“Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes
Welcome back to our blog!
We wanted to make an update on how far along we are in our community project with the Gordon Neighbourhood House. First, we will start off with this week’s weekly objectives and our achievements. Then, we will discuss a moment of significance with you and finally, we will finish up with upcoming objectives and strategies. Before reading on, click here (Group 9’s Proposal) to see our project proposal!
| Weekly Objectives | Dates |
| Contact Katelyn of GNH in regards to meeting up to discuss our proposal and available days and times we can come visit GNH | Oct 6 |
| Finalize proposal and send proposal to Katelyn so she can review it before our meeting | Oct 8 |
| Meet with Katelyn at GNH to finalize dates we will come to make observations and interview guests during lunch times (2 days) | Oct 11 |
| Produce a list of questions we can ask the guests of GNH when we go to visit | Oct 12 |
| Lookup recommended daily allowances in Canada’s Food Guide and the nutritional needs of seniors as per Dietary Reference Intakes Tables by Health Canada. | Oct 13 |
Ongoing Objective:
- Continue to respond to Facebook messages during the week to stay on top of all our work and keep in contact during flex weeks.
- Continue going to GNH and meet with guests that come for the lunches.
- Evaluate the nutritional status of the food that is served at GNH.
- Determine whether the food at GNH meet Canada’s dietary requirements for seniors.
- Keep in contact with Katelyn and keep her informed about our project and progress.
Achievements to date (October 13, 2017)
- Completed our Proposal for GNH Lunch Menus.
- Interviewed Katelyn (our GNH correspondent) to go over the details of our proposal and find two days in the near future we can come interview guests.
- Planned and written down our plans for the next couple of weeks regarding the assignments we need to complete.
- Completed two blog posts for LFS 350.
Overcoming Scheduling Difficulties
After completing the first couple of weeks of our project, we were all exuberant about our plans and the opportunity to work with Gordon Neighbourhood House (GNH). Everything was meticulously thought out and we had planned to meet with the guests whenever we were all free at least twice this semester. However, we ran into troubles when planning the days we were going to visit GNH because many of us had classes that interfered with the times that GNH served their meals. Furthermore, the long commute time posed, even more, challenges for us. We were feeling stressed out and felt as though the project was becoming unmanageable.
Many times in life things do not go according to plan, especially when working in groups. Our community project does not only revolve around the schedule of six individuals but also the schedule of GNH and it’s personnel. The reason we felt so distraught was that we wanted the opportunity to physically show up to GNH and make important observations and ask stakeholders questions to give our project insight and depth. During this time, we were intrigued by a TED talk that was posted on our LFS 350 class website. The TED talk by Tim Harford (2016) explains how a dash of mess and adding randomness actually makes problem-solving better and is advantageous to a project. Interestingly, Harford spoke of how a step-by-step plan will eventually lead to a dead end and that randomness makes a project more robust. This statement made our group think that this small “hiccup” was actually benefitting our overall project because disruptions and problem-solving help us become more creative (Harford, 2016).
Ultimately, our group solved the issue by deciding to visit GNH in two smaller groups. One group consisted of those of us who did not have class from 12 to 1 pm and the other group decided to visit the Monday after Remembrance Day because classes are not in session. We also decided that we would visit GNH on two different days of the week. This gives us the opportunity of exploring diverse lunch menus and smaller groups are less disorganized when going to GNH as well. Additionally, it’ll feel less overwhelming for GNH guests to interact with two or three interviewers instead of six. Not only did we solve the problem of not being able to find a time for all of us to visit GNH but we added new ideas that make our project better. Now that we know that disorganization is not fatal, in future group work, in the course or anytime in our lives, trying to understand and solve problems when they arise is more effective than ignoring them.
Upcoming objectives:
Date Oct 18-Nov 13
Go to GNH at 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm (during lunch time) to talk to stakeholders and take notes on meals and recipes (Oct 25 and Nov 13)
- Arrive 10 minutes early to talk to Katelyn and give her a list of questions to give the stakeholders and volunteers.
- Prepare all questions on paper and print copies.
- Talk to those who want to be spoken to and limit talking to those who wish not to talk.
Log all food items from 12 lunch menu recipes into EaTracker and produce a dietary assessment for seniors by comparing the nutrients to Canada’s Food Guide, the nutritional needs of seniors as per Dietary Reference Intakes Tables by Health Canada.
- Split work amongst group members: 2 recipes per group member.
- Compile and compare the results.
- Highlight important warnings such as over and under consumption of certain vitamins and minerals.
Produce a final copy of our data and recipe suggestions to give to Katelyn
- Divide suggestions/data/nutrient deficiencies by days rather than by recipes.
- Organize and explain collected data in such way that’ll be easy for the general public to understand.
Picture of Canada’s Food Guide: Photo credit
As you can see we have been busy working on our community project and hope to keep making progress. We still have lots to accomplish but stay tuned for our next blog to see what other troubles and successes we get ourselves into!
References:
- Harford, T. (2016, January). How Messy Problems Can Inspire Creativity. Ted, Tim Harford, London, 2015. Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd_j_kw_jZQ.