Nova ScotiaA new program in Halifax is tackling the barriers that keep some 2SLGBTQ+ people from food programs, while helping them build community and food security. The Lavender Kitchen is a new initiative to break some barriers that people face when accessing food programsListen to this articleEstimated 2 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Lavender Kitchen also drops off food at community fridges around the city, including one behind the Glitter Bean Cafe. (Alicia Guo)A program started in Halifax this summer helps people in the 2SLGBTQ+ community access food.The Lavender Kitchen is a collaboration that includes Feed Nova Scotia, the Youth Project and the Loaded Ladle — a soup kitchen located at Dalhousie University’s student union building.At the Loaded Ladle location, the Lavender Kitchen runs on Fridays. It holds cooking lessons one week and social or educational gatherings the next.Volunteers package and take the food to different community fridges around the city, including one behind the Glitter Bean Cafe, which calls itself a queer-centric space.Alicia Guo, a co-ordinator for the Loaded Ladle, says it is an opportunity to feed people who need it while also promoting useful life skills.”The kitchen space in general is such a special space for people to collaborate and have something to do, have something to share,” she said.A study published by Mount Saint Vincent University professors earlier this year identified several reasons why 2SLGBTQ+ individuals feel there are barriers related to food programs.Those include distrust of religious institutions where some food banks are located, concerns about data collection, and a perceived lack of understanding of 2SLGBTQ+ issues among staff and volunteers.The Lavender Kitchen runs on Fridays at the Loaded Ladle. (Alicia Guo)The Lavender Kitchen prepares upwards of 100 meals each Friday, according to Guo.In a statement, Feed Nova Scotia says it contributes $30,000 and $35,000 to the program.”The program is part of our work to invest in, and support community-led models of food access for equity deserving communities,” the statement says.Feed Nova Scotia declined an interview with CBC News.The Lavender Kitchen prepares between 80 and 100 servings and donates the leftovers to community kitchens. (Alicia Guo)Calendula Sack, an educator with the Youth Project, says she has worked with people who are food insecure and homeless and has heard about some barriers in accessing food, including how some have been treated unfairly by the institutions that should serve them.Sack says that is why spaces that are for the 2SLGBTQ+ community and supporters matter.”If you are explicitly told this space is for you and created by people like you, then that lowers the barrier, that burden,” she said. “Having the opportunity to create a network of people can be life-saving.”MORE TOP STORIESABOUT THE AUTHORGiuliana is a journalist originally from Lima, Peru. She is interested in stories about rural Nova Scotia, science, the environment and more. If you have any story tips, you can reach her at giuliana.grillo.de.lambarri@cbc.ca.
New program in Halifax aims to help 2SLGBTQ+ people access food services
