Mobile Good Food Market

Sept 26, 2012


ANTHEM: Peter Masson
GRACE:  Kevin Moore
TOAST:   Vice President Roco Colangelo

ATTENDING:  12 including 
Guest speaker Ms. Sarah Vogelzang Toronto Public Health

ANNOUNCEMENTS:


- Charles re auction items.... please get your paperwork into Peter and keep knocking on doors.
- Alan reported that Toronto FC won a game... Wow!  
But Gerd reported that his home team in Germany “slaughtered” both the Spanish and the Italians in their football games. (Sounds like an EU financial summit).

MARBELOUS DRAW: 

Kevin Moore was able to coax Al Meredith’s ticket out of the box with Sarah’s help. A $5.00 bill was his winnings to-day.

SERGEANT AT ARMS:


While we awaited the arrival of our luncheons, several jokesters had fun with Cocks, Penquins, Mules and even a bridge to Hawaii. Fines should have been levelled for some of these!

Fines were imposed by S@A Barry Smith for anyone present who didn’t know who was responsible for bringing the “Marbelous Draw” to the club. While certain members failed that test (it was Fran Smith who discovered that money-maker when he visited a club in Fort Myers, FL).  There were objections when presidential amnesty pardons where flashed but ignored by the S@A. He claimed that he was unaware that these had been issued and wondered whether they could be considered legal tender.


Happy bucks were offered by Barry for his success in Run for The Cure.
Our guest Sarah offered a happy buck for having been with T.P.H. for 25 years as a nutrition consultant.

PROGRAM: 

Your scribe didn’t push the right button on his recorder so the talk by Ms. Sarah Vogelzang of the Toronto Public Health was missed.  

But here are some notes that I did take and also will attach a Toronto Star article that describes the Mobile Good Food Market program that started in July.  A total of 13 “good food deserts” have been identified throughout Toronto including 4 in Scarborough.  These locations were identified by Food Share & C.A.M.H. Toronto to have a high density of public housing, demographically weighted with a diversity of new cultures, limited public transit and no convenient fresh food stores nearby. This pilot program is a first of its kind.

Many people are reluctant to go to a food bank for handouts.  It’s a question of personal dignity.  The Mobile Good Food Market purchases fresh food from the Toronto Terminal Warehouse and sells it to the patrons in these locations for a small markup of 20% to any customer for a minimum of $3 and a maximum of $11.  Because fresh vegetables etc don’t last for a long time as do canned goods, a visit to these locations is more frequent and becomes a community event where neighbours can socialize and learn how to prepare and cook unfamiliar food.

The pilot program’s costs have been covered by grants from the Ontario Centres of Excellence, the United Way and Toronto Public Health as an initiative to improve the health in these neighbourhoods that are rife with obesity and diabetes. 

Frank Allison thanked Sarah for coming to the club and introducing us to this very worthy program which brings fresh food out to the people who need it.  It could be considered a “drop in the bucket” but it may become a model for other communities to follow.  He presented Sarah with a certificate which certified that a young girl in India had her eyesight restored.

BIRTHDAY & ANNIVERSARY REPORT

Sept 27 Barry & Glennys Smith  married 37 years 1975

NEXT MEETING:

Oct 3rd
Igor Klibanov Facts and Fallacies of Fitness - What you are doing for your health is probably wrong!