Accessing Healthy Foods Community Discussion        (Read further details of event)
By Margo Malabar

The Accessing Healthy Foods Community Discussion was held On March 31 at Mamawi with 18 community service agency representatives in attendance. It was sponsored by the North End Food Security Network in response to requests at a recent community forum to address the lack of healthy affordable food in our community. Some of the conclusions from the discussion were as follows.

There has been an erosion of the family unit as a venue for the next generation to learn how to plan, shop, and prepare nutritious meals. Currently community places provide a significant amount of food to children and youth in our neighbourhoods because there is such a need to feed the hungry, and basic needs must be met before people can improve their lives.

Community places need to make food preparation by community members part of every event. Local food security will be improved through having an educational component to community events, such as menu planning, budgeting, and offering food handlers’ courses. Schools are also an important venue for improving the community’s nutritional knowledge.

Current unhealthy food choices for some community members are largely due to a history of lack of fresh fruits and vegetables in Northern Manitoba communities and the high cost of nutritious foods. The lack of local North End grocery stores that provide healthy, affordable food recreate this scenario.

Feasts and sharing circles help to build community and confidence and are a starting point for including Aboriginal residents in food security events. People need to feel that they are valued and that their traditions are important. Traditional foods for different cultures need to be included in events in order to get the larger community engaged.

One of the barriers to current uses of community kitchens is the expense in upgrading kitchens so that they are ‘approved’ kitchens through Environmental Health. There also need to be changes so that the health licensing protocol for feeding large numbers of people is more user friendly for the community, while maintaining standards for health.