In the development of my action research project I have stumbled upon a great committee doing fantastic things in my own community. Here's their blurb:

NEW WESTMINSTER COMMUNITY FOOD ACTION COMMITTEE

The committee is based in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. Our members are community developers, advocates, educators, environmentalists, health professionals, community service agency representatives and concerned citizens who have all come together around the issue of Food Security. The committee has been in existence for four years, and currently its steering committee has representatives from: the New Westminster School District, Operation Food Justice Society/Hospitality Project, Fraserside Community Services, Elizabeth Fry Society, Fraser Health, Family Services of Greater Vancouver, Cameray, New Westminster Environmental Partners, and the BC Healthy Living Alliance. Many more organizations and individuals subscribe to our e-list to keep up on our activities and food security issues in general.

Our current action items are:

• In partnership with Fraser Health, facilitate information and resources on local food services;
• Continue to support “The Biggest Little Garden in Town” project;
• Continue to promote and support local Community Kitchen programs;
• Support the City of New Westminster as they work on the action items laid out in theGreen Action Plan, particularly the continuation of the Royal City Farmers Market, and partnership development around the development of local community gardens;
• Encourage and support the re-introduction of a Harvest Box Program (formerly known as the Good Food Box) in New Westminster; and,
• Start the “conversation” on the development of a Food Policy for New Westminster.

For the last 4 years we have all been doing the Food Action Committees work off the sides of our desks, and it has been a challenge to move things forward but there have been successes. For instance, the Biggest Little Garden in Town project has received international recognition – and it all started with Diane, from Fraserside Community Services Society, sitting at our table saying “what if… “. We have also seen ideas move forward because local citizens also saw the need (i.e. the establishment of the Royal City Farmers Market, the establishment of the New Westminster Community Gardening Society) and the City recognized that they needed to do more with respect to environmental and social issues and established a rain barrel, composter and worm composter program, and developed Social Planning and Environmental Coordinator positions.

In 2009, the NWCFAC secured funding from the BC Healthy Living Alliance (BCHLA) to hire aFood Action Community Developer who was housed at the Hospitality Project at Shiloh Sixth Ave United Church. The Operation Food Justice Society was the host agency for this funding. The project: conducted an environmental scan of food security and health literacy resources to utilize and/or adapt them for use in New Westminster; completed a feasibility study for a Harvest Box Program for New Westminster; held a community event to provide information to low income individuals on food security and health literacy; and, held a community event that started the conversation on the development of a Food Policy for New Westminster. A big thank you goes out to Jessica Lai for all her hard work on this project and her continued dedication, on a volunteer basis, to the development of Harvest Box Program fro New Westminster.

Funding was also secured through the New Westminster LiteracyNow Commitee to develop an in-season, plain language, visually rich cookbook: New West Cooks. The cookbook is in the final stages of editing and should be in print by mid-June 2010. The cookbook will be distributed to individuals and families at the food bank and at local community kitchen and other food programs. An electronic version will also be available on the Kids in New West website atwww.kidsnewwest.ca/

We were also approached by BCIT student Wesley Woo who, as part of his course requirements, developed an interactive Food Map for New Westminster using GIS technology. The map will pinpoint the locations of food services and programming, provide brief information on the food services or program and will also have a tool where viewers can see a street level view of the location to make it easier to find it. The map is in the final stages of development and the link will be posted shortly. A big thank you to Wesley (and Jessica who provided support) for all his hard work, and to BCIT who will host the map on their server for us!

The committee continues to work hard to move food security issues forward in New Westminster!

For more information about the committee please visit our Google Group.

Contact

Betina Ali
Co-chair New Westminster Community Food Action Committee
betinaali@yahoo.com

I have joined the committee and have already learned an incredible amount about food policy, food initiatives, and many programs and resources that exist in New Westminster. We are currently planing a Food in the City Event in July, stay tuned!

On a slightly different note:


The co-chair, who also works for my school district in community support, and another member are also quite excited about my action research project and would like to support and develop it for implementation for next year! While it is still in it's infancy, I am extremely excited about it's possibilities and support for realizing its potential. More updates to come!