New Westminster - Food Skills for Family Program

Food Skills for Families (Sapperton)

Looking to learn how to eat and prepare healthy foods? Can you commit to 6 Tuesday morning sessions? Then join Family Services of Greater Vancouver for their hands-on program for healthy eating.

Where: Knox Presbyterian Church, 403 East Columbia, New Westminster (map)

When: Tuesday Mornings from 9:15 am to 12:15 noon from April 5 to May 10, 2016 *

* Note: You must be able to attend all 6 workshops.

Cost: Free!

How to Register:
Call: 604-764-1358
Email: CommunityKitchens@fsgv.ca

Register early as space is limited.

Childcare is available, if required.

Who Should Attend:
Parents, seniors or anyone who would like to learn how to eat healthier!

This is a great program to learn how easy it is to cook with fresh ingredients, learn about nutrition and healthy eating. There will be an opportunity to even tour a grocery store with a dietician. Don't forget, you will also meet new people too! Great way to make new friends and share cooking experiences and knowledge too!

What's Happening in December!

It seems like this year is flying by! We, at Burnaby Food First, wish all in our community the best during the holiday season! As well as taking the time to enjoy a home cooked meal with local ingredients. 

Now let's see what is happening around town!

New Westminster Market Day - Dec. 5 & 19

After spending time at the Anvil Centre, why not head up to 5th and Belmont to check out the Winter Farmers Market!

There will be up to 40 vendors offering fresh local produce, prepared foods and handmade crafts as well as delicious food trucks.

Saturday Dec. 5 & 19
11:00 am to 3:00 pm
5th and Belmont Street, New Westminster

More information: http://rcfm.ca/event/dec-5th-market-day/ 

Vancouver Winter Farmer's Market - Dec. 5, 12 & 19

Every Saturday in December, except Dec. 26th
10:00 am to 2:00 pm
4601 Ontario Street, Vancouver

More information: http://markets.bcfarmersmarket.org/market/vancouver-winter-farmers-market
 

Homesteader's Emporium December Events

Monday Dec. 7th: Holiday Canning (food gifts) - cost: $80

Tuesday Dec. 15th: Natural Skincare Essentials (skin care gifts) - cost: $40

To buy tickets, visit: http://www.homesteadjunction.ca/collections/event-tickets

Support UBC Farms and Forestry Undergraduate Society - Buy a Christmas Tree - Dec. 11 & 12

Friday, December 11– 11:30-4:30pm
Saturday, December 12– 10:00-4:30pm

First come, first served! Cash only.

Both live potted trees and u-cut trees will be available. Proceeds will help support the FUS (Forestry Undergraduate Society) and a portion will also be donated to the UBC Farm and Forests Without Borders. 

For information, visit: http://xmastrees.forestry.ubc.ca/ 

SFU's Philosophers' Café Water Issues in an Era of Climate Change - Dec. 17

Thursday Dec. 17th at 7:00 pm
Vancouver Public Library (Mount Pleasant branch), Multipurpose room 1, 1 Kingsway
Cost is free.

Join Dr. John Irwin in this talk about being water efficient as possible. 

More information: http://www.sfu.ca/continuing-studies/events/2015/12/water-issues-in-an-era-of-climate-change.html

Christmas Gift Ideas
With Christmas fast approaching, why not show your support for local community programs!

2016! Get Your Edible Garden Project Calendars

Ok, the new year is coming up real fast and what a great way to give the gardener a great planning resource! The cost is $18.50 and monies raised support the North Shore Neighbourhood House's Edible Garden Project.

Buy your calendar at: http://ediblegardenproject.com/2016-calendar-shop/

Hastings Sunrise Cookbook

Hastings Sunrise Cooks is a local community engagement project celebrating the neighbourhood's food and drink, community spirit, and love for all things green. Recipes from local restaurants, cafes and delis. A awesome gift for the cook in your life!

More information: http://hastingssunrisecooks.bigcartel.com/product/hastings-sunrise-cooks-cookbook

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If you have a farming/gardening/food security event that you would like to share, please email us with the information to: burnabyfoodfirst@gmail.com. We would be happy to share your events on our blog!

Feature: Quest Food Exchange

What do you think happens to surplus food from wholesalers, supermarkets, and farmers?

Credit: Stefan Szczelkun via Photopin (cc)

While much of it has often gone to waste, Quest Food Exchange offers another outlet for leftover food. Quest partners with local farmers, grocers, restaurants, and other institutions to divert surplus food into a number of programs, which distribute fresh food to people in need throughout the Lower Mainland. Not only does this help reduce food waste, but it also allows surplus food to be redistributed instead of going to waste.

Just last year, $5 million worth of food was distributed this way!

Quest runs four food programs that strive to ensure that people living on low incomes have access to affordable, healthy food:

Not-for-profit grocery markets: Four market locations in Vancouver, Burnaby/New Westminster, and Surrey offer eligible clients a way to shop, by referral, for healthy food, nutritional supplements, and household items at affordable prices. (These locations are not open to the public.)

Bulk food orders: This program provides a variety of items available for order to social service agency food programs, such as community kitchens, food banks, and residence programs.

Gift certificates: Social service agencies can purchase gift certificates for use at Quest markets to distribute to their own clients. The certificates can act as a substitute for emergency food hampers, since clients are able to choose their own food items according to their individual needs.

Community Training Kitchen: The aim of the kitchen, located at the Dundas Street site, is to provide education in the area of nutrition, best shopping practices, menu planning, and cooking techniques.

Want to know more about Quest? For more information about their programs and volunteer opportunities, please visit their website: http://www.questoutreach.org/

Composting Series, Part 1: Food Scraps Recycling in Metro Vancouver

Have you ever wondered about to do with the food scraps you accumulate each week? Today marks the first of a four-part, month-long series on composting. Whether you're curious about starting your own composter or want to reduce your amount of household garbage each week, there's sure to be something of interest!

About one-third to a half of the average household's garbage is food scraps. But did you know that there's a good chance that you can now recycle them? Most municipalities in Metro Vancouver now collect food waste!

Cities offering food waste collection:

Bowen Island Burnaby Coquitlam Delta Langley (Township) New Westminster North Vancouver (City and District) Pitt Meadows

Port Coquitlam Port Moody Richmond Surrey Vancouver West Vancouver White Rock

Source: Metro Vancouver

Composting food scraps and food-soiled paper products provides a valuable resource, diverts waste, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and in the process, helps to create a more sustainable city.

So, what can you put in? Where do you put the food waste?

If your neighbourhood has curb-side food scraps collection, you can put your leftovers or spoiled food into your yard trimmings waste bin. Just be sure not to use plastic or biodegradable bags! These contaminate the compost and also interrupt the composting process.

While there might be slight variations depending on the municipality you live in, food scraps recycling is as easy as this -- simple and no fuss. You can even put in meat, cheese, dairy, and bones!

The City of Burnaby, for example, operates a curb-side food scraps recycling program for single-family households and some multi-family complexes also participate and receive food waste recycling (Green Bin) services. 

For a handy guide on what you can and cannot include, as well as how to make a kitchen compost pail liner with newspaper, check out their Food Scraps Brochure.

To find out about other cities in Metro Vancouver, visit your respective municipalities' website (see "Cities offering food waste collection" above).

How do I get started?

1. Get a lidded container to collect food scraps and food-soiled paper products for your kitchen. An old 4 litre ice cream bucket or large plastic container are both good examples.

2. Grab a few sheets of old newspaper to make a liner for the bucket.

3. Collect accepted food scraps and food-soiled paper products in your container.

4. Empty your food scraps, along with the paper liners, into your yard trimmings container.

5. Set out your yard trimmings container on your regular scheduled collection day. The container does not have to be full for it to be collected.

6. Rinse and lightly wash your kitchen bucket and yard trimmings container in between uses.

And that's all, folks!

What if your municipality isn't on the list that receives food scraps collection? Or maybe you're interested in starting your own compost bin.

Stay tuned and join us next week for Part 2 of our Composting Series, on backyard composting.

Feature: Growing Chefs!

Founded in 2005, the non-profit Growing Chefs! Chefs for Children's Urban Agriculture program pairs volunteer chefs with elementary school classrooms, and with the help of chefs, students learn how to plant, grow, and cook their own vegetables. Just this year, over 2 dozen elementary schools from Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, West Vancouver, and Richmond participated in the program.

Each year, elementary schools sign up for the Classroom Gardening Program, which starts every year after spring break and extends from March through June. The program is available for Grades 1 through 3.

Credit: Growing Chefs!

Wait a second: urban agriculture? Cue the looks of interest. How exactly does that work?

Urban agriculture is often used to refer to the restructuring of urban spaces to incorporate food production operations into areas that are densely populated -- in short, growing food in the city. This could mean anything from keeping chickens in your backyard, tending a small garden on your apartment balcony, or growing herbs in a pot on your windowsill.

The Growing Chefs! program tackles themes of food sustainability by attempting to get children involved, in the steps from gardening and grocery shopping to meal planning and preparation.

The mission of the non-profit society is to support and encourage the development and growth of urban agriculture and to provide an avenue for chefs and food growers to engage in the community and to support food sustainability.

For more information on Growing Chefs!, visit their website: http://www.growingchefs.ca/

For teachers and schools and to sign up: http://www.growingchefs.ca/teachers-program-info

For chefs interested in signing up to volunteer: http://www.growingchefs.ca/volunteer-program-info

Featured: Food Swap Burnaby

Interested in trading homemade goods and sharing ideas with other like-minded people?

Food Swap Burnaby hosts monthly community events at various sites around Burnaby, with a focus on healthy handmade or homegrown food. Participants bring their own homemade goods -- from baked goods and honey to jams and preserves, and more! -- and swap them for other people's items.

Source: Food Swap Burnaby

Event hosts ask that participants restrict their swap items to low-risk foods (no canned meat or homemade cheese, please!). Bring as little or as much as you like -- you can bring a bunch of one item or multiples of different items.

So hop on down, sample new foods, and pick up some goodies to bring home!

Locations change each month, so please stay tuned for up-to-date information or check Food Swap Burnaby on Eventbrite for future event details: http://www.eventbrite.ca/

Food Swap Burnaby

For August, the food swap has shifted venues to River Market in New Westminster.

Location: River Market (810 Quayside Drive / New Westminster - map)
Date: August 7, 2012 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Cost: $5 per person

Pre-registration and a signed release are required for all participants. There are a limited number of tickets, so hurry and get them while they're available!

To register and for more information on the event, please visit http://newwestfoodswap-eorg.eventbrite.ca/.