Free 8 Week Adult Cooking Classes – Register Now – Only 4 Spots Left
Thursdays – October 3, 10, November 7,14,21,28, December 5 & 12 from 1-3 at the Wellington Arena. Must commit to all 8 week classes if you want to take them. Please email Linda at downeylinda45@gmail.com or message us through facebook. Robyn Cakebread of nourishedself food & energy will be teaching the classes. The Storehouse and Prince Edward Learning Centre have partnered for these classes.
From Food Collaborative to The Food Collective
When 25 organizations with 38 people plus 4 community members came together in late 2017 and through 2018 to discuss, initially as a collaborative Vital Signs working group, Food Insecurity in Prince Edward County, they achieved astonishing results that no individual organization operating alone ever could. By the end of 2018 the collaborative had compiled a Theory of Change document to detail how to combat Food Insecurity in our municipality, in essence, a progressive way forward.
In early 2019, through a grant from the Rural Ontario Institute, a grant matched by seven strategic partners, a Community Demonstration Project was commenced to pilot strategies from the Theory of Change into actions and community engagement. Armed with a common agenda to combat Food Insecurity this initial strategic partnership has evolved, and branded itself “The Food Collective”. It now has three Action Teams underway on over two dozen distinct activities aimed at community engagement through participation.
Volunteers are invited to join The Food Collective, to join an Action Team, to join our partners, to build public awareness of Food Insecurity, improve education about and around food, and to improve access to affordable, nutritious food. The Food Collective members working on the Community Demonstration Project are: The Municipality of Prince Edward; The County Foundation; Hastings Prince Edward Public Health; Community Development Council of Quinte; Food To Share; Picton United Church Food Bank; Storehouse Wellington Food Bank; Prince Edward Learning Centre; Loyalist College Business Group.
We welcome your enquiries on how you can help – become involved! Contact The County Foundation or any partner organization for further information.
Grow fresh food. Share fresh food.
Fresh for All is a community engagement initiative encouraging gardeners and farmers to donate fresh produce to local food programs. The regional project is managed by United Way Hastings and Prince Edward. In Prince Edward County the initiative is coordinated by The Food Collective (formerly known as the Vital Signs Food Security working group) and produce is donated to the Storehouse Foodbank, the Picton United Church Food Bank, and the Picton Salvation Army. Fresh for All was inspired by the Grow-a-Row program, started in Winnipeg in 1986, and Plant a Row for the Hungry, developed by the Garden Writers Association of America in 1995. Community projects based on these models have sprouted up all over North America. At the heart of the Hastings-Prince Edward initiative is a campaign to create awareness of food issues in the community and to motivate participation in what’s not simply a charitable project but a community development project. Although some grow-a-row projects get involved in delivering the produce, Fresh for All connects growers with food programs, leaving the delivery up to the grower. Rather than another managed food program, Fresh for All is a community-owned movement. The shape it takes depends on how the community moves it forward.The Fresh for All website www.freshforall.ca features a description of the initiative, concise instructions for how to get involved, and maps showing the location of food programs that have agreed to receive Fresh for All donations. These maps include pop-ups displaying address, delivery times and contact information for each location.
Goals of the campaign are to: Cultivate a Caring Community: bringing together gardeners, those who wish they could garden, neighbourhoods and businesses in support of Fresh for All. Share the Veggie Wealth: extra bounty from backyard gardens, balcony boxes, community gardens and farms is shared with those who could really use some home-grown food. Unite Existing Initiatives: creating awareness of what is already being done in the County to create food security and working in partnership to further the first two goals. Food Justice: through community support and awareness, balancing health, environmental and social concerns to promote access to enough safe and nutritious food for all.
Thank you to Kristie’s Little Petting Zoo and to everyone who donated funds towards the Storehouse Foodbank at the PEC Lavender Farm Festival in the last two weekends! They collected $1420 for the foodbank! Thank you everyone for making such a difference to others in our community!
Thank you to all Food to Share volunteers for making the delicious Mac n Cheese with ham and broccoli! Thank you Max for taking the lead and doing such a fantastic job! Thank you to Becky and Brian Mcfaul Foodbank volunteers for working so hard to deliver each one! We really appreciate everyone involved for making such a difference in our community!
You must be logged in to post a comment.