Hello! This is Group 5 of LFS (Land, Food, and Community II) 350 at the University of British Columbia this fall. You might have noticed our url and blog name do not match! The Collingwood Legion is currently in the process of relocating, so we’ve switched our focus to the Kitsilano location, Branch #176.
From left to right: Naomi, Kayin, Tien Cin, Carolyn, Justin and Philip.
Here we are at Legion branch 142 in West Point Grey, where we met with the Vice President of the branch, Ron, to learn about the history and operations of Legion.
Introductions
Hi there! I’m Naomi and I’m a 3rd year student at UBC, majoring in Nutritional Sciences. I have always had a strong interest in food and the importance it can have on not only health, but also in bringing friends, family, and the community together. Some of my favorite things to do on weekends are to explore new restaurants and cafes, have potlucks with friends, and try new recipes. I am also a member of the UBC Women’s Ultimate Team and am interested in the role nutrition can have on training, performance and increased endurance during tournaments.
Hi! I am Kayin, a 4th year student at UBC, majoring in Food and Nutritional Sciences. My interest in food grew when I learned how to cook as I entered 6th grade. My interest then shifted to learning about food’s effect on the body, motivating me to study Nutritional Sciences. I once planned on pursuing Dietetics, but now, I want people to enjoy food that is tasty, safe, healthy and most importantly, affordable. Food adventures and cooking with simple ingredients are my hobbies.
Hi, my name is Tien Cin. I am a fourth year Food, Nutrition and Health student. I enrolled in this program with the aspiration of pursuing a profession that will allow me to explore my passion for food and nutrition. Initially, I thought I would like to advise patients what and how to eat; however, as circumstances changed and the more I discover about my passion and interest, the more I’m leaning toward opening my own cafe bakery in the future instead.Essentially, the kitchen is my place of refuge; baking and dish-washing is my therapy.
Hello! I’m Carolyn, a 4th year student, majoring in Food Science. I am currently, and have been the Treasurer for the UBC Food Science Club for the third time. If it was not already obvious enough, I am very much interested in food. I love it, eating and baking in particular! I have sweet teeth (plural, not singular) and unfortunately, I am not very aware of the food community in Vancouver, although I have lived here my entire life.
Hi! My name is Justin and I’m a 3rd year student majoring in Food Science. I came to Canada two years ago to pursue my undergraduate degree. I enjoy food, music, science and the process of learning these fields, which guided my way into Food Science.
Hey, Philip here. I am a 4th year UBC student. Food has been, and will probably be my life, from watching the Food Network when I was young to taking cooking classes in high school. However, one event that really shaped who I am today was when I got my Food Safe Level 1 Certificate, which made me take food safety relatively seriously, prompting me to study Food and Nutritional Sciences.
Project Objectives and Community Partner
Our community partner for this project is Sarah Carten, an Official Liaison from the Vancouver Food Policy Council. We have yet to meet her, but are looking forward to meeting her and hearing her perspective of the operations and objectives of Legion. We are also excited to share our work about how the Kitsilano Legion and surrounding community can utilize one another’s resources to create a stronger sense of community and potentially help more members in terms of food security. Food security essentially means everyone at all times should have access to affordable, safe, and nutritious food, and food justice, which exists when the benefits and risks of food production, distribution, and consumption are shared equally among people of all backgrounds.
About the Legion
The Royal Canadian Legion was formed in 1926 to act as a sanctuary for veterans who have participated in wars, particularly World War II. As time passes, the function of most Legions has changed. Now, they welcome the public alike as a place to hang out, play games, socialize, and drink, among other activities. The organization is funded by the support of members and the community in the form of memberships, occasional meat draws and musical performances. Today, there are numerous branches in B.C. and across Canada. Each branch represents a distinct community and has differing conditions from each other. The majority of members nowadays tend to be elderly people and their relatives, younger students, and parts of the vulnerable population who have struggles with accessing enough nutritious and affordable food.
Reason for choosing this project
There are a couple of reasons why we chose the Legion as our project. First of all, few of us were aware of the Legion’s operations and its effect on the community, let alone their existence. Secondly, we believe that food justice is a valuable aspect for communities, as everyone should have the right to access nutritious and safe food. We are all privileged, as illustrated by our personal experiences with food. We hope to identify the inequalities of social determinants that may lead to food injustice and mitigate it. Food has a powerful way of bringing people together and building community, so as a group, we hope to enrich our knowledge of the community the Legion has created and understand its impact on its members.
We aim to achieve this not by viewing how the Legion operates from afar, but to experience the Kitsilano Legion first hand by receiving insight from its members and staff, because we can come up with many solutions but if we do not understand their problem then our potential implementations may not be very effective, if at all.
Inherently, our group may be slightly disadvantaged since so many of our backgrounds overlap – primarily food science and nutritional science, making it difficult to bring in new information to solve these complex issues. Ideally, our group should consist of people from many disciplines, which may seem counter intuitive because our differences could lead to potential conflict. However, a variety of outlooks would more likely enhance our approach to any obstacles we may encounter in working with the Legion. Regardless, we still aim to be able to apply concepts learned in LFS 350 to identify and assess aspects of the Kitsilano Legion that are underutilized or have great potential in an attempt to foster social connection in the community.
Goals
All of our group members occupy a privileged space in the food system. However, sustained access to nutritious and affordable food is still a struggle for many, and the food system holds strong power dynamics that all too often come at the exploitation and expense of traditionally marginalized groups. In Vancouver there are strong socioeconomic barriers that separate access to affordable and nutritious foods. Leading to vulnerable groups to rely more in community food programs.
Our goal is to blend into the community with an open mind, and respect the knowledge and information that is held by the Legion staff. We hope to learn a lot about these communities, their needs and their relationship with food. Furthermore, we are happy to discover that this project really enables us to focus on existing community assets to build stronger, more sustainable communities for the future. This concept can be referred to as Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD). We feel ABCD is an effective and efficient approach because everyone in the community is involved, no matter how insignificant, contributing however much they can.
First Impressions of the Legion
When we visited the West Point Grey branch Legion for the first time, it was not what we expected of a Legion. It was located in a building with no windows, which made us feel uncomfortable. However, as the Vice President Ron started talking about the Legion and its purpose in the community we became more comfortable.
After hearing that some Legions do not have kitchens, we were devastated, as it seemed as though there were no food assets (a kitchen, for example) that we could build upon for our project. However, after listening to the Ted Talk by Ernesto Sirolli titled “Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!” we realized that we had to shift how we approach the project and look at food assets with a whole new perspective. Most importantly, we would need to listen to the Legion’s view of what resources they have because their experiences likely exceed our preliminary knowledge. Even with the lack of a kitchen, the Legion staff are passionate and use the space to organize food functions once in a while, to provide food for the members and the neighbourhood.
For us, as just ordinary students in the community, we feel that we are not experts when it comes to ‘making the world a better place’, but with the ABCD approach, we can still all be leaders in our own ways, and be motivated to be involved in the development of a stronger, more sustainable community for the future.
