October 2018 – Grandview Woodland Food Connection

The inaugural FoodFit program had an amazing turn out of committed individuals that dug into the content of the 13 week Healthier (food & fitness) choices. Amongst 19 weekly participants there was a mix of backgrounds; Ethnic, Cultural, Gender, Ability levels (Physical & Mental Health) and Socio-economic.

The program has a plant-based menu with a few sessions that include fish, eggs, or chicken so it is able to accommodate and support different diets from, no-pork, gluten/or lactose-free to vegan with modest adjustments. As one participant noted, “I love the knowledge section. Alot of info is new and interesting and it’s informing my [food] choices”.

Our main group exercise is 30min of Cardio building walking with level #1-3 so everyone gets a pace that best suits. Participants enjoyed meeting new people, sharing knowledge and skills and building regular exercise into their daily routine at a pace that was suited to their ability. FoodFit is not for everyone!! It is for those dedicated individuals that like the appeal of

committing to trying something a little new for 13 weeks in the hopes of making lasting healthier changes that will positively impact their future quality of life one small step at a time.

The Grandview Woodland Food Connect was pleased and honored to again help organize and participate in the Indigenous led decolonization Wild Salmon Caravan. Beyond our involvement in core organizing, hosting many planning meetings at Britannia and supported logistics and arts build planning and activities for the Vancouver WSC parade, we further commissioned the building of a new bike float made by our artist in resident, Giles Chin. His creation of a beautiful mermaid (parade theme) float was a highlight of the parade, which ran along Granville street to the Roundhouse on Sept 22 and was a beautiful expression of grassroots art and social action in an effort to raise awareness of the need to protect wild salmon and support indigenous food sovereignty. The parade ended with a beautiful waterfront ceremony at David Lam Park and feast and performance at the Roundhouse. The GWFC also brought our previous year’s salmon bike float up to Chase in Secwepemc (Shushwap) territory and participated in the last leg of the WSC and Chase parade. Check out the Wild Salmon Caravan facebook page for lots more photos and videos of the parades and caravan – https://www.facebook.com/wildsalmoncaravan/

The photos below are a few of the many beautiful photos taken by Murray Bush