Food For Thought
A proud prize winner… yup, jam made locally. I answered a trivia question correctly and voila… FOOD. Thank you to all those who presented, planned, and organized the Centre for Civic Governance at Columbia Institute titled, “Food for Thought” in Vancouver. I was not sure what to expect, but walked away with so much. First, I learned a tonne the pre-conference session on public speaking. We were called to task with speech writing, video recording, and critique. It was intense, but worthwhile. This was followed up with several concurrent sessions. The ones I attended focused on food, schools, and student learning. The first session I attended had several speakers talking about bringing fresh food to students. Their passion to do was astounding, not to mention their journey to ‘make it happen’ for students. Inspirational. The second session I went to was led by three grade 12 students talking about their learning experiences with a project-based learning adventure in culinary tourism and the “Taste Trail.” Exceptional. I fully endorse and support student leadership and advocacy. My third session was to support my colleague SD46 Trustee Silas White and Principal Sally Thicke who presented on Davis Bay Elementary’s K-3 Primary Nature Program, from governance to implementation. An excellent presentation that derived much interest and dialogue. It’s nice to know that SD46 are on the leading edge with this environmental education initiative. Well received. Finally, I ended the conference with Indigenous Sovereignty. A change in rhythm but an excellent way to conclude the conference with my ultimate take-away… FOOD BUILDS COMMUNITY. #gratitude
Another interesting post Chris! What a variety of topics in one day. Here is the one that gets me really thinking: Bringing fresh food to students, absolutely! How can we advocate for healthy food in our schools? We must model in school what is best for students to eat. So many challenges in education. What is the most important issue?
There are programs already in action bringing “Farm to Table” to schools. Making connections with local farms would be an excellent step, along with building school-community gardens and getting students cooking. There are many resources available online that are worthwhile investigating. The most important issue that captured my attention is using FOOD as a means of bringing people together… students, parents, elders, and community.