RESPONDING TO THE FOOD INSECURITY CRISIS IN ST. JAMES TOWN

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In this article we explore how community agencies in the St. James Town community are working together to respond to food insecurity issues and increased demands caused by the pandemic.

Since the pandemic, difficulty affording food has been particularly increasing.

Food insecurity is still one of the major issues in St. James Town especially after the economic drop that affected many people due to COVID 19 lockdown.

Although food banks and other community agencies are working really hard to address the problem of food insecurity, they also face a number of challenges. One of the biggest challenges they face is running out of funding.

The St. James Town Community Co-op is a social enterprise that operates various food initiatives in the St. James Town area. The Co-op have responded to the Covid-19 pandemic by providing an emergency food relief program run out of the Wellesley Community Centre at Sherborne and Wellesley Street. The Co-op is struggling with running out of funding however they are working on finding alternatives to keep their program going.

“They have got the funding from Red Cross I think for the pandemic.” said Ravi Subrananiam - The Director, Hubs, and Partnerships at the St. James Town Community Corner (The Corner). Subrananiam explained how funding during the pandemic usually has a timeline. However, funding is not the only issue that these organizations face. Since they are mostly run by members of the community, volunteers also could be one of the challenges, namely their stability and ability to keep working and offering their help on the long run. Other obstacles that these organizations face include the lack of sufficient space, places for storage, materials, tools and more. Ravi believes that organizations should think of alternative solutions and savvy methods to keep fuelling their food insecurity projects. This is exactly what the St. James Town Community Corner has done.

The St James Town Catering Collective is an income generation project that employs newcomer women from the community in cooking healthy meals for the community. The project is a collaboration between the Corner and the Sherborne Health Centre and supports the neighbourhood during the Covid-19 pandemic by providing free meals to various food providing agencies and isolated residents in the community.

Not-For-Profit organizations that manage food banks provide a great service to the community. Their work not only helps to secure people who do not have access to food, but also increases the spirit of the community, family, and safety in the neighborhood. To find out more about how St. James Town organizations are working together to resolve the food insecurity crisis in St. James Town view this link https://youtu.be/6RB5BuByr4o


Written by
Nea Maaty

Journalist
FOCUS Media Arts Centre


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