DTES Kitchen Tables

Downtown Eastside (DTES) Kitchen Tables

in partnership with Potluck Cafe & Catering Society

A Community Led Food Action Plan

Our goals and what makes this project unique

• To develop a food solution which is sustainable in terms of health benefits, employment and its impact on economic development and the environment.
• To develop solutions which maximize efficiencies in terms of time and resources, both for organizations which provide food and DTES residents who access food.
• To develop solutions which reduce duplication and redundancy.
• To develop innovative and efficient food distribution methods.
• To develop food solutions which also build community capacity – education, skills, knowledge, jobs and income security.
• To create quality food standards and guidelines for the DTES neighbourhood.
• To develop solutions which support the local economy – DTES and rural BC, urban and rural growers.
• To develop food solution Best Practices which are applicable in other communities.

How we do this

We take a Kitchen Table approach and meaningfully engage many stakeholders, starting with DTES residents. Together we design a plan which is grassroots, innovative, reformist and paradigm shaping with the greatest opportunity for positive community impact – both in terms of health and community economic development.

Outcomes

To create action oriented solutions which can be realistically implemented, thereby increasing the availability, accessibility, affordability and choice of quality, nutritious food security solutions for residents of the DTES by designing an Action Plan which ensures affordable access to nutritious meals each day for the most vulnerable of DTES residents – those living with HIV, AIDS, Hep C, Diabetes and/or sheer malnourishment.

For a pdf version of this information, click here

The March 2010 DTES Kitchen Tables Report is too large for our modest web site but can be found on Potluck Cafe’s web site here

Project Contact Information

Johanna Li, Project Manager, DTES Kitchen Tables

E: johanna@potluckcatering.com

Potluck Café, 30 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC   V6B 1G6

DTES Kitchen Tables Project Supported By:

City of Vancouver Greenest City Grant, DTES Neighbourhood House, Potluck Cafe Society, Public Health Agency of Canada, Vancity Community Foundation & Vancouver Coastal Health’s Healthy Living Program Community Grant Funding

For more information, click here

For information on stakeholder workshops, click here