A New Community Market Scheduled to Open in Kits – Looking for Community Input


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Here is your chance to have your say! This notice came through my inbox today, and since it’s in my hood, I am particularly excited:

Once a week this summer, a stretch of sidewalk in Kitsilano will be transformed into a community food market. Kitsilano Neighbourhood House (KNH) and the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC) are once again collaborating on the project.

The markets are anticipated to start at the end of June/early July in the Vine and Broadway area (exact location TBA). We are buzzing away like worker bees planning to bring the markets to life and want to know:

What do you want to see for the markets?

How can you imagine yourself and your communities being involved?

We are hosting consultation opportunities for vendors, customers, community members, other organizations, networks & groups over the month of May to help shape the season. Your opportunities to engage include:

1) A phone conversation with project coordinators.

2) Attending a facilitated community conversation the evenings of either May 22 or 23 from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM at Kits Neighbourhood House, 3683 West 4h Ave. Note that this location is not accessible, please let us know if you have mobility concerns.

Contact Oliver Lane at 604-736-7732 or admin@spec.bc.ca if you are interested and want to receive more details.

 

“Remember, your words can change the world”

I am a language geek. I love finding just the right word and understanding its meaning within the context of certain disciplines. I love that there are differences, that the same word in the same language can have different connotations in different contexts. I love the slippage that happens during translation. I love puns. But I don’t love it when words are abstract and meaning is applied vaguely, which is often the case in religion and marketing. I also hate crosswords.

A part of my larger food project has to do with dismantling some of the industry words, like “sustainability”, according to its index. How is the thing in question being assessed in order to qualify as “sustainable”, anyway? We’ve heard of “carbon footprint”, and then came concerns regarding the amount of water used. Then there is “compostable”, “recyclable”, “biodegradable” (not to be confused with compostable), “organic”, “fairtrade”, “eco”, “free run”, “free range”, “green”, etc.. These terms address the disperate parts of a whole, and how can we know when something is wholly sustainable when marketing the whole often based on fixating on its one redeeming part? Bamboo is my favourite example. Bamboo is rayon made with bamboo fibre. It is considered sustainable because bamboo grows rapidly and is therefore considered a sustainable crop. However, to make bamboo into a fibre suitable for spinning and weaving, it must be broken down by way of synthetic chemicals. Not sustainable in my books.

But while I chew on how to make a whole index system, here is the scoop on egg production and what the marketing terms really mean.


 

Salmon cakes, kale & green salad and sauerekraut

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Day 5, snack 2

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Leftover fish cake, you can tell I was hungry.

Day 5, snack 1

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Left over stewed veggies…finally they are done!