Sherbourne Health Food for Good
At Sherbourne Health, we believe that everyone deserves access to supports that address physical and mental health, and which also impact social determinants of health. Food security is one of those determinants.
The Sherbourne Health Food for Good (FFG) initiative creates opportunities that increase access to food and connect people to community. FFG integrates the many food and nutrition support programs we provide to individuals who face food insecurity, need support to manage their dietary restrictions and want to improve their quality of health and wellbeing, as well as food insecurity and community building.
Purpose
Sherbourne offers food and nutrition programs run by a staff of licensed dietitians and health professionals, and we continuously adapt programming to meet our clients’ needs. Here are some of the ways we are working towards our goals:
- Offering food hampers, grab-and-go snacks, and food cards for our service users
- Creating community-building programs around food, culture and health including:
- Our weekly accessible produce market Food For Good Market Greens, featuring locally grown fruits and vegetables.
- Greens Rx, a program offering subsidized purchases at Market Greens for Sherbourne Health service users.
- Limin, an intergenerational 2SLGBTQ cooking program for African, Carribean and Black communities.
- Diabetes Support Group, offering nutritional information, community and support to people with diabetes.
- Food and Friends
- Supporting the St. James Town Catering Collective, a successful income-generating venture run by newcomer women.
Sherbourne recognizes that in order to assist people facing food in security, poverty, and social isolation, we need to expand our approach to include skills development along with nutritional education.
To do this, we are working towards building a new lobby café that will offer healthier options and employ at-risk populations, making more effective use of our community kitchen, and looking towards the creation of a rooftop garden to provide fresh produce for our food programs. All of these enhancements are supplemented by learning opportunities and practical skills development for our clients and service users.
To Achieve its Purpose, FFG Outlines Four Main Objectives:
Providing Healthy Food Options to Those in Need
Target food insecurity so that those most vulnerable in our community have access to healthy food.
Nurturing Health
Promote and teach approaches to healthy eating so people can manage and maintain good health on their own terms.
Creating Opportunities
Develop sustainable training initiatives that build skills and knowledge about food and food services and support employment opportunities.
Connecting People and Building Strong Communities
Develop spaces for community members to cook together, share personal stories, and foster relationships that build strong communities and reduce social isolation.
Get Involved
Help us create opportunities that increase access to food and connect people to community, and provide individuals facing food insecurity with the sustenance and support they need during the healthcare crisis. Donate now to the Food for Good initiative.
Learn More
For more information about Food for Good, contact Joe Goulart at jgoulart@sherbourne.on.ca.
Our Community of Supporters
Special thanks to our Food for Good community partners for their generous support during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has allowed us to continue to provide safe, essential care to our clients and communities:
- Community Food Centres Canada
- Community Foundations of Canada
- FoodShare
- Gay Lea Foundation
- Good Food Access Fund
- Green Sanderson Family Foundation
- Greenrock Charitable Trust
- La Fondation Emmanuelle Gattuso
- Rotary Club of Toronto
- Second Harvest
- TD Bank
- The Katharina Weger Foundation
- Tippet Foundation
- Unifor Social Justice Fund
- United Way Greater Toronto
Thanks also to the Deloitte Creative Team for providing pro bono services towards the design and production of the Food for Good visual identity and poster campaign.