Exploring Canadian Identity

Join the Food Revolution Summit to Reboot Your Health

The 8th Annual Food Revolution Summit begins later this month.

This is something I listen to every April. These conversations have given me more nutritional and medical knowledge than any other activity I’ve ever participated in, including the times I’ve met with a nutritionist about my own diet.

I’ve gained an extra 10 pounds since January, so I’ll be listening with an aim to re-inspire my efforts to eat well and exercise enough.

The sessions are free for nine days. After that, the Food Revolution sells mp3 copies of all the interviews as a way to fund raise for their organization.

I’m always an affiliate of the event, so if you use my affiliate link to sign up for the conference and then you purchase something, I get a commission. Thank you if you choose to support my work this way.

The first time I listened to this event, I heard the following speakers:

Mimi Guarneri speaking about Integrative Health.
David Perimutter presenting the gut-brain connection.
Ron Finley who spoke about growing healthy food and communities.
Jane Goodall, who needs no presentation.
David Katz, who spoke the Optimal Diet for Human Beings; and
Susan Pierce Thompson spoke about achieving permanent weight loss, and who was in my first-ever coaching cohort with Ryan Eliason (I’ll be an affiliate for his program in June).

Have you ever participated in this summit? If so, who were your favourite speakers.

Earth Day and Easter Monday in Montreal

Earth Day and Easter Monday fall on the same day this year–next Monday.

Grand Potager will hold a free family urban agriculture day at the Verdun Municipal Greenhouses and Coop CAUS will participate.

If you have children ten years old and younger, be sure to come at 11 a.m. for an easter egg hunt in the vegetable gardens. Every kiosk will have activities for the young ones all day long.

You can also pick up compost, seeds, seedlings, gardening gloves, shears and other items for the season ahead.

Then, in May, the entire island of Montreal celebrates gardening with Cultiver Montreal. There will be workshops all month.

Hope to see you there!

Somewhere in the Middle with Michele Burard

Had a wonderful conversation with Somewhere in the Middle host Michele Burard that was posted Friday night.

Michele’s podcast features conversations with wellness experts, coaches, entrepreneurs, politicians and writers. Her goal is to create a:

safe place where we can learn and grow together. We discuss a variety of topics, ranging from love to politics to money and business and beyond, because the human experience is wide and varied.”

We spent an hour talking about creative entrepreneurship, spirituality, family history and working hard to profile real people in a way that helps us understand the present.

Michele was born in the deep south so we talked a lot about colonization, democracy and the differences between living in a hot climate and surviving in what Michèle calls the “frozen north.”

Hope you enjoy our conversation.

Funny Friday: Sea Otters Holding Hands

This is more cute than funny, but it’s a worthwhile watch none-the-less.

Farewell SouthWest Mission

I’m so sorry that the Southwest United Church in Verdun will close its Mission in Verdun Elementary School on Melrose Street at the end of June when their current lease runs out.

Community group members have known about this for a while and church members for a bit longer than that, but the decision became public after Sophie Poisson wrote an article in French about it for the Verdun Messenger last week.

A day later, SouthWest posted more info to their Facebook page.

The Wednesday community lunch and the Mini-market are relocating to Dawson Boys and Girls Club as of April 24th.
In case it is ambiguous from reading the article, SouthWest Mission will remain in the Verdun Elementary building until the end of our lease on June 30th. In terms of Bonhomme à lunettes and the Halte allaitement (not halte garderie), we are hopeful these services, as well as two weekly AA meetings, will continue in the Mission space after SouthWest leaves, but there have been no guarantees. We have encouraged these groups to communicate directly with the school board which will make all decisions about the use of the space.

It’s going to take Dawson a while to restart the lunches, so the last one will be April 17 and the new ones will start sometime in the summer.

For more than a decade, Verdun residents who speak English have counted on the Mission to get healthy local food, have a gathering place with immigrant and French-speaking neighbours, and get local community projects underway (Un plante de tomate, Good Food Box, Wednesday mini-markets, marché-mobile, Verdun sans Faim, and événement santé to name a few). This despite the fact that very little public funding can be distributed directly to religious groups. The SouthWest Mission worked with partners who served as fiduciaries.

Throughout all this time, everyone involved worked hard to keep the Mission and the Church aligned. Looking back now, it’s clear that the project has been teeter-tottering over the last few years. Cracks appeared in the happy dedicated ambience that marked the location in its early years. Volunteers and employees struggled to work happily together. I wish things had been easier for all of you. Thanks so much for your work.

And thanks especially to Darlene, Léonore, Sheila and the others who have stepped forward to continue their projects at Dawson Boys and Girls Club. Your efforts on behalf of the community are so appreciated. Thank you enormously. And thank you Dawson for offering to help keep the projects going. We so appreciate it.

And lastly, farewell to Reverend David Lefneski. Thanks so much for making Verdun a better place.

Throughout all his years working in Verdun, David worked tirelessly with Amy, Darlene, Léonore, Sheila and countless others to get vulnerable people assistance, attention, community, health care, nutrition and whatever else they needed. Most of those of us who work on community projects have his cell phone number. I can say first hand that he responded to needs almost any time of the day.

I’m sorry to hear that Verdun will lose him as a regular leader in our community. He has been splitting his time with a church in Cowansville for several months now and will move there permanently at some point in the future. I hope his new community appreciates his enthusiasm and good-will just as Verdun has for many years. If any of you are reading this, and you want to get to know your new pastor, please listen to my podcast interview with him. I hope he’s as successful at building community there as he has been in Verdun.

In some ways, it’s not farewell anyway. Knowing David, I trust that he’ll find a way to connect Verdun with Cowansville in some wacky project in the future.

At least I hope so.