Mahjobeh Badakhsh
VFR: Mahjobeh, tell us about yourself and the work that you do at Food Stash Foundation in Vancouver.
Mahjobeh Badakhsh: I’ve had the pleasure of being a part of the Food Stash team for the past 1.5 years, starting off as the Program Coordinator in 2020. As the current Program Manager at Food Stash, I lead our Rescued Food Box program, a low-barrier food delivery program that provides dignified access to nutritious food to individuals and families located across Vancouver. As with many other not-for-profit organizations, at Food Stash, we all wear many different hats. While overseeing the stability and growth of our food box programs and projects, I also spend my days working towards growing our volunteer programs and engagement, developing our youth educational programs, and of course, growing our advocacy efforts.
VFR: Food Stash works in partnership with VFR on various areas of work, including food donation referrals, events, media, and even an emergency meal program during the height of the pandemic. How do you think this collaboration strengthens our respective programs? And more broadly, how do you feel this collaborative approach supports stronger and more resilient food systems in Vancouver?
MB: Collaboration is so crucial to addressing the massive and complex challenges of food waste and food insecurity. None of us can do it alone. We really value our partnership with VFR because it helps us collectively have a greater impact. Whenever we get a call about a smaller food donation that doesn’t make sense for us to pick up in our big trucks, we reach out to VFR, as VFR can quickly mobilize volunteers to rescue the food; and vice versa – VFR calls us when they get wind of a larger donation that’s too big for their volunteers to handle. Working together allows our organizations to rescue over 150,000 pounds of food each month and serve over 70 nonprofits and thousands of community members each week with the food they need.
When the world shifted because of COVID-19 and the challenges of food security were finally brought to our attention, we partnered up with VFR to deliver 50,500 meals to vulnerable communities across Vancouver. Delivering that many meals in the span of a few months requires strong partnerships and collaboration across organizations.
We’ve also recently collaborated to organize a panel on food waste for the Vancouver Food Policy Council and will jointly be featured in an upcoming article by The Tyee. We’re looking forward to this continued partnership!
VFR: You’re involved in an advocacy project with Vantage Point focused on food security. Please tell us about this project – its goals as well as the organizations involved.
MB: Vantage Point’s first cohort, as part of their new Change Network pilot project, brought together non-for-profit leaders from across the province working to address the prevalent issue of food insecurity. As a cohort of like-minded and values-aligned organizations, we were provided with the skills and tools required to create and advocate for a common advocacy goal and work collectively to make meaningful change.
There are 11 organizations and a total of 16 individuals participating in this project from all over BC, including various food rescue organizations, food banks, neighbourhood houses, and community centres. Bringing together our collective knowledge and experience in the community-based food sector, we’ve used the tools and resources provided to us by the Change Network to develop an educational social media campaign, inviting the public to join the growing movement towards a more dignified and just food culture as we approach the October, 15th 2022 municipal elections in BC.
Within the community-based food sector, we have a solid understanding of the term food insecurity and yet, very few other people are familiar with this issue and the impact it has on our communities. Through this campaign, we hope to increase food security literacy, providing a better understanding of the issue and clarifying some of the language used by professionals and policy makers.
We hope that this increase in knowledge amongst the public encourages voters to choose candidates that recognize food security as a priority policy issue. By first getting food on the community and public radar, through a ripple effect, we aim to get food on the political radar. Our ultimate goal and long-term impact are for policy makers to not only continue to support this sector but also address the underlying causes of food insecurity. Because no matter how many charitable food organizations exist in this province, food aid will not lead to long-term food security. Everyone deserves to access healthy food in a dignified way – the right to food is a fundamental human right – and we can only collectively guarantee this across all our communities by addressing the root causes of food insecurity in order to achieve lasting, systemic change.
VFR: Right now, it seems like food security and food systems work isn’t a priority issue when you look at the City of Vancouver’s operating and capital budgets. What are your thoughts around this?
MB: Canada has one of the safest food systems in the world, but with inflation, rising food prices, stagnant or low wages, and the population’s reliance on precarious jobs, people are having to choose between their essential needs. The most recent Food Price Report predicts a 5% to 7% increase in food costs, forcing many to adjust their food budgets, reduce the amount and/or quality of food they purchase, and rely more on emergency food relief. We’ve experienced this higher demand in our own food aid programs and services at Food Stash. We’re seeing longer line-ups at our Rescued Food Market and a continuously growing waitlist for our Rescued Food Box program. It’s clear that we can expect to see even greater food insecurity levels, and it’s quite surprising that this issue isn’t prioritized in the City’s operating and capital budgets.
While facing countless funding limitations, food charities have largely been given the sole responsibility of both keeping people fed and advocating for a more resilient and transformed food system. This is exactly why the Change Network’s Food Security Cohort seeks to come forward as a collective voice of the charitable food sector in BC, getting the public on our side and in turn calling for this responsibility to be shared with government departments and policy makers.
VFR: There are positive individual and community outcomes when governments invest in food security and food systems. Can you please share about this and provide some examples?
MB: It doesn’t need to be said, but food affects every aspect of our daily life and having consistent access to enough healthy food can ensure the health of our families, communities, and economy. By investing in food security and a more resilient, just food system, governments are investing in people and enabling them to create sustainable livelihoods.
Greater government support and investment in food security also reduces the need for charitable food assistance and creates the capacity within food charities for a greater focus on food justice and dignified food access. But it is again important to emphasize that government investments should simultaneously support the charitable food sector as well as stronger social safety nets and poverty reduction efforts. Local food initiatives provide emergency food relief that focuses on immediate needs. We also need systemic change to create communities and a society that enables food security for the long term.
VFR: Going back to this idea of collaboration, how can we work together to increase awareness about food security in Vancouver? And how can readers support the Vantage Point food advocacy project?
MB: As previously mentioned, collaborations and partnerships are crucial in both increasing awareness of the growing problem of food insecurity and coming up with comprehensive solutions. As organizations focusing on this work, we can continue to work together, sharing our experiences, knowledge, and platforms to educate and raise awareness. In doing so, we’re inspiring our communities toward action and providing them with the agency to create meaningful change. By using our collective voice to keep the conversation going, we’re letting policy and decision makers know that food security is a top priority on the public agenda.
In the upcoming weeks, as we approach the municipal elections, the Change Network’s Food Security Cohort will ask the public to be the driving force behind the social media campaign. By using our Instagram hashtag #votefoodsecurity, following our Instagram account @Votefoodsecurity, keeping food security in mind when choosing who to vote for and using the tools provided to contact municipal officials, they can take us one step closer to a more dignified and just food system.
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