Come to the Table

On Wednesday October 21^st, 2015 the Somerville Food Security Coalition along with dedicated community partners hosted “Come to the Table!” – a community meal that was part of the 2015 Food Day events. Food was provided via Food for Free from Harvard Dining as part of their food rescue efforts. The meal took place at Connexion Church, a colorful and cozy location filled with festive fall décor.

Over 85 people, ranging from all ages, attended the event. The night was filled with food, drawings for door prizes, fun activities for the kids, and resources providing information about food access in the Somerville area.

Children were provided with interactive placements, “Finding your Way to Healthy Living in Somerville”, that were designed through a collaborative effort by the Somerville PEP partners. Activities on the placements included nutrition themed coloring that asked them to color the rainbow of fruits and vegetables. They also participated in a bracelet making activity which highlighted what is needed for plants to grow into food.

 

Community members also participated in dot surveys posted around the venue to gauge the community response for questions such as what the most critical food issue was. Responses overwhelmingly stated affordability was the most important issue and the runner up was access to food.

Throughout the event information about the various food security resources for Somerville were available for attendees. These included things such as the 2015 Food Resource Guide, flyers on ways to get involved and examples of recipes from Leanne Brown’s cookbook, Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4 a Day. The 2015 Food Resource Guide will be available online at www.SFSC.org.

 

 

By the end of the night, almost everyone who attended the event left with a door prize. Prizes ranged from sugar pumpkins to t-shirts to water bottles and so on. The Food Security Coalition also gave out bags with healthy food options such as shelf stable meals and local apples for those who attended.

The “Come to the Table!” was an incredible success and we cannot wait till the next one! Somerville Food Security Coalition is working make community meals such as these a monthly event and we are looking for volunteers. If you are interested, please contact Lisa Burkilacchio at lbrukilacchio@challiance.org and visit www.SFSC.org for more information about our efforts.

Once again, a huge thank you to our partners, including but not limited to: Food for Free, Somerville Community Health Agenda/CHA, Somerville Family Learning Collaborative (SFLC), Somerville Homeless Coalition, Somerville Public Schools Farm to School/PEP, Teen Empowerment, Shape up Somerville and Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service.