festi-faim

Today was the much-anticipated (well, at least for me) Festi-Faim, organized by the Côte-des-Neiges/Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Borough Council. It is an all-day event for many of the main summer day camps in NDG which consists of the day camp participants (ranging from 6-16 years old) collecting non-perishable food items from various neighbourhoods for local food banks through the week, and then coming together for a big day of activities and fun at Confederation Park. It consisted of the usual day-camp event suspects: big inflatable balloons, a visit from the local police and the RCMP, and of course, kiosks from local community organizations such as Éco-Quartier NDG, C-Vert, as well as a few others. As a representative for the NDG Food Depot, I worked with Romney (my fellow summer student at the Depot) and Anna, a summer student from the NDG Communtiy Council, to develop an activity that aimed to help the participants understand the concept of hunger itself and to help them emphasize with families and individuals in the community that are in situations of food insecurity.

We did this by following the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts' Hunger Continuum, which outlines 5 levels of hunger:

1. Starvation
2. Malnutrition
3. Food Insecurity
4. Food Security
5. Community Food Security

Some photos from the day:

The kiosk when we first set up.


A sample basket of food that the NDG Food Depot would provide for a family of 4 people. It is designed to last 2 and 1/2 days.


Left to right: a months' supply of food (for an average North American family), the kind of diet a food insecure individual(s) would eat (mostly pasta and ramen noodles, with the Canada Food Guide to contrast the many nutrients that are lacking in this diet) and finally, the kind of food that people who are in extremely desperate circumstances would have to subsist on (grass, bark, some nuts).


The NDG Food Depot information board, which kept getting blown off the table by the wind.


Some of the activities that were happening on the soccer field in front of us.

The famous Earth Ball. It re-ignited some of my long suppressed aspirations for world domination. Watch out, Obama.

Starvation: the first and most severe level of hunger, according to the Hunger Continuum (adapted from the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts).


Level 2: Malnutrition: a condition caused when the body does not get the proper nutrients, ususally due to a poor or inadequate diet.


Showing that malnutrition can be caused by eating only cheap foods such as pasta and pasta sauce. Many people across Canada have no choice but to live on such cheap staples, lacking any form of real proteins and other essential nutrients.


Level 3: Food Insecurity. Definition: the lack of access to enough nutritious food at all times to meet one's basic needs.

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Level 4: Food Security: the ability to obtain, at all times, nutritionally adequate and culturally acceptable food.


Explaining the activity to participants.


Handing out OPUS cards for a family's monthly transportation needs.


They are happy with their new OPUS cards, but it cost this "family" of 5 $240! Also, note that they now also have telephone and TV, as well as their rent--with plenty of money left over for food that month. This is an example of a "Food Secure" family. This is in contrast to a Food Insecure family, which would only have about $50-60 for an entire month of food.

Showing participants the sample basket for a family of four.

Level 5: Community Food Security: When all people in a community have access to culturally acceptable and nutritionally adequate food at all times from non-emergency sources.
The big question: how do we reach this goal?

For more (not cut off!) pictures from the day with other groups, visit my Facebook album!

tuesday morning update

So it's fair time for a quick update on the goings on at the Depot:

Now that it is nearing mid-July, I am getting more active in the recruitment and promotions for the BiL Pre-employability Project for Women. It's an 11 week program for women who must meet the following requirements:

- Residents of Notre-Dame-de-Grace or Côte-des-Neiges
- Immigrant or a visible minority
- Canadian citizen, permanent resident, landed immigrant or have refugee status (but not refugee claimants)
- Be able to speak and write English
- 35 years of age or older (although this is a flexible requirement)

Every Tuesday morning I go to Multicaf, a food bank in Côte-des-Neiges, a neighbouring municipality to NDG. I hand out pamphlets to the clients who come there for a free breakfast and a food basket. The vast majority of clients at Multicaf are, as in the Depot, from South America. I am still puzzled by the large Mexican population here in Montreal, since climatically speaking there couldn't be two places more disparate. I am guessing that this has something to do with the existing Mexican population that has settled in Montreal since who knows when. I am also going to begin faxing information and posters to several organizations in the NDG/CDN and Montreal area that are oriented toward ethnic communities, especially women.

Yesterday I biked to Multicaf for the first time, and save for a few detours I got there on time and safely. Riding up Avenue des Pins was a lot more strenuous than I had anticipated, and at many points my legs felt weak from the vigorous pedaling that uphill biking requires. As much more experienced bikers wheeled breezily past as I wheeled my bike up the steeper parts, I couldn't help but recall a time in high school when I went hiking with some environment club kids up a local mountain. I was definitely part of the slower people, while the more agile hikers always remained several paces ahead. Perhaps this was a subtle prediction of my numbered days on the west coast....or maybe that I should get into better shape.

On that front, riding my bike to work on the Maisonneuve bike path has been exhilarating. I love the feel of wind on my face, the warm sunlight peeping through trees and even the bumpy, uneven cracks in the roads. They are a constant and comforting reminder that I have both wheels on the ground. To be quite honest, the fact that I am on wheels is a bit terrifying sometimes, but life is too short to keep our feet on the ground at all times.

reflections on the past week (plus visuals)

So lets start off with some visuals:


Bonnie, the Good Food Box Coordinator.


Barbara, a volunteer and mother of five (now mostly full grown) kids. An amazing woman.


Becky, who does intake during service hours. She schooled me in doing intake properly.


Vineeth, Food Programs Coordinator. He actually started a few weeks after I was hired, so there was a lot of adjusting all around.

Now, on to a brief recap.

On Tuesday morning I went to Multicaf, a food bank and drop in meal centre located in Côte-des-Neiges. I was there to promote a pre-employability project for immigrant/visible minority women over 35 with Sandy, the coordinator of the program. Due to a mistake on my part we ended up getting there about half an hour late, but all in all we handed out quite a few pamphlets and surprisingly had some men approach our table to ask for brochures for their wives or female relatives. The highlight had to be a man in his 50s who approached our table and introduced himself to me (Sandy already knew him from the previous years she'd promoted the program at Multicaf). Apparently he used to teach philosophy at the University of Ottawa, but now he was living in Montreal doing who knows what. Anyways, this is a little dialogue that happened between us:

Man: Hey, can you play the piano?
Me: No, unfortunately I can't play any instruments.
Man: Okay, let me know if you know any piano players. It was nice to meet you.
Me: Okay, it was nice to meet you too.
Man: (walks away)

Then, a few minutes after he came back. "By the way, I'm single."

Best pickup line so far this summer.