Last week Jennifer and Yousra from Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services came to our FNN 401 class to give a lecture on community nutrition. I was really excited for their presentation because even after volunteering at at Access Alliance, I still wasn't clear about all the activities community dietitians are involved in. Jennifer and Yousra showed us a "day in the life" slide that was a snapshot of what they were doing for the month of January. I found it really helpful to see what things they are involved in on a daily basis. Based on their presentation, it seems like community nutrition is a very diverse field.
Jennifer and Yousra put a lot of emphasis on the Newcomers Cooking Together program, which I have had the pleasure of being involved in. My role as a volunteer for the program was to record recipes, interview participants to get their biographies, help out in the kitchen and take pictures throughout. I think one of the reasons I enjoyed the program so much was because it was so different from any other volunteer experience I have ever had. For one, the population was very unique. Access Alliance focuses their services on recent immigrants and refugees and our group included men of all ages from Burma, Mexico, Afghanistan, Liberia, and Russia.
"It never ceases to amaze us how FOOD allows such a diverse group of people to find so many commonalities between us, while respectfully celebrating our differences" - Jennifer and Yousra
After a couple weeks of the program I realized why the dietitians chose the cooking class format. First off, the participants built friendships. Food is something we all enjoy and it provides a common ground between diverse groups. Also, by providing a meal for participants we were feeding people who may have food insecurities. During the program each participant gets the chance to plan and cook their favourite meal for the group. This gives them the opportunity to share some of their culture, tradition and/or religion with the group. These weekly sessions also provide participants with the opportunity to build competency in the kitchen. Some of these men had never had to cook until they left their families and homes to come to Canada and this allows them the chance to learn to clean, prepare, cook and present foods. We were also always learning about new foods (like gari- have you heard of gari?) and new methods of preparing foods. Newcomers to Canada often need some introduction to our selection of foods as well as venues to buy food. This setting also allows us as dietitians and furture dietitians to sneak in some advice about healthy eating, Canada's Food Guide, portion sizes etc. And as Jennifer mentioned in the presentation, people will tell you their life stories over a meal. In the comfort of the kitchen the participants shared tragic stories about their lives before they came to Canada. My experience volunteering with Access Alliance was a memorable one and I would recommend that everyone seek out experience in a community setting.
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