West End Food Festival – Building Community Through Food

With colder weather approaching, access to fresh and healthy food will be an increasing concern for many of our neighbours. In order to raise awareness around the importance of food on the social fabric of our community, Gordon Neighbourhood House and the West End Neighbourhood Food Network have teamed up to present Vancouver’s inaugural West End Food Festival.

This four-day event runs from October 4^th to 7^th and will feature food samples from local vendors and restaurants, a potluck dinner, a competition to create nutritious meals from Food Bank offerings, as well as other events and activities. The events will take place either at Gordon Neighbourhood House or local venues.

While many Canadians consider food a necessity and a right, the ability to afford and obtain nutritious and sufficient food is not equally available to everyone. Many of society’s most vulnerable—including our children and elders—don’t get enough to eat and suffer from poor nutrition. Although many are looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving on October 14^th, for others it is just another day of scrounging for a way to fill their stomachs.

Monday’s concluding discussion, “Is Food a Right? A Panel on Issues Around Access to Food,” will feature a cross-section of varying perspectives on food security. The panel will include Dr. Graham Riches, Professor Emeritus of UBC School of Social Work; Jean Swanson, author and social justice activist; Pardeep Khrod, Marketing Manager of Quest food exchange; Fraser Stuart, welfare recipient; and Jennifer Allan, founder of Jen’s Kitchen.

Gordon Neighbourhood house is committed to sharing foods that reflect the diversity of our community, city, country, and world and believes that food brings us together and can act as a vehicle for community-building. Read more about our food philosophy at https://gordonhouse.org/about/right-to-food/

For more information please visit the festival Facebook event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/440604082725988/ and follow Gordon Neighbourhood House on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates.

Contact: Paul Taylor, Executive Director,
Gordon Neighbourhood House
paul@gordonhouse.org
604-683-2554, ext. 202
1019 Broughton Street (at Nelson)