The Winnipeg FoodShare Co-Op is a collective of community organizations in Winnipeg that aim to provide healthy, local food to their communities through the Good Food Box program. This program provides a bi-weekly delivery of affordable local produce boxes that residents can order and then pick up at designated community centres. Customers of the program can purchase a box of varying sizes depending on their needs. People who are unable to afford the boxes are able to trade ‘sweat equity’ for the boxes by volunteering with the production of the boxes (Winnipeg FoodShare Co-Op, 2013) This program operates in many socially vulnerable communities in Winnipeg including West Broadway through the Good Food Club and in the North End. The FoodShare aims to “improve access to healthy, quality, affordable food in Winnipeg” by targeting “neighbourhoods that experience higher levels of poverty and barriers to food security” in order to provide families with a source of “dependable source of healthy, fresh food at an affordable price” (Winnipeg FoodShare Co-Op, 2013).
The Co-Op also provides a newsletter that aims to educate members about healthy eating by providing recipes on how to cook / use the items in their boxes. This type of education helps to teach people that eating healthy is not hard in order to hopefully alleviate health issues associated with unhealthy diets including obesity and diabetes.
The member groups of the co-op also hold community feasts and events that help to build strong communities. Workshops are held to teach food handling and food growing skills as well as cooking classes (Good Food Club, n.d.). These community events help to create resiliency in communities often faced with hardship and plagued by poverty. Members are also given the opportunity to visit the farm each week in a vegetable-oil fueled van and help in the planting and harvesting of the food. Good Food Club member Marlenc Vieno describes her experiences noting:
"Going out to the farm provides a change of scenery, especially for people who are living; in poverty and are denied education and employment opportunities. There's nothing like the fresh air and digging your hands in the mud to make you feel more alive."
(Belik, 2008)
Find out more at http://winnipegfoodsharecoop.org/
The Co-Op also provides a newsletter that aims to educate members about healthy eating by providing recipes on how to cook / use the items in their boxes. This type of education helps to teach people that eating healthy is not hard in order to hopefully alleviate health issues associated with unhealthy diets including obesity and diabetes.
The member groups of the co-op also hold community feasts and events that help to build strong communities. Workshops are held to teach food handling and food growing skills as well as cooking classes (Good Food Club, n.d.). These community events help to create resiliency in communities often faced with hardship and plagued by poverty. Members are also given the opportunity to visit the farm each week in a vegetable-oil fueled van and help in the planting and harvesting of the food. Good Food Club member Marlenc Vieno describes her experiences noting:
"Going out to the farm provides a change of scenery, especially for people who are living; in poverty and are denied education and employment opportunities. There's nothing like the fresh air and digging your hands in the mud to make you feel more alive."
(Belik, 2008)
Find out more at http://winnipegfoodsharecoop.org/