CANADA: Initiatives Give Seniors Taste of Food, Socializing

LONDON, Ontario (The London Free Press), October 17, 2007: Engaging seniors in their neighbourhoods is a great way to reduce social isolation. Combining it with a food security initiative is beneficial for everyone involved. In London, the Northeast Food Depot taste test booth has been a successful food security initiative for months. This program offers recipients at this food bank satellite a chance to taste a nutritious meal made with ingredients commonly found in their food bank hampers. Often, people get their hampers home and are at a loss for meals to make with the ingredients provided. New Canadians and those with limited cooking skills have found the program very helpful. A recipe of the meal is provided each time the taste test booth is held. In an effort to build upon the taste test booth idea, the London Community Resource Centre has successfully acquired funding to expand the program to include a food demonstration, taste testing, and skill building opportunity at more of the food depots. This revised initiative, called Healthy Tidbits, also engages seniors in the neighbourhoods where the food depots are located, to be peer leaders within their community. After receiving safe food handling training by the Middlesex-London Health Unit, the senior volunteers would choose the recipes, shop for ingredients, prepare them for the taste test booth at the food depot location and also provide a food demonstration to those attending the food depot. Connecting with seniors in communities across London will reduce social isolation and increase a sense of well-being and empowerment. The London Community Resource Centre recruits senior volunteers to participate in the Healthy Tidbits program. By Heather Thomas, Special to Sun Media Copyright © 2006, Canoe Inc