Community food mentor program expanding in Saint John

A program to promote healthy eating practices will further its presence in the Saint John area later this year.

The Community Food Mentor (CFM)initiative trains mentors to teach others about cooking, food security, healthy food shoppingon a budget and local food sourcing in the province.

The first programs were piloted in Moncton in 2010. Now, close to 400 people have taken courses in 20 communities in New Brunswick.

A fourth local program will be started in Saint John in the spring.

Lori Heron, a Public Health dietician in the Saint John region, says people participating in the programs want to give back to their communities.

"They may be people representing social enterprise, their workplace or their churchThey all come in with different goals and different interests but they share that common passion for their community and for food," Heron said Monday onInformation Morning Saint John.

"Maybe it's in teaching cooking skills, or starting a community gardenParticipants who never would have known each other have gotten the chance to come together through that shared passion for food and community to start some really interesting programs."

5 days of workshops

Erin Hodge, a coordinator at the Pregnancy Resource Centre in Saint John, recently completed the food mentor training course.

She plans to take the meal planning skills she learned back to her clients.

"I wanted to figure out a way to build the skills I was starting at the centre, we did some life skill classes and I wanted to figure out how I can better support the people I work with every day," Hodge said.

"[With] food security being such an issue with the clients I work withI hope to do something for people to make their own baby food using the skills I'vegotten."

To become a community food mentor, participants attend what is typically five days of workshops where they share knowledge and cook together. They also take a one day Food Safety Certificationcourse as part of the program.

Local CFM programs in Saint John region are funded throughthe Department of Social Development's community food action grant, and in partnership with the United Way of Greater Saint John.