Edmonton groups fighting food insecurity with innovation

Throughout the pandemic, Chelsea Burke was cooking for others.

She started at home, then led a community kitchen at the John Humphrey Centre in Edmonton, serving 200 meals a week.

This spring, she's taking over the Parkdale-Cromdale Community League Kitchen to start her own initiative.

Common Thread Community Kitchen provides barrier-free meals, no proof-of-need necessary.

"With all the cost increases, food, and access to nutritious food, gets increasingly pushed to the margins," Burke told CBC's Radio Active.

"I thinkthat's really the future," Burke said."I think we need to increase access to growing food, community kitchens, food programs for kids, practical skills, more urban farming, things like that."

Local CANAVUA food truck brings meals to Edmontonians

4 years ago

Duration 2:10

A food truck operated by Edmonton non-profit, Canadian Volunteers United in Action, serves meals to more than 600 people per week.

A growing sense of insecurity

During the pandemic, it has become more difficult for many to access healthy food. Statistics Canada reported that almost one in seven Canadians experienced food insecurity in May 2020, up from one in 10 in 2018.

The soaring cost of living this year is adding another level of stress onto an already vulnerable demographic.

"People don't realize how close to the edges many people are," Burke said. "Utilities are going up and people have to choose between food and rent, or food and gas."

While food banks are valuable, they may not be the best solution for people who are houseless, don't have ID or have specific dietary needs, Burke says.

"It's really important to embed food into a lot of the different work that's being done, so it's easily accessible," she said,like putting community fridges in publicly accessible spaces across the city and keeping them stocked.

It's something she hopes to do as Common Thread grows.

Barrier free and culturally connected

Community initiatives, many led by BIPOC Edmontonians and organizations, are stepping up.

CANAVUA, a Francophone group, started a free-food truck.

Multicultural Health Brokers Co-op started Khair for All, a social enterprise that assembles discounted grocery boxes with cultural staples in mind, offering fresh produce but also teff, barley flour and lentils.

The groceries provided are 35 to 50 per cent cheaper than major retailers. In three months they've had more than 170 households sign up.

"There is no qualification, there's no registration, there's no income testing, none of that," said project coordinator Deep Singh. "It's just anybody can go on and anybody can purchase a box."

Singh saidnewcomers and international students are taking advantage of the program.

"People have assumptions of what food security is, and I think people sometimes live in a little bit of a bubble."

Creating tools for food justice and education

Burke has created a tool kit, teaching others how to start their own community kitchens, no matter where they live. It covers things like getting permits and how to gather volunteers and what to cook.

"We wanted to share our learnings and mistakes," she said. "Our goal is to make this sustainable."

Burke is now gathering volunteers for Common Thread and advocating for the city to donate space across Edmonton so community kitchens can operate in other neighbourhoods.

"The long term goal is to have community hubs and support a lot of the incredible work that's already happening," Burke said.

"I think it's a human right. And we really need to get to the point where it's available that way."