Group Interests and Goals
As students from Land and Food Systems representing UBC, we aim to be involved in our community through learning about the food system and all of its connections. Since we all pay close attention to food itself, and its relation to the human body and environment, we hope to explore different aspects of food through a community-based learning experience. The LFS 350 course provides us the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in how food contributes to our community.
As a group, we are interested in assessing the role of food and collaborating with the community through visiting Legion #132, West Point Grey. These visits will be our first step to understanding the numerous connections present. Our major goals are to: understand the Legion’s food system, learn what the Legion would like to happen within their system, and provide useful advice for the future development of their food system.
Our Objectives and Community Organization
The objective of our community project is to conduct an analysis of the institutional food system at the West Point Grey Legion. Here, we will conduct an in depth investigation of the many programs that the Legion offers to the public as a community food asset. This information will be relayed back to the City of Vancouver’s Food Strategy Implementation Team as part of their food assets data for the city. In this project, we will mainly focus on the how the Legion is able to support vulnerable populations through food initiatives such as meat draws, grocery store gift cards, and how it can utilize its spare space for additional community use. While conducting the analysis, the Asset-based Community Development approach will be used to build relationship between the Legion and its community.
Objectives:
- Conduct an analysis of the institutional food system.
- Investigate the many programs that the Legion offers to the public as a community food asset.
- Investigate how the Legion is able to support these vulnerable populations through food initiatives.
- Expand the usage of the Legion’s spare space for additional community use.
- Based on the Asset-based Community Development approach, build relationship between the Legion and its community.
- Focus on the role of meal service in meeting the Legion’s objective.
- Develop observational, interviewing and analytical skill.
The West Point Grey Legion, which is located at 3679 W Broadway, contains a large licensed lounge with a bar and games that everyone, even non-members, can enjoy. The original kitchen was burnt down in 1970 and was never rebuilt. However, being situated in an urban hub, it is very convenient to order food from surrounding restaurants, thus making food easily obtainable. Additionally, the Legion offers funding in various types, such as grocery store gift cards in a food bank like manner for people in need, provided they or their families have a military history. Since our location doesn’t contain a commercial kitchen like some of the other establishments, our focus will be on the services provided to the members of the legion in relation to food security as well as the vast space that can be optimized, which is approximately 5000 square feet.
First Impressions, Ernesto Sirolli’s TED Talk, and Asset-Based Community Development
As humans, it is very easy to immediately focus on what is missing and how to rectify it. Hole in your jeans? Go buy new ones. Don’t have a kitchen? Build a new one. This way of thinking can be detrimental, causing you to ignore all the positives you have in your corner. Maybe you have three other pairs of pants that look just as amazing.
Our group was not immune to this way of approaching a problem, as upon hearing that our Legion did not have a kitchen many of our initial brainstormings focused on a needs-based approached instead of an asset-based one. Asset-based community development focuses on the unique capacities and skills within a system that can be used, thus straying from the usual deficit-based approach of what’s missing and how do we add it (LFS 350 Course Website, 2016).
After remembering this, we approached the Vice President of the branch to ask him about what was working well within their system and he alluded to their meat draws and Safeway gift cards for those in need. This is known as “appreciative inquiry” which provided us with a solid base to work with and created a “glass half full” mindset. Using this asset-based approach we will be able to use the strengths of the system to contribute something meaningful to the community instead of something that works initially but slowly detracts from the organization, leaving them with a deficit. If you’re going to leave someone with a deficit what is the point of helping in the first place? In order to take an asset-based approach, we will have to put the citizens of the Legion at the center of development through the use of dialogue and active listening.
Active listening is another theme present in our readings and is a skill that will help us contribute to the Legion in a progressive and positive way. Ernesto Sirolli’s TED talk, “Want to help People? Shut Up and Listen!” demonstrates that when we do community work, we listen to our clients and what they actually need instead of telling people what to do and what we think they need. This active listening allows us to avoid a paternalistic or patronizing mindset that has been detrimental to so many projects throughout history — you can’t have progress by treating everyone like they are your child or servant. Thus, when our group members talked to the Vice President of the Legion branch and he said that they are satisfied with this no-kitchen situation, we adjusted group plan immediately so that there will be no objectives about kitchen in our project — as Ernesto Sirolli said, “the first principle of aid is respect.”
References:
LFS 350 Course Website (2016). Session 2 – Asset-Based Community Development + Food Justice. Retrieved from http://lfs350.landfood.ubc.ca/session-notes/term-1-session-notes/session-2/
Sirolli, E. ( 2012, November 26). Ernesto Sirolli: Want to help someone? Shut up and listen! [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXsLtHqfdM
van der Walt, L., Hawley, A., Carter, S. (2014, October 16) ABCD Animation [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_muFMCLebZ4
