United Way of St. Catharine’s and District Office 80 King Street, Unit 3, St. Catharine’s
Tuesday October 23, 2012
Observe/describe
This event is the second of 3 workshops that are being offered to the residence of St. Catharine’s. The purpose of these three workshops is to bring the community together to discuss and come up with unique ideas the city of St. Catharine’s can do to eliminate emissions, and adapt to the climate changes in the environment and create a healthier Niagara. This evening consisted of four main target areas for discussion, where the participants were broken down into the four areas of; local food, energy, transportation and outreach. Since this is the second focus group that has taken place there were individuals that have taken on the responsibility of seeing these issues to the next level of development. Referred to as developmental mild stones. This project has a set dead line of the end of December. There was not much to contribute to most if not all of the work had been done from the workshop previous.
The topic of Local food was the group that I chose to participate in. This groups topic is something that I have some knowledge in and felt confident in my participation. There were times in the evening during my participation that I felt out of place. I’m sure that this was not true and I am excited to hear of any feedback in regards to the participation in the focus group.
Analyze/examine
This focus group covered many issues that are being faced by my own community on local food. I was fortunate enough to meet Jane, she is the driving force behind climate change Niagara. Listening in on the discussions between Jane and a represented for united way, was the ground works of developing a grass roots organization into a broader market. I learned many of the obstacles are similar to my home community. From this conversation are many different areas to peruse. For example, will Allen is a leading technology when it comes to spin farming in urban agriculture. It was determined that it is a lack of knowledge that prevents people from eating well. There are many partnerships with brock that are existing and that can be developed.
During this workshop my energy and attention was drawn to how this discussion and conversations could work in my own community. I also contributed to the conversations with information and experiences that were similar to the topic of discussion. There were often times through the evening that I felt like I had the skills or meet what the focus group was asking for. Jane is a wonderful woman that I hope to meet again in the future.
Evaluate/articulate
I introduced myself as a brock student and nothing else. In reflection I needed to introduce myself first with my background and credentials then as a brock student. In doing this I am able to be up front with the group about my interests experiences and validate myself to the group
In conclusion I am excited about Jane’s endeavors with gardening within the city of St. Catharine’s and her passion for it. Most defiantly I could see myself participating in one of her projects. Her vision and passion for gardening and the importance of local food is something that I can identify with and share a passion for.
As for where the city is going and the measures they are willing to take do not sit well with myself. The comments made towards the end of the evening were discouraging and turned me off from the next step in the process. The next step was to create a mission statement and goals. It is with this process that my residency became a factor as I do not live in the Niagara region.
My passion is surrounded for a passion of creating a vibrant healthier environment that is full of healthy eco-systems and on about the bottom line of a years end physical budget that is also trying to reduce greenhouse emissions by the minimal margins by a set year. I have no interest in this. The ideal objective would to have an emphasis on clean drinkable water fr9m the many lakes and streams and fresh water in the area and the province.
I have learned that is dose n0t matter if you live in the city or in the country or on the reservation we all are faced with similar situations when it comes to gardening and local food market. We all need funding from an outside source in order to stay op3rational. I also have learned that there are families who are in need of alternatives for food due to financial situations. The poor economy is another driving force for families to depend on locally grown produce.
There are also very important environmental factors when it comes t0 community gardening. It was shared among the group[ that location is one 0f the key fact0rs. The issue of soil contamination and the lack of nutrients in the soil were also mentioned. The contaminates in the soil need to be properly returned to a natural state. This is an importance of the need for proper education with the correct information.
I learned this when Jane listed the needs of her organization as well when she shared the obstacles that her organization was being faced with. It is when I was listening to her story that I see similarities in my own community. I also was able to hear how her organization has helped the native community and the Niagara region.
I learned the importance of having dedicated people who can help the organization. The structures of a not for profit organization were also discussed. With this type of information I am able to look at the organization within my family in entirely different light. I have also learned that there are employment opportunities within the environmental field. There is also a great need for qualified volunteers in not for profit organizations.
The understanding of the importance of qualified volunteers comes from listening to Jane discuss the needs and wants f her organization to the represented of the united way. This leering is important because it shows healthy ways of communication between organizations. This also shows the importance of networking and going the extra mile for what you are passionate about.
In light of this learning I have realized that my support for my communities garden has not been where it could be. I am looking forward to the spring weather were it signifies the begging of a new year for gardening. Hunger is something that we all can work towards defeating. Community gardening is a tool that everyone has the ability to use to defeat hunger.
The Niagara region is rich fertile farm land. The produce grown in the area is well known for the grapes that are used in the wines. The fruit trees are also well known. This re\flection is revenant to a number of different articles that are from our required readings. The articles that I found to be of interest is the discussions on the expansion of the 400 series highway that would open up the highway from Niagara falls to the city of Toronto. There seems to be some miss information between the land and the people who live in the area and tourism. The many directions and perspectives of all three involved need to sit down together and strengthen out there priorities and motivations. With the completion of the 400 series highway the efforts of people in the community’s well as the city of St. Catharine’s innatives of the entire climate action plan to go to waste. All of the efforts for this focus group may be undermined by the highway.
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