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Getting around to feed ourselves well
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Getting around to feed ourselves well
🚌 Getting around to feed ourselves well 🥦 Getting around to feed ourselves well
Heavy groceries!
Bus wait times!
Who can use the apples on a public tree?!
Getting Around to Feed Ourselves Well (the zine) explores the connections between food access and transportation for people living in BC and highlights policy recommendations from our coalition.
We had the pleasure of working with partners in Victoria, Surrey, Richmond, and across Vancouver to gather community members’ reflections. Participants in zine workshops ranged in age from three (with their trusted adult’s support) to over eighty, and all creatively depicted the current challenges and potential futures for food access and transportation experiences in BC.
Getting Around to Feed Ourselves Well timeline
2021: A collaborative research and engagement project, funded by the City of Vancouver and the SFU Community Engaged Research Initiative (SFU CERi), explored access to transit and food security hubs for low-income communities in Vancouver.
2024: Conversation reginited around food access and transportation policies in BC by hosting a creative workshop during the City of Vancouver’s Sustenance Festival.
2025: Hosted workshops throughout the spring. Community members explored and imagined their current and prospective experiences of food access and transportation. Participants submitted 68 pages of reflections, showcased in our digital gallery.
2025: Combined community reflection pages with policy recommendations to publish a 16-page zine.
2026: Distributing the zine to community partners and policy-makers across municipalities and at the provincial level.
Thank you to our collaborators for connecting us to community members through your programs and venues: Vancouver Sustenance Festival, Richmond Poverty Reduction Coalition, Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, Movement YVR, Fernwood Neighbourhood House, Mount Pleasant Community Centre, Seeds of Change Surrey, 312 Main, and South Vancouver Neighbourhood House.
The policy!
Our policy recommendations are led by area experts and aim to improve the lives of people across BC.
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Eliminate fares for all public transit riders in BC.
Start with free transit for teens (under 18) & for people receiving social assistance.
Fund and expand public inter-city and inter-regional bus services across the province.
Add benches & cover to all transit stops to ensure a more dignified waiting experience for riders.
Establish 24/7 bus routes to improve safety & connectivity.
Integrate HandyDART services fully into the public transportation system and end the sub-contracting of HandyDART to private companies.
Cease ticketing for fare evasion in all transit systems in BC.
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Legislate targets for food security & coordinate plans across jurisdictions.
Expand funding for comprehensive food programs in all public schools.
Develop equity-centered emergency plans for food reserves & food security in municipalities in the case of supply-chain disruption.
Support the not-for-profit sector with flexible funding for operational costs & programs to meet their communities’ immediate food access needs.
Invest in systemic, human rights-based & economic security initiatives to ensure dignified food access, provision & distribution.
Permit zoning opportunities for a wider range of food production distribution for individuals, collectives, & businesses across municipalities.
Prioritize & invest in abundant & healthy traditional Indigenous foods & ensure the peaceful enjoyment of Indigenous harvesting, hunting, and fishing rights.
Raise income and disability assistance rates so that people receiving income support can afford to meet their basic needs.
Mitigate corporate price gouging with price caps on essential goods.
