Gaps/Opportunities

Short-term relief

It is evident that there are issues with hunger in a number of different demographic sectors in this neighbourhood. As stated in the assets section above there are numerous programs to help alleviate the immediate problem of hunger in the neighourhood. At the level of development in this neighbourhood there is not a need for more hunger alleviation programs.

Individuals experiencing hunger often have extenuating circumstances that make accessing food difficult. This could be illness, both physical and mental, lack of mobility and lack of knowledge of relevant programs. It would be more common that individuals are not making healthy food choices with what is available. Gaps in short-term relief can be addressed by education and capacity building.

Capacity Building

Unlike neighbouring areas, there are very few community kitchens and urban agriculture programs within Trout Lake/Cedar Cottage. Until everyone has access to healthy, sustainable, culturally appropriate food there will be opportunities for capacity building projects. There are opportunities for all kinds of capacity building projects within the community boundaries.

Community Gardens

There are currently two prospective locations for new community gardens in the neighbourhood. The prospective locations are at the intersections of Vanness Avenue & Copley Street and Victoria Drive & East 19th Avenue. There are other possible locations for gardens throughout the neighbourhood that could be identified through a call-out to the community or a physical walk through of the neighbourhood. Key partners in community garden development are the Vancouver Community Agriculture Network, the Environmental Youth Alliance and the City of Vancouver.

Community Kitchens

Facilities like the Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood House have played host to community kitchen groups in the past, and could play host to the right group in the future. The challenge with community kitchens is finding a volunteer leader that will ensure the longevity of the program. Possible kitchen clients:

  • Food bank – In order to improve individual and household food security of participants attending the Trout Lake food bank, it would be beneficial to expand the Take-a-Break program through partnerships with community kitchens and other local food security initiatives.
  • Immigrant families - When children of immigrant families enter school and begin socializing they are exposed to foods that are unfamiliar to the family. This community would benefit from a kitchen to learn how to cook pizza, pasta and other common “Canadian foods”.
  • Single parents – A group that would benefit from the social support of a kitchen as well as the education. Child-care needed.
  • Special diets – Vegetarian, vegan, 100-Mile Diet, diabetic, wheat-free, etc. Individuals choose a specialty diet for a number of personal and health reasons.
  • Seniors

Guerilla Gardening

This type of gardening occurs when food crops are planted on land that is seen to be under- or misused. It can be as simple as planting a fruit tree in a neighbourhood boulevard or planting a row of lettuce in a vacant lot. Aside from the reward of fresh nutritious fruit at harvest time, this type of action brings awareness to the food growing capacity in a neighbourhood and inspires further action. For more on guerilla gardening see David Tracey’s book “Guerilla Gardening: A Manualfesto”. next...