GROW will address two key strategic directions to combat food insecurity and promote healthier lifestyles for low-income community members:

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1. Healthy Food Access: access to healthy, local, and culturally

acceptable food.

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2. Food Literacy and Skills: information, knowledge, relationships, capacity, agency and the environment to support healthy eating and to make healthy choices.

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GROW will address and focus on providing fresh quality food, along with culturally relevant food literacy skills and training to individuals and groups in Niagara Falls, in an effort to improve healthy eating and improve population health. GROW is a non-partisan supporter of all people, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, race or religion, thereby ensuring everyone has access to healthy and fresh food.

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GROW addresses a current gap in the community and will be the first food literacy centre of its kind in the Niagara Region. According to Niagara Region Public Health, 49,000 people in Niagara are receiving government assistance. Food insecurity affects 10% of Niagara households and a quarter of these households have no place to go for food. Feedback from our Community Advisory Committee revealed that residents in the neighbourhood of GROW live in a food desert, and are forced to purchase groceries at the Dollar Store or the corner convenience store.

 

GROW believes in creating a dignified access to food within the community. Through close collaboration with community partners and input from local residents, a Community Advisory Committee has been established to ensure that various voices in the community are heard, including those with lived experiences.

 

Our Community Advisory Committee is comprised of residents with lived experiences.

Some of our members have experienced homelessness, extreme poverty, and food insecurity. Members represent diverse backgrounds, demographics or identify as: single parent, indigenous, veteran, high school student, college student, LGBTQ2S, senior, people with disabilities/mental health.