Previous Events and Workshops – April 2010
Events and Workshops – April 2010
The Politics of Food: A Bite Size Course
4 wks, Saturdays – Apr 10, 17, 24, May 1, 9:00-13:00 (16 hours total)
Vancouver Community College, Downtown Campus, 250 West Pender Street
This is a course through Vancouver Community College. Eating is a political act. Find out how the food on your plate can affect a farmer half a world away. Through field trips, guest speakers, classroom presentations and discussions, students will explore the entire food system from table top to ground and back again. Covers local food issues and movements and the more complex global ones like genetically modified foods and seed monopolies. Examines the charity model and solutions oriented programs like fair trade to see if they really are fair. Students will leave with a basic understanding of the politics of food and 10 things they can do to strengthen the food system in their neighbourhood. Warning: chocolate and coffee will be consumed! Cost: $399. Instructor: Spring Gillard (bio at http://compostdiary.com)
More information and to register: http://communitykitchens.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/the-politics-of-food-a-bite-size-course/
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Environmental Youth Alliance Spring Seed Exchange
Saturday April 17th, 10am-1 pm
At the Strathcona community garden Eco-Pavillion. Please bring some seeds to trade! . Questions? Email: info@eya.ca
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Practical Permaculture Design Workshop for the Home Garden
Saturday April 17th 10am-4pm; Langara College 100 W 49th Ave, Vancouver BC
Permaculture offers the busy urban gardener the ability to sustainably grow more food is a small space with minimal maintenance time. Learn about the practical application of Permaculture – a design system based on mimicking natural ecosystems. Students get to design their own perennial food system based on a drawing of their own garden space.
To register: phone 604-323-5322 ; Fee $85 (50546)
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Cheese Making Workshop at UBC Farm
Two Workshops: THURSDAY April 22nd, 10am-1pm and 2pm-5pm
Love cheese? Ever wonder how cheese is made? Want to save money by learning how to make it yourself?
This practical workshop will provide a wonderful introduction to the world of cheese making. Your very own cheese handbook will be provided.
Presenter Bio: Our guest instructor, David Rotsztain, is a “well-cultured” cheesemaking expert. David is a farmer and farmstead cheesemaker on Mayne Island, and an old, dear friend of the UBC Farm.
Cost: $30 (plus $1.74 cent registration fee). Please note there are no refunds for cancellations.
Registration: Limited to 15 people. To register for the morning session click here, for the afternoon session click here. **Please note that all UBC Farm Growing Season Workshops require advance payment. Workshops are scheduled at the preference of the presenter and will only be offered on Thursdays for the rest of the season. Also, our workshops sell out VERY quickly. We apologize for any inconvenience or disappointment. There is great demand for our workshops, and unfortunately we can’t accommodate everyone. If the website says the workshop is full, it really is full.**
What to bring: A container for your freshly made cheese and pen/paper. Milk will be provided through the UBC Farm for this workshop.
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Cultivating Food, Cultivating Neighbourhoods Spring Series
Co-sponsored by Langara College Continuing Studies and Village Vancouver
Whether it’s through starting a seed saving collective, sharing our skills and resources, forming a backyard coop co-op, hosting a potluck, organizing a block party, or through any number of other means, there’s no doubt that food and community go hand in hand. Join us in exploring some of the ways we can all connect around food to make our neighbourhoods friendlier, more sustainable, and more food secure.
Village Vancouver (www.villagevancouver.ca) brings people together to create inclusive and resilient neighbourhoods and communities, and is Vancouver’s official Transition Town initiative (www.transitiontowns.org).
Seed Saving in the City (50872)
Saturday, April 10, 9 -11 am with Robin Wheeler (suggested donation $30; no one turned away)
Seed saving is the missing link in food security. In our current climate of seed patenting and ownership, it’s important that our communities retain their knowledge about how to properly save seeds. We’ll talk about the politics and the joy of seed saving, learn basic skills, and discuss the creation of neighbourhood seed saving collectives throughout Vancouver. Your donation includes a copy of The Five Levels of Seed Saving by Terry Klokeid. (Copies of Robin’s brand new booklet Grow Your Own Seed Collective will also be available for $10.)
Creating Community – supporting a neighbourhood that pulls together (50873)
Saturday, April 11, 11:30 am- 12:30 pm with Robin Wheeler (suggested donation $10-15; no one turned away)
City dwellers have many skills and resources all around them, but may not have a mechanism for organizing and drawing on those skills at the times when they’re most needed. We’ll look at how the sharing of resources takes place so easily in rural communities, and how this can be applied to building a wider community in an urban area and the valuable support it can provide.
Mad City Chickens: Coming to a Backyard Near You! (50874)
Thursday, April 22, 7- 9 pm (by donation)
Celebrate Earth Day with backyard chickens. Mad City Chickens (79 min. film) is a sometimes serious, sometimes whimsical look at the people who keep urban chickens in their backyards. From chicken experts and authors to a rescued landfill hen or an inexperienced family that decides to take the poultry plunge– and even a mad scientist and giant hen taking to the streets — it’s a humourous and heartfelt trip through the world of of backyard chickendom. Following the film, Jordan Maynard from Southland Farms will answer questions, and members of Village Vancouver’s Coop Co-op project will talk about the benefits of forming a neighbourhood coop co-op.
Growing and Sharing Food in Your Neighbourhood (50875)
Thursday, April 29, 7 – 9 pm with Ross Moster (by donation)
We have tremendous resources in our neighbourhoods which we could put to great use – if only we knew our neighbours! Getting together with others to grow, share, and celebrate food is not only fun, but, with a little effort, can lead to mutually satisfying connections which can free up time and save us money, and make our blocks, neighbourhoods, and communities safer,healthier, and more sustainable. Learn what Village Vancouver and others are doing to help neighbours connect and collaborate.
Note: All sessions take place at Langara College, 100 West 49 Avenue, Vancouver
Please register by phone: 604-323-5322
For further information contact Leslie Kemp: lkemp@langara.bc.ca / 604-323-5981
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Projecting Change Film Festival – What’s On Your Plate Screening
Saturday, April 24, 10:00am, Fifth Avenue Cinemas, 2110 Burrard Street
Trailer: http://www.whatsonyourplateproject.org/about/watch
WHAT’S ON YOUR PLATE is a witty and provocative documentary produced and directed by award-winning Catherine Gund about kids and food politics. Filmed over the course of one year, the film follows two eleven-year-old multi-racial city kids as they explore their place in the food chain. Sadie and Safiyah take a close look at food systems in New York City and its surrounding areas. With the camera as their companion, the girl guides talk to each other, food activists, farmers, new friends, storekeepers, their families, and the viewer, in their quest to understand what’s on all of our plates.
SPEAKER: Julia O’Loughlin is a registered holistic nutritionist, whose passions involve working with children to teach them how to make food both healthy and delicious and the impact that conventional foods have on our environment. Julia leads the nutrition and cooking elements of Earth Bites and you will often find her leading in house cooking classes at Rocky Mountain.
Tickets: $12. In the spirit of sustainability, show your bike helmet or bus pass and receive $2 off at the box office! Mention the SFU Local Food Project and that you’re a Project Supporter and receive $2 off your ticket at the box office (or get reimbursed if you purchased your ticket online!)
To purchase tickets and for more information, visit http://www.projectingchange.ca
About the Projecting Change Film Festival
Projecting Change is an innovative organization that focuses on promoting green and sustainable living through the use of entertaining & educational film. Through the strategic use of engaging films and inspiring speakers we aim to increase awareness and promote change within our local community. Through these efforts all profits are invested back into local initiatives.
The festival takes place April 22-25, 2010 at Fifth Avenue Cinemas. Several directors and VIPs will be in attendance.
For news and event updates, join our Facebook fan page: http://bit.ly/dwdHun
Projecting Change Film Festival – Screening of Fresh
Saturday, April 24, 7:15pm
Speakers: Philip Solmon, Heather Pritchard, Harry Kambolis & Stacey Toews
View the Trailer: http://www.freshthemovie.com/
FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet. Among several main characters, Fresh features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.
For more information: http://www.projectingchange.ca/schedule.php
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Urban Agriculture Workshops with Robin Wheeler
Intensive Urban Microfarming
Friday, April 30th 12:45 – 3:45pm
Getting the most out of a normal urban garden can take imagination. This class assists us to boost production through a deeper understanding of microclimating, and of lateral growing, food cycles, succession planting, “shoulder cropping” and much more. Fee: pay as you can ($40 suggested)
Food Preservation Basics
Friday, April 30th 4:15 – 5:45pm
We will go over the Top 10 food saving techniques and their pros and cons. We’ll talk about seasonal availability and how to take advantage of sales by preserving, plus what supplies we should have on hand at all times to be ready for any disaster. Fee: pay as you can ($15 – $20 suggested)
Presenter: Robin Wheeler, author of Gardening for the Faint of Heart and Food Security for the Faint of Heart
Location: Burnaby – 4272 Albert St. (1 blk. north of Hastings, 2 blks. west of Willingdon), at Cranberry Commons Cohousing Community
To register: please contact Ross at rmoster@flash.net. Fee payment is at the time of the workshop. Registration lets us know in advance who’s coming (so please do), but you can also register at the time of the workshop.
Our contributions to these workshops make it possible for teachers like Robin to expand and to deepen the scope of the important educational and social change work that they are involved in, particularly in these uncertain times.
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Stone Soup Film Festival: Exploring the Politics of Food
May 8th 2010, Britannia Community Centre (1661 Napier St, just off Commercial Drive)
The Stone Soup Film Festival responds to the enormous interest in food issues these days. Environmental concerns, globalization, economic collapse are alerting us to the fragility of our food system and the urgency of action. Although the realities surrounding our current land and food systems can be disheartening, our films aim to emphasize the positive efforts being made as a way to empower the current generation to take action.
In doing so, the Stone Soup Food Film Festival aims to broaden the community’s awareness and understanding of food issues, its problems and solutions by screening both locally and internationally films on a range of themes including health and nutrition, food economics, agricultural worker rights, sustainable agriculture, and urban gardening.
This year’s Stone Soup Film Festival is presented as part of the much loved Stone Soup Festival, a community food festival held on May 8th at the Britannia Community Centre, 1661 Napier St, just off Commercial Drive .
$12 Festival Passes ~ available at Britannia Community Centre (1661 Napier St)
Tickets at the door ~ by donation (suggested $5 – $10) for each film slot
For more information contact Ian @ 604-718-5895
http://stonesoupfilmfestival.blogspot.com/
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Global Perspectives on Community Development
What: a course at Langara College for anyone who is interested in learning about philosophies and practices of social transformation, activism, self-reliance and so forth–emanating from the Global South and Indigenous peoples. Using Ghandianism as a starting point we will explore revolutionary and transformative social movements, non-intervention, community/national development that is guided by communities themselves and more.
When: 6 Tuesday evenings, starting May 11, from 6:30-9:30pm
Taught by: Farah Shroff, PhD; email: fms@ece.ubc.ca
Where: Langara College For more information and to register: http://www.langara.bc.ca/social-cultural/community-development/courses.html#CDVL1103
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Essentials of Natural Building Workshop at UBC Farm
May 14th 9am-4pm, UBC Farm Centre; Cost: $45
Join us for an informative and practical introduction to the essentials of Natural Building.
Cob and Earthen Plaster represent a simple, sustainable, appropriate and entirely available resource for Vancouver residents. With a media-rich and design focused presentation followed by a hands-on session, you will learn the essentials of working with this ancient material and ways to incorporate its use into your life.
To register and for more details: http://cobmay2010.eventbrite.com
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Politics of Food: A Bite Size Course
May 14-16, 2010 Fri 6:30-8:30pm, Sat/Sun 10am-5pm (times subject to change)
Eating is a political act. Find out how the food on your plate can affect a farmer half a world away. Through field trips, guest speakers, classroom presentations and discussions, students will explore the entire food system from table top to ground and back again. Covers local food issues and movements and the more complex global ones like genetically modified foods and seed monopolies. Examines the charity model and solutions oriented programs like fair trade to see if they really are fair. Students will leave with a basic understanding of the politics of food and 10 things they can do to strengthen the food system in their neighbourhood. Warning: chocolate and coffee will be consumed! $399 (incl taxes)
Instructor: Spring Gillard
Location: Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory (AERL) Building, 2202 Main Mall, UBC.
http://compostdiary.com/2010/04/11/food-politics-a-bite-size-course/
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GROWING OUT OF HUNGER: featuring Will Allen, CEO, Growing Power Community Food Centre, Milwaukee & Chicago
We are pleased to announce that we have been able to reschedule the Inaugural Welch Community Dialogue. Join us on Tuesday, July 13 and find out how Will Allen, urban farmer, community activist and 2008 MacArthur Genius Fellow, is transforming the cultivation, production, and delivery of healthy foods to underserved urban populations.
Tuesday, July 13, 7-9pm
Croatian Cultural Centre
3250 Commercial Drive (and 14th)
Vancouver, BC
(Transit: Take the #20 Victoria bus from the Commercial/Broadway skytrain station)
This event is free, however new registration is required. The previous date was sold out so please register early.
Click here to RSVP now!
For a personal message from Will Allen in regards to the rescheduling of this event, please see his attached letter. For more information on this event and Will Allen, click here to visit our website.
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Community Kitchen Roundtable
Date/Time: Thurs, June 17, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Location: Vancouver Food Bank, 1150 Raymur Ave.
This free, two hour roundtable hosted by Fresh Choice Kitchens is an opportunity to meet other community kitchen leaders, to share and hear about other kitchen activities, challenges & successes. Thanks to a grant from the Campbell Company of Canada, participants can now connect to this roundtable remotely via teleconferencing. If you are unable to come to our Vancouver location and would like to participate via teleconference, please contact Shona at shonal (at) foodbank (dot) bc.ca for more information – limited spots available for this option.
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Green Shed – Pandora Park Community Garden Design Competition
Pandora Park Community Garden Society invites designers of all kinds to generate buildable designs for a storage shed and outdoor common space for a new community garden that will showcase sustainable building strategies and materials. The winning design will be built by a team of volunteers over the summer of 2010.
For more information visit http://www.greenshedcompetition.com/.
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Job Postings
Vancouver Farmers Market Vendors Looking for Assistants
Vendors Looking for Market Help
As the summer season approaches, vendors will be looking for help at their market stalls. Check back for more opportunities or email us directly for a list of current postings.
Little Qualicum Cheeseworks is looking for a mature, reliable individual to assist with Markets -
May – October, Saturday & Sundays. Please contact Susan at 250-954-3931 or susan@cheeseworks.ca
Apple Barn Pepper Farm Looking for Help! Store Clerks, HR, Marketers, Crop workers, Drivers, Growers Assistant & more…… Send your resume to: gladwinhh@live.com
Langley Organic Growers is hiring market help for Vancouver and Coquitlam markets in the 2010 season (May to October). http://bit.ly/9I5Qef
Jane’s Honey Bees is looking for some market help this season, from May – October. We are looking for someone to help with selling honey and child care. This would be perfect for someone who loves honey and kids! Interested individuals can contact Liz at liz@janeshoneybees.com or 604 790 0625.
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FarmFolk/CityFolk Society is seeking a new Executive Director
Job Posting online at http://ffcf.bc.ca/resources/kp/jobs.html#currentjobs
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