Joey Liu
VFR: Joey, tell us about yourself, your food systems/security work over the past decade, and your current role with the South Vancouver Neighbourhood House Food Hub.
Joey Liu: I am a first-generation Cantonese immigrant settler originally from Hong Kong, currently living on the unceded homelands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. I am inspired by the power of food and the ability that it has to bring people together, which is why I began working in community food programs and neighbourhood houses ten years ago. I have offered programs around gardening, cooking, affordable food markets, food skills, and more. Along the way, I have learned a lot about the inequities and challenges that community members face regarding food. I was excited to join South Vancouver Neighbourhood House (SVNH) in developing this new Food Hub, because I want to help create resiliency within our local food systems, and explore how, as a community, we can develop a network and system of care where no one is left behind.
VFR: South Vancouver covers a huge area in Vancouver. Tell us about the unique features of the neighbourhoods in this area as well as some of the challenges experienced by residents living here.
JL: South Vancouver is an incredibly diverse and large area of Vancouver. It is home to over 100,000 residents, with 80% racialized members and 55% newcomers. It is typically divided into three main neighbourhoods – Sunset, Victoria-Fraserview, and Killarney. While there is a lot of vibrancy, culture, and community, there are many inequities as well, including a lack of transportation, walkability, social services, and gathering spaces. As a sprawling, disconnected area, people experience isolation, underemployment, and language and cultural barriers. In terms of food, many residents were already experiencing food insecurity before the pandemic, and since then it’s gotten much harder to put food on the table, especially with the rising costs of food and living this year. The level of struggle and anxiety we are seeing in the community right now is really tough.
VFR: You recently did some food asset mapping in South Vancouver. What did your team discover?
JL: Last year, we worked with an SFU Sustainability Scholar, who counted and mapped out the total number of food assets in South Vancouver, including community gardens, restaurants, grocery stores, markets, meal programs, food hamper programs, orchards, and community kitchens. What we found was that although South Vancouver makes up 16% of Vancouver’s total population, its food assets only make up 8% of Vancouver’s total food assets, which is another way of showing how few resources and amenities exist in South Vancouver and speaks to the investment and transformation that is needed in this community.
VFR: What happened in South Vancouver during the COVID-19 pandemic? And how did South Vancouver Neighbourhood House respond in the context of the pandemic?
JL: When COVID-19 started, SVNH stepped into action to provide temporary emergency food distribution programs to support people in a time of crisis. In fall 2020, we started working with community partners such as CityReach Care Society, Pacific Immigrant Resources Society, and Peace Church on 52nd to establish the South Vancouver Community Food Hub, with support from United Way of BC and other donors.
Currently, our program provides weekly, culturally appropriate food support to 325 households representing 1,000 individuals. Participants include food-insecure seniors, families, single-parents, community members living with disabilities, Indigenous and racialized members, newcomers, and underemployed residents.
VFR: With respect to food programming, tell us more about the importance of the hub-and-spoke model, as many VFR volunteers are involved in supporting this program.
JL: Instead of offering food at one large central location, which we have found causes long line-ups, conflict, accessibility challenges, and long commutes, our Hub-and-Spoke model operates 7 locations across South Vancouver. SVNH’s Food Hub acts as the centre of operations at the YMCA Langara, overseeing grocery box packing, registration, storage, transportation, and training.
Through our amazing partnership with VFR, we send grocery boxes to our spoke partners, who give out the food to community members. This part of the program that VFR volunteers support is so crucial – firstly, it frees up our partners' capacity so they can focus on relationship building and offering support beyond food to participants.
Secondly, by offering multiple locations and transporting food between our organizations, it allows people to access food closer to home. This makes a huge difference when participants are experiencing mobility challenges living in South Van (e.g. due to poor transportation systems and walkability of the area) as well as in their personal lives, such as seniors, single mothers with newborn babies or young children, and families with multiple members living with health issues and disabilities. Together, we are providing residents with more equitable access to food and more capacity to spend time with loved ones and get back on their own two feet.
VFR: Thinking about the future, what are some policy and program directions needed in South Vancouver to ensure residents' regular access to healthy food?
JL: For one, we need to create universal food programs that support everyone in the community to cover basic food needs, which requires all levels of government to work together. Within Vancouver, while food policies are in place at the city level, there is very little funding for implementation, so collectively, we need to build more awareness and pressure to highlight the issues and opportunities around food.
With South Vancouver, as it is so diverse, there is no “one size fits all” model or solution to developing a better food system. So in the next year, SVNH is looking for support and resources to do a lot of listening and learning from the community, so we can create strategies together with residents across each unique area of South Van.
Overall, more investment in social services, food assets, infrastructure, and programming across the area would be very impactful. In the future vision we’re developing, instead of focusing all of our resources and energy on emergency response, our Food Hub network and other community organizers will focus on bringing people together through food and empowering them to become leaders – creating change for themselves and their community.
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