As 2019 comes to a close, the Vancouver Neighbourhood Food Networks continues to celebrate 25 years of delivering food programs for our neighbours.
In 1993, Strathcona Community Centre started their first breakfast program and from there, we have grown to a coalition of 15 Neighbourhood Food Networks across Vancouver to meet the needs of those who face barriers to food security. We have provided food literacy, food skills workshops, community lunches and dinners, community kitchens, gardening programs and have shared many meals and celebrations with our neighbours.
Thank you so much for joining us on our adventures these past years, and here’s to many more together!
Inaugural impact report from Vancouver Neighbourhood Food Networks highlights city-wide food security efforts in 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 26, 2019
VANCOUVER, BC– Vancouver Neighbourhood
Food Networks provided affordable meals, food skills programs, and social
connections to over 30,000 people in 2018, as indicated in their inaugural impact report.
“This report has been a long
time coming,” says community food programmer Ian Marcuse from Grandview
Woodland Food Connection at Britannia Community Centre. “We have seen a significant
spike in use of our food services in recent years. With the rising cost of rent and food, families are
forced to cut costs wherever possible.
This impact report from the Vancouver Neighbourhood Food Networks provides crucial
data on food access and services city-wide.”
Program participants learn new food skills and share meals together.
Combining the need for affordable
meals with the need for more social spaces in Vancouver, Vancouver Food
Networks served more than 109,000 community meals in 2018, according to the report. On average, these meals cost between
$3.00 to $7.00 and offered an affordable menu of seasonal and cultural home-style
dishes.
Beyond serving meals, the
report indicates Vancouver Neighbourhood Food Networks coordinated over 1,100 skill-building
workshops, which generate lasting effects on community members’ well being: “I have grown because I cook
better…when you cook and it’s really good and healthy, you feel proud and you
get the courage to try new things,” shares a workshop participant from Mount
Pleasant Food Network.
Read the full impact report for more details on Vancouver Neighbourhood Food Network’s city-wide
initiatives in 2018, including fresh food distribution, seasonal celebrations,
community and school gardens, and more.
Vancouver Neighbourhood Food Networks
are made up of 15 community organizations committed to
promoting food security across Vancouver. Based on the belief that all members
of society have the right to quality food, they are committed to food equity
and access, education, skill building, and advocacy, particularly for community
members who struggle economically.
Average monthly cost to feed a family of four in Vancouver is $1,098
With the rising cost of food, housing and overall living, the issue of addressing hunger requires a multi-dimensional approach. It does not exist on its own.
The latest Food Costing in BC report highlights the increasing cost of food. Produced by the BC Centre for Disease Control and Provincial Health Services Authority, this report breaks down the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet.
The cost to feed an average family of four in B.C. each month has risen by $151 over the past six years. (Image from BC Centre for Disease Control)
The data in this report represents the “average monthly cost of a nutritionally adequate, balanced diet in BC based on the National Nutritious Food Basket and provides insight into the effects of household food insecurity on individuals and families.”
“….the root cause of household food insecurity isn’t the price of food – it’s lack of income.”
Not surprisingly, food costs have been increasing by over 4% on average since 2015. The average monthly cost for a family of four in Vancouver is estimated at $1,098.
Vancouver Coastal Health provides funding to several Neighbourhood Food Networks through its Community Food Action Initiative program. Read the executive summary from a 2011 evaluation on the program.
Harvesting Food Security is a collaborative project by the Neighbourhood Food Networks to share our collective stories and work together for the first time.
This collection of stories offers a sense of what local Neighbourhood Food Networks are doing every day in their communities. Harvesting Our Stories is available as a downloadable PDF and iBook for download in iTunes.
This report presents the findings and recommendations of an extensive consultation process to suggest ways forward for sustaining Vancouver’s Neighbourhood Food Network (NFN) movement. The lead consultants worked with seven of Vancouver’s growing number of NFNs and approximately 75 key stakeholders to understand the key priorities, challenges, and strategic links for supporting multiple dimensions of sustaining NFNs including funding, developmental, relational, and in-kind support.
A particular focus of the project is to make recommendations for Vancouver Coastal Health’s Community Food Action Initiative (CFAI) which has been supporting grassroots food action since 2005. This strategic sustainability plan was initiated by Vancouver Coastal Health to inform future allocation of the CFAI funding and has also been expanded to provide recommendations for the NFN movement at large and its various stakeholders in the interest of sustaining and growing this movement so it may further thrive.
