The funky offspring of the Galiano Club, the Food Program began in 2008.
The Galiano Community Food Program strives to ensure that Galiano Island is a thriving, livable, food-secure community, where every resident feels included, welcome and empowered to build a deeper connection with their food system. In so doing, the Program improves Galiano’s ecological sustainability and community resilience in the face of climate change and uncertainty. The program seeks to set an example that reaches beyond our local community and spreads across the country.
Food Program Blog
Nettlefest Community Potluck Celebration 5:30pm – Sunday April 12
Come together to celebrate the return of Spring as we gather as a community for the 8th annual Nettlefest Potluck. It’s all about gathering with friends and neighbours, sharing some wonderful food, and enjoying the entertainment of some amazingly-talented locals. Join us, and bring something to share with others.
(Kitchen volunteers needed. Join us in the afternoon to make the Nettle Soup and Nettle Bread for the evening potluck.)
Supper’s Ready – Community Games Night – Thursday June 4th at 6-8pm
Come join us at the South Hall for a raucous evening of games with your friends and neighbours!
Bring your favourite board game to share with others. (No e-games please.) There will be Scrabble, Apples to Apples, Cards, Catan, Chess, Game of Life, Othello, Trivia, Crib and more…
We will have snacks and a simple supper. Everyone is welcome!
The price is right!
Sliding scale $5-$10. Volunteers needed.
This project is funded by the Government of Canada’s New Horizons federal government, through New Horizons for Seniors Program.
Times Columnist Article: Eric Akis: Stinging nettles 101
http://www.timescolonist.com/eric-akis-stinging-nettles-101-1.938808
The Changing Face of Soup and Bread by Alison Colwell
Soup and Bread (formerly known as Meals for Seniors) is one of the most loved and successful projects the Food Program runs. I’d love to say we planned it that way—but of course we did not.
We started making soups for seniors in May of 2011, and in that first kitchen we put 95 soups in the freezer. The project began as a response to the need for good, low cost, nutritious meals for seniors on our island. We worked with the Tuesday Walking Group to distribute those soups to seniors who wanted them, and I used to knock on doors at Page Drive. Local farmers help supply produce when they can (they still do). We had 6 kitchens that first year.
In the Spring of 2012 we started opening up the hall for lunch. We thought that as we all took a break from the kitchen and sat down to eat together, the community might want to come and join us. Now, three years later, we are open for soup twice a month, and sometimes more than fifty people come eat with us. Those people that can pay $5 for lunch do so and support the program, but no one is ever turned away hungry.
In 2012, in response to grumbles from seniors who were getting tired of just soup, we started making frozen meals. That year we […]
The Chemistry of Bigleaf Maples By Colleen Doty, School Food Program Coordinator
December was ushered in with the Great Bigleaf Rake-Up at the school garden. With maple leaves buried under a dusting of crunchy snow, blue sky above, Galiano School kids gathered around two large maple trees on the school property to learn about densely rich maple leaves and the value they bring to other plants when composted. The kids were divided into four teams: Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, and Nitrogen, and each team learned some interesting facts about these four elements that figure prominently in maple leaves. What also became quickly apparent was how humans and plants require the same nutrients in order to thrive! For example, blossom End Rot in tomatoes and osteoporosis in humans are both related to calcium deficiency. In another example, magnesium is required by plants to process and use amino acids, vitamins, and proteins, and similarly for humans, magnesium is used to process other elements, notably calcium and potassium. Whereas magnesium deficiency will result in yellow, veiny leaves in plants, a deficiency in humans will impact the functioning of muscles and organs.
The teams then gathered up fallen leaves and laid them around garden beds and the fruit trees in the school garden. Our garlic, kale, chard, and fruit trees were tucked in with several layers of rich maple leaves.
In our fragile Coastal Douglas Fir ecosystem, bigleaf maples can be seen as competitors to […]
Saving Seed with Dan Jason – Sat April 25th 12:30-3:30pm
How can I make my food supply more local? Why can’t I find seeds for those varieties my grandmother grew in her garden? How do I save seeds from plants that cross-pollinate? What do we need to do to start a seed bank on Galiano?
Join Dan Jason of Salt Spring Seeds and learn how to take part in the age-old practice of seed-saving, and answer these questions and more. Understand the importance of heritage seeds in the modern food system and enjoy a hands-on demonstration of harvesting seeds in preparation for this season, including harvesting, cleaning, storing and labelling.
Dan Jason is the founder of Salt Spring Seeds. An active critic of genetically-modified seeds, patents on living organisms and industrial agriculture in general, he is a dedicated educator on sustainable organic gardening and farming, food politics and seed saving. He is the author of Saving Seeds As If Our Lives Depended On It.
$15-$25 Please register at: galianofoodprograms@gmail.com
Upcoming Food Program Events
