Hello from hua!

Hello! Welcome to our LFS350 Blog! Team 13 is comprised of Jimmy, Farron, Chloe, Joyce, Jianru, and Meryn. This semester, we will be working with the hua foundation on “Food Access Issues in Vancouver’s Chinatown”. Follow along as our project unfolds!

First, a little bit about us:

Jimmy: I am a third-year Nutritional Sciences major. As someone with strong ties to both Canada and Asia, I have great confidence in communicating with locals from both sides and have always been interested in opportunities to connect the two backgrounds. I look forward to working with more people with different backgrounds and stories this term on this project. I also enjoy eating international foods and marvelling at old buildings.

Farron: I am a third-year Global Resource Systems major! As a fourth-generation Japanese-Canadian whose family was impacted by the Japanese internment, I am interested in the intersections of space and identity – in particular how food systems and cultural food assets can help strengthen communities. I am looking forward to working with the hua foundation, Chinese community members and businesses, and incoming businesses. I hope to learn more about facilitating social cohesion – I would love to use the “Asset-Based Community Development” approach in order to pinpoint the strengths and unique skill sets of the community that can contribute to this project.

Chloe: I’m a third-year Nutritional Science major! As a Chinese immigrant,  it warms my heart to walk through Chinatown, a place with so much Chinese culture. However, it seems difficult when two different cultures try to get along with each other; one of the most significant sign is when it comes to food security. I see this project as an opportunity to join hua foundation to investigate the ongoing conflicts in Chinatown, with the emergence of new businesses in the area. Also, as LFS students, my hope is that we are not only learning about ways we can combine in-class knowledge with real-life issues, but also how we can look for solutions that may improve food security in Chinatown in the process.

Joyce: I’m a third year Global Resource Systems student, studying “food systems planning”. The focus of my studies has been on the intersection between food and urban systems and investigating the areas of overlap through a social justice lens. I have a strong interest in pursuing social planning which has led me to investigate topics of spatial equity, universal design and more recently, the role youth play in shaping civic discourse. I find Chinatown a fascinating place of community activism and hope as it has shown continued resistance to encroaching development (albeit small resistance). I hope to learn more about bridging the chasms between formal and informal planning, and how they inform one another in the creation of social ties. In my spare time, you can find me biking around the city, drawing, and thinking deep thoughts about how to make happy, healthy cities.

 

Jianru: I am majoring in Food Science. When I was walking along the Chinatown, I was surprised by its traditional style as I am used to a modern style of Chinese architecture. I was shocked by the severity of drug issues in the area, but also am interested in the innovations in the Downtown Eastside, such as InSite.  I am also interested in the stories about the first wave of Chinese-Canadian immigrants that call Chinatown home. In my spare time, you’ll find me reading, meeting with friends, painting and learning new languages!

Meryn: I am a third-year student in the Global Resources Program focusing on food systems sustainability from the background of nutrition and sustainable agriculture. The more I’ve learnt about food security, the more I’ve realized the subtleties and different aspects of it. I am excited to learn more about cultural food security and Asset Based Community Development; although I acknowledge I have a lot to learn in these subjects, I hope my experience from on-campus initiatives will transfer over smoothly.  I enjoy running up and down mountains, bad jokes and eating good food!

 

About Our Community Partner–Hua Foundation

For this project, we will be working with the hua foundation. Kevin Huang, the co-founder, will be our community liaison and insider/in-sighter while we develop our research focus throughout the course of the semester. Since 2009, the hua foundation has been working at the “intersection of where environmental issues and cultural traditions meet” (hua foundation, n.d.). The hua foundation began working in an advocacy role regarding the issue of shark fin soup but have since transitioned to focusing on work with Asian youth and policy change promotion. The hua foundation’s mission statement to “empower youth in the Asian diaspora to fully participate in advancing social change through exploring […] racialized identities and building resilience in communities” (hua foundation, n.d.) is embodied in their various initiatives such as the Choi Project, a program designed to empower Chinese families toparticipate in their local food system through vegetable guides, cooking workshops and market signage. Another initiative they support include Chinatown Today, a local publication that shares stories of Chinatown heritage and community knowledge.

Kevin Huang, hua foundation co-founder,

Photo from hua foundation website 

Most recently, the hua foundation published a report titled the Vancouver Chinatown Food Security Report that outlined the food landscape in Chinatown, highlighting the the loss of 50% of food assets in Chinatown since 2009 (Ho & Chen, 2017). Many of the terms we have become familiar with in LFS 250 and 350 have renewed meanings to us now, such as “food assets” and “food security”. After reading the hua foundation’s report we have seen the importance of expanding our knowledge of “cultural food assets” and “cultural food sovereignty” for discussions about food systems. The Vancouver Food Strategy defines food assets as “resources, facilities, services or spaces that are available to Vancouver residents, and which are used to support the local food system” (City of Vancouver, 2013 in Ho & Chen, 2017). Cultural food assets build on this by providing “spaces that support the maintenance and transmission of culture. In the case of Chinatown, this includes greengrocers, fishmongers, barbecue meat stores, butcher shops, dry goods stores, and traditional Cantonese bakeries and restaurants (Ho & Chen, 2017).

LFS students are very familiar with the standard definition of food security – however, “cultural” food security emphasizes it being a state where “people are able to acquire food in ways that are culturally acceptable, empowering, and personally dignifying” (Ho & Chen, 2017). The findings of this report led to the hua foundation’s contribution to reshaping municipal definition of food assets to be more holistic. We are excited at the prospect of contributing to the conversation of food access in Chinatown, a topic that is largely undocumented in academia.

Vancouver Chinatown Food Security Report (Ho & Chen, 2017).

Our interests and why we chose this project:

  • A desire to expand our understanding of food security and learn about the implications of cultural food literacy and cultural food assets
  • The ability to situate ourselves as youth from the Chinese diaspora to have a better understanding of personal and collective identity
  • An interest in the different factors and dynamics that shape the current food system landscape in the Chinatown area (eg. language, taste preference, storefront look etc)

This opportunity provides a space for us to expand our existing skill sets. We hope to gain skills and knowledge related to:

  • Interview, communication skills
  • Greater understanding of some of the socioeconomic, policy, cultural and language-related barriers to food access
  • Improved cross-cultural dialogue skills
  • Better understanding of the Chinese parallel food system in Vancouver
  • Appreciative inquisition and developing an “asset-focused” approach to addressing food system issues
  • Assessment and evaluation of social value

E Keefer North, Photo: Jimmy Hu 

Project Description

Acknowledging the current dynamic nature of Chinatown’s food assets, there is an apparent opportunity to foster partnerships within the neighbourhood’s various food suppliers to facilitate points of connection between new and old businesses. The goal of our research project is to investigate current examples of social cohesion between Chinatown food assets. This will provide insight on the connectedness of the Chinatown food system and increase understanding of parallel food systems and their manifestation in the business landscape of Chinatown.

Our main objectives:

  1. Identify what new businesses have already established connections with existing distributors and greengrocers.
  2. Interview key business owners.
  3. Analyse results from interviews to establish what methods work for business owners, and identify challenges and next steps.
  4. Create document/infographic to share our findings.

The outcomes of our project include creating a resource for new businesses in Chinatown based off of the needs identified through interviews. We will also create a map of connections between businesses and distributors.

First impressions on the process to date

For some of us, it was the first time setting foot in Chinatown, or even the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver (DTES). The UBC Learning Exchange workshop helped to contextualize the neighbourhood and its key features. A presentation video on the importance of asset-based community development (ABCD) addressed some of our worries about working in a sensitive environment, such as the DTES. An ABCD approach recognizes that community members have existing, unique skill sets to contribute to the project (Mathie and Cunningham, 2003). In the paper by Wittman and Gibb (2013) we were assigned, one of the key insights on the Chinese-Canadian community was the ingenuity of the Chinese distribution network born out of a system of oppression; a parallel food system that operates in conjunction, but separate from the mainstream local food system.

The UBC Learning Exchange workshop was particularly helpful in positioning our role as external researchers. We acknowledge that there is no such thing as a neutral space and that the neighbourhood of Chinatown is set within a greater narrative of historical, collective, and social trauma. Within these histories, structural inequalities of race and class have been embedded and now inherited by the present. We must recognize that citizens of the community are at the centre of development and meaningful engagement with the community occurs through dialogue and active listening (Mathie and Cunningham, 2003; Sirolli, 2012). After the presentation, we felt more at ease about the area we would be working in, but still held questions about the realities of working with vulnerable communities.

East Pender, Near the Northern Border of Chinatown; Photo: Jimmy Hu

Kevin, our community partner, was able to provide more insight as he toured the group around Chinatown. While it was brief, we found his insider knowledge eye-opening and nuanced. We were enchanted by the charming mom-and-pop shops and surrounded by the lively activities both inside the shops and on the streets. Stores lined the streets with fresh produce, large signs with Chinese characters donned open containers of herbs and dried goods, much like in Chinatown’s depicted popular media. The traditional stores of the area provide fresh produce, meats and dried goods for residents in the direct periphery and surrounding areas like the Strathcona community and the DTES. We expressed concerns about what food justice in the neighbourhood looks like and how our project could seek to “eliminate disparities and inequities that constrain food choices and access to good food for all” (Gottlieb and Joshi, 2010).This was reflected upon when we observed which goods were offered at a fair and affordable price, and if workers in the local Chinatown food system were being paid living wages.

Greengrocers on E Georgia, Photo: Jimmy Hu

We also noticed an astonishing number of vacant stores that were no longer in business, despite still having signage displayed. Most of these stores had been out of business for upwards of 1 year, due to a compounding of factors such as increasing rent and lack of successors to run the stores. There was a distinct contrast between the newer businesses and the older, traditional Chinese businesses – from the demographics of clientele served to the variety of food options available, ranging in price and cuisine. We left feeling somewhat overwhelmed with the challenges that the area faces, but were also hopeful about what opportunities laid ahead. Regarding the contrast between new and old businesses, we believe there are solutions to be found where the two are compatible, and realistically, the future of the community necessitates their cooperation. New and old, they both have insights to offer the community and do not have to be mutually exclusive.

References:  

Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). (2006, June). Policy Brief: Food Security. Retrieved February 8th, 2018 from http://www.fao.org/forestry/13128-0e6f36f27e0091055bec28ebe830f46b3.pdf

Ho, Angela & Chen, Alan. (2017, August). Vancouver Chinatown Food Security Report. Retrieved February 4, 2018, from http://www.huafoundation.org/foodreport/read-vancouver-chinatown-food-security-report/

hua foundation. (n.d.). Our Mission, Vision, and Values. Retrieved January 26, 2018, from http://www.huafoundation.org/our-mission-story/

Gottlieb, R., & Joshi, A. (2010). Food Justice. MIT Press.

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.

Sirolli, E. (2012, August). Ernesto Sirolli at TEDxEQChCh. Retrieved January 26, 2018, from https://www.ted.com/talks/ernesto_sirolli_want_to_help_someone_shut_up_and_listen

 

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