Strathcona Community Centre Food Security Program

Introduction
The Strathcona Community Centre (SCC) is situated on the east side of downtown Vancouver and services a population consisting primarily of low income families. The residents of this area are mainly Caucasian and Chinese and have an average household income of approximately $15,500 with almost 60% of the population living in low income housing (Statistics Canada, 2006). Low income populations are the most susceptible to food insecurity problems which means that this area is in need of charitable food provision programs to support healthy living.

Built in 1972, the SCC continues to play a pivotal role in the development of Strathcona youth. It currently provides seventeen food related programs which serve an average of two hundred children daily (Active Communities BC, 2009). These programs operate with the common goal of providing their participants with healthy and nutritious food. The programs also deliver nutrition education, hands on food preparation skills, and a safe environment to spend time outside of school. The SCC implemented the Strathcona Food Security for Children" initiative which aims to prevent hunger and malnutrition of children in Strathcona, the countryS poorest community (Canada Place Corporation, 2004). The Strathcona community needs these programs to help relieve the occurrence of transient hunger, especially among its youth population.

The Strathcona community is a population susceptible to food insecurity and transient hunger as a result of their low income status. Food insecurity is found to be evident in almost 50% of the lowest income population group in British Columbia (Statistics Canada, 2006) and is characterized by insufficient access to safe, affordable, nutritious, and healthy food. Low income families and those on income assistance have been averaged to spend from 31 to 42% of their monthly income on food alone (Statistics Canada, 2006). This is compared to an average British Columbian family of four who spends approximately 17% of their earned income on food (Statistics Canada, 2006).

Transient hunger is a very real risk for the youth living in Strathcona as their access to food is likely to fluctuate. While this population is generally not at risk for starvation, they are at risk for malnutrition and periods of time where their access to adequate food is limited. Poor nutritional status has been linked to poor social and physical development (Jyoti, Frongillo & Jones, 2005). The supported benefits of adequate nutrition are crime prevention, healthy growth and development, obesity prevention, elimination of transient hunger and food insecurity, enhanced learning and educational achievements and supporting an active lifestyle (Barbara Crocker, 2009).

The food security issues among youth living in the Strathcona area are very real and require immediate attention by potential stakeholders in the community. SCC has long been demonstrating their appreciation for this concern as they have been providing meals and snacks as part of their regular programming for some time.

While the current programs have been reported to be beneficial by the families who use them, SCCs true servicing potential has been cut short due to lack of resources. Even though a few organizations have come along side SCC and have offered their support in way of financial or in-kind donations, still, more investors are required.

It is our understanding that potential stakeholders may be aware of food security in a general sense, but are likely unaware of the opportunity that exists with leveraging the SCC programs in attempts to correct food insecurity in part. This may be because stakeholders view the programs offered by SCC as being recreational services as opposed to essential. The factor that differentiates one program type from another is whether or not the program is providing people with life skills that they wouldnt otherwise have an opportunity to obtain.



Strathcona Community Centre and Their Programs
The Strathcona Community Centre is unique because it has recognized the need for food in its community and, in response to this need, has integrated food into several of its existing programs. As a Parks Board community centre, the SCC is expected to offer programs which are no more than recreational. But, the SCC has become aware that, in the distinct community which it serves, food is often necessary for participants to fully benefit from its recreational programs. As a result, the SCC has come to share many values with the Vancouver Food Policy Council and The Vancouver Agreement which advocate for increasing health and wellness in the City of Vancouver (specifically in the DTES) through projects and initiatives dedicated to social justice, food security, and much more (City of Vancouver, 2009; Vancouver Agreement Coordination Unit, 2005). The programs which offer participants free food at the SCC contribute to this vision in a number of ways. Increasing the availability of food for children and improving food security is the most obvious contribution. However, the programs also provide opportunity for promoting obesity prevention, healthy growth and development, improved academic performance, inclusivity, family eating, the modeling of healthy behaviours, and crime prevention. We have illustrated how these themes are addressed in three programs: the Parent and Tot Snack Program, the Breakfast Program, and the After School Adventures Program.

Parent and Tot Snack Program
The Strathcona Community Center has a program specifically designed for young parents and toddlers. This program is a drop-in snack program that brings upwards of 45 parents and toddlers together three days a week, and is run by two SCC staff. It requires 16 hours of direct resources each week to operate at its current capacity, and also requires some additional time for planning and purchasing. The subsidized cost for families to participate is currently $3 per family per session.

INCLUSIVITY. Like all the other programs at Strathcona Community Center, the Parent and Tot Snack Program is deeply rooted in ts inclusive approach. It is a place where residents come together, build camaraderie, and be engaged with others in their community. Children and their parents come to this program to eat together and socialize with one another. It is a place where new and young parents share stories about their children, discuss child rearing practices, and learn from one another with more experienced parents helping to guide others through the challenges of raising children. Parents develop friendships and a support network with others in their community who are in the same life stage and undergoing similar experiences. Toddlers, too, can easily meet other children because this program offers them a safe environment to be in. These children are allowed to roam freely, be active and engage with other children, thus fostering their social development. The program also allows children to play with a variety of toys and playroom equipment that their parents may not otherwise be able to afford. This program promotes a sense of togetherness, and is a place where everyone feels comfortable, accepted, and welcome.

MODELING HEALTHY BEHAVIOURS. Fresh fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods are served at each session, and this exposes the young participants to a variety of foods they may not otherwise enjoy at home. The programs nutrition policy, community center's staff, parents, and peers serve as role models for healthful eating and promoting nutritious foods, and when children receive consistent messages from different channels and sources (parents, community programs, and peers), their willingness to adopt the promoted eating habits increase dramatically (Birch, 1980). In addition, research shows that exposure to a variety of food before the age of 18 months significantly increases the likelihood that these foods will continue to be enjoyed into adulthood (Barr, 2008).

FAMILY EATING. During snack time, parents sit and eat with their children, and this reinforces the importance of eating as a family. Families who eat together within the home are offered a whole host of benefits. Family meals strengthen the family unit and foster communication. It is a time that the family can talk and share the important things going on with one another, and children can adopt values and traditions. Studies have shown (Marino & Butkus, n.d.) that kids who eat with their family do better in school and are more well adjusted going into adolescence. Family meals provide for better nutrition, and children who enjoy family meals eat more vegetables and fruit, drink more juice and less soda, and use more low fat practices (i.e. trimming fat from meat). In addition, children also have higher intakes of dietary fiber and micronutrients, and therefore an overall healthier lifestyle.
Overall, this program brings people of the community together and promotes inclusivity, and provides a place where toddlers can be active and play in a safe environment thus fostering the development of social skills. It is also a place where parents and the Community Center can be role models for healthy eating, and promote the benefits of family eating. Together, this strengthens early childhood development and the development of the community.

Breakfast Program
The Breakfast Program at SCC is available year-round for the students of Strathcona Elementary School and their parents. Close to half of the children going to Strathcona Elementary School do not eat breakfast daily (Ron Suzuki, personal communication, February 10, 2009), but through funding from CIBC Wood -Gundy this program offers healthy and nutritious food daily. Breakfast includes a variety of fruit, toast, eggs, apple juice and milk, and pancakes, fruit salads and yogurt are also served once a week. After asking the children participating in the program what they enjoyed most about the program, the most common answer was that the children enjoyed the variety of foods that were offered in the Breakfast Program compared to what was offered at home. With the increasing costs of food and the busy lifestyles of parents, students are found to be hungrier every day. The hunger that the children experience was found to be reflected on their school work and school performance. Teachers from Strathcona Elementary School reported that these hungry children had no energy to focus on class activities and learning (Ron Suzuki, personal communication, February 10, 2009).

The Breakfast Program serves an average of 175-250 children per day during the school year and approximately 100-125 children per day during the summer. Originally, the breakfast was free of cost for both the children and their parents, but starting January 2009, the Breakfast Program began asking the parents for a donation of $2.00 due to the financial losses as a result of limited funding and resources. Currently, CIBC Wood-Gundy is providing funding for the Breakfast Program during the school year and Strathcona Community Centre is providing its own funds for the program in the summer. The Steve Nash Foundation was also responsible for generously providing funds for the renovations of the kitchen and some appliances used for the Breakfast Program and other programs (Active Communities, n.d.).

HEALTHY GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. Children experience exponential growth during childhood and appropriate nutrition plays an important role in cognitive, physical, and social development (Sorhaindo & Feinstein, 2006). The relationship between consuming breakfast and nutritional adequacy, leading to proper development, is strongly supported by scientific literature. Students that consume breakfast have higher daily intakes of micronutrients than students that skip breakfast. It has also been found that students who skip breakfast do not make up the deficit during the rest of the day, which could increase nutrient deficiency occurrence and ultimately lead to symptoms related to malnutrition (Rampersaud, Pereira, & Girard, 2005). Skeletal development, motor skills, sight, hearing, and body mass index are all areas of physical development that are influenced by diet (Rampersaud, Pereira, & Girard, 2005). Recent literature also suggests that good dietary habits are an important component in promoting optimal cognition and behavioural development (Bellisle, 2004; Rampersaud, Pereira, & Girard, 2005). Bellisle (2004) reports that children who are malnourished and omit breakfast exhibit lower cognitive performance. The Breakfast program also offers a safe and social environment for the students, which, as mentioned previously, may enhance students? social development. It provides an opportunity to teach social skills and for students to share and assume responsibilities. After the children consume a well balanced breakfast it is not uncommon to observe lively conversations and numerous fun-filled card games occurring around the room. As a society, the family meal has begun to disappear; the Breakfast program provides an environment where the children are able to interact with their peers, fostering social development.

OBESITY AND CHRONIC DISEASE. Promoting healthy eating behaviours early in life may decrease the risk of obesity and chronic diseases, such as Type II Diabetes and cardiovascular disease later in life. Children who regularly consume breakfast are more likely to have normal BMI and are 50% less likely to develop obesity and resistance to insulin, a precursor to Type II Diabetes (ActNowBC, 2008). Jyoti and et al. (2005) found that kindergarten boys and girls who were food insecure scored lower in reading and mathematics. They also found that food insecurity increased social impairment for boys, and weight and BMI measurements for girls. In 2006, the British Columbia Ministry of Health reported that combined the direct and indirect costs of obesity to the province would total between $860 million. The projected costs are estimated to reach $1.1 billion by 2016. That figure does not factor in an increase in prevalence rate. Aggressive strategies are required to decrease the prevalence of obesity and related chronic illnesses and reduce the burden put on our health care system.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. Children from families that report periods of transient hunger are more likely to demonstrate behavioural and academic problems on standardized tests of psychosocial impairment than children from the same low-income communities whose families do not report periods of transient hunger. (Kleinman, 2002).The Breakfast program ensures that every child attending Strathcona Elementary has the opportunity to eat a well-balanced meal, which positively impacts students? performance. They are less distracted by hunger, increasing their ability to concentrate. A well-nourished child is a child ready to learn (Breakfast for Learning, 2006).

In summary, the Breakfast Program not only provides food to hungry children in the community, it also enhances healthy growth and development, improves academic performance, prevents obesity, and most importantly helps to eliminate transient hunger.

After School Adventures
The After School Adventures (ASA) program has been in existence for 10 years and was designed to provide a safe, fun and stimulating environment for children grades K to 7. In addition to providing a place for the 45-50 children it cares for each day the snack? component of the program also feeds an additional 100 children nutritious, high quality snacks. Participants pay $125 per term for a total of three terms to participate in the ASA program. This affordable fee is only possible through the generous donations provided by organizations such as Canada Place Corporation.
Program staff see the benefits this program provides everyday to the children. The snacks provided help alleviate the hunger children experience during the long wait for the parents to come home and make dinner. It also provides them with a place to socialize with other children, participate in free play, and assist staff with prep work while learning essential life skills, and it also frees older children from the responsibility of having to watch over younger children. It essentially lets children be children in a healthy, stimulating environment.

OBESITY AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. Children in food insecure areas are more susceptible to problems such as obesity and type 2 diabetes (Food Research and Action Center, 2005). Obesity is related to the affordability of calorie dense, nutrient poor foods and decreased opportunities to participate in physical activity. Strathcona community center not only provides children with opportunities to participate in the supervised activities but food so children have enough energy to participate. According to testimonials from children, without ASA they would either be sitting home alone in front of the television or waiting at the library for their parents to pick them up.

AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES AND CRIME PREVENTION. After-school programs, such as the Strathcona ASA Program, serve many important functions including a role in crime prevention. These programs provide a safe and friendly atmosphere that keep kids off the street while their parents are still at work. The US Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention states that juvenile crime peaks in the hours immediately after school. Youth who have few activities available, whose friends are prone to negative behaviour, or who experience other risk factors are more likely to go astray in this unsupervised time. Furthermore, this is also the time when youth are more vulnerable to be victims of violence (Bilchick, 1999). The Afterschool Alert Bulletin states that self-care and boredom can increase the likelihood that a young person will experiment with drugs and alcohol by as much as 50 percent. Furthermore, youth tend to develop patterns of substance use or non-use between the ages of 12-15 (After School Alliance, 2007). Crime prevention may not be as applicable for younger children, but those in grade 6 and 7 may be already prone to problematic behaviour. Therefore, a program such as the one at Strathcona keeps kids out of trouble as well as providing for a safer community. One recommendation would be to allow older siblings that may be in junior high school to participate in the program, since this is a high risk neighbourhood.

FOOD INSECURITY AND CRIME PREVENTION. There is an important link between food insecurity and disruptive and delinquent behavior that can lead to crime. Programs such as this one provide good quality snacks to keep children nourished and help eliminate transient hunger. Many of the benefits of keeping kids well-fed have already been explored, but the link between behaviour and food security is a crucial one, as has been demonstrated by numerous studies. It has been shown that food-insufficient teenagers were more than twice as likely to have seen a psychologist, almost three times as likely to have been suspended, almost twice as likely to have a lot or some difficulty getting along with others, and four times as likely to have no friends (Alaimo, 2001). Murphy and colleagues have found higher levels of hyperactivity, absenteeism, and tardiness among hungry children (1998) and Jyoti and colleagues have demonstrated a greater decline in social skills for kindergarten boys (2005). Furthermore, studies done with animals that can be translated to humans have found that food deprivation would unquestionably affect an individual's life making him/her more easily frustrated, more anxious, or less adaptable to stressful situations (Alaimo, 2001), which can be all related to crime prevention.
In summary, the After-school Adventures Program provides a safe and caring environment for children to play and enjoy snacks while they wait for their parents to come home from work. In this way, the programs works on eliminating transient hunger, promoting physical activity and through this helping fight obesity, as well as helping with crime prevention by developing social skills in children and promoting inclusivity.

Benefits of the Program
Foremost, SCC has made great efforts to help develop healthy eating habits for children through their repeated exposure to wholesome food. Fresh fruits and vegetables are offered to the children everyday and, according to our observations; most children appear to recognize the benefits of eating them. Further, the integration of food into their recreational programs has provided education opportunities for both kids and parents. For example:

• kids learn about what food is and where it comes from, and in doing so helps bridge the disconnect in knowledge about the farm being an integral part of the food system
• kids and parents are empowered through the development of essential life skills during cooking classes, food safety and hygiene classes
• kids and parents broaden their knowledge about different cultures through exposure to different ethnic foods

Over the years, SCC has built a strong alliance with neighbouring schools - most notably Admiral Seymour Elementary School and Lord Strathcona Elementary School. Collaboration with these teachers and principals has provided benefits to SCC, such as:

1.receiving support and input for their programs (this allows SCC to tailor their programs such that they suit the specific needs of the community), and
2.accepting member referrals thereby expanding SCCs sphere of influence to better ensure that individuals in need are being served.

Conclusion
The Parent and Tot Snack Program, Breakfast Program, and After School Adventures Program are just three of the SCC initiatives which offer essential services to the Strathcona community. Every leisure program that has incorporated food into its structure assists a family in need by promoting healthy eating, providing after school activities, or addressing food security and hunger issues.