver. Furthermore, this week we had the opportunity to listen an interesting ted talk “Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!” This was an eye opening experience for our group because we had to shift the manner in which we approach the interview process. In order to help the community kitchens we need to listen to their personal identification of assets because their experiences more than likely outweighs our preliminary knowledge. Our goal is to enter the kitchen with an open mind, and respect the knowledge and information that is being delivered by the kitchen directors. We hope to learn a lot about these communities, their needs and their relationships with food.

Additionally, we were happy to discover that this project really focuses on existing assets of the community. Identifying the enablers of the community is one of the main themes of Asset Based Community Development, a concept that we have been discussing in our LFS 350 course. One of the goals of our project is to find out what the kitchens are being used for and who benefits from them.  Through finding the overarching themes in current community kitchens we can help guide the City of Vancouver in their future funding and involvement in community kitchens. Therefore, we realize that our project can engage in ABCD and really help the City of Vancouver to make more accessible kitchens.