There exists an irony that many poor families are often overweight, said the activities co-ordinator for the Growing Community Garden.
That's because having little money can lead to the wrong food choices, prioritizing bulk over nutrition.
"People will live off the dollar menu instead of trying to find good food they can afford to buy," Marli Leibovitch said. "When you only have $200 after rent for a month, it doesn't leave you with a lot of options."
Growing Community Garden organizers are hosting their second cooking event of the season Tuesday with partner the Canadian Diabetes Association, providing participants with ways to eating healthy on a tight budget.
Chef Paul Charron from the Salvation Army and nutritionist Louise LeFebvre will give lessons on how to make delicious, healthy food in a short amount of time.
A smaller event held at the garden earlier this summer attracted 20 people, and this event will see up to 50, said Leibovitch.
Growing Community Garden, located on a piece of land beside the Christian Reformed Church at 1905 Willow Street, is in its second year. Professor Scott Green, a member of the church and forestry professor at the University of Northern B.C., saw a need for a community garden, a place to grow over sustainable practices of gardening while going back to the basics of traditional knowledge, Leibovitch explained.
"So we focus on providing raised beds to lower income families and there are 24 beds," she said. "There are a lot of families that depend on the garden for food that they eat throughout the summer. So we like to have a lot of cooking and art events in the garden to build community around being outside and enjoying the weather and producing some food and trading thoughts with each other."
The purpose of the healthy eating event is to show people alternatives to their usual menus. So instead of meat balls, make bean balls.
"Instead of getting ground beef get ground turkey because it's leaner," Leibovitch said. "If you like grilled cheese sandwiches it's not about eating something completely different to get more nutrition, it's about adding some vegetables to the grilled cheese to add nutrition. We don't want to scare them off."
At the end of the evening participants come away with a cooking lesson, a great meal, a lesson in nutrition and recipe book with a list of resources they can access to continue making good food choices.
The Tuesday event goes from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., 1905 Willow Street. To participate in this free event, contact Marli Leibovitch at [email protected] or 250-552-0338.
