ABOUT US

TOGETHER WE GROW, TOGETHER WE THRIVE.

OUR MISSION

It is our mission to build community through food security and education (literacy) in order to break down barriers and promote complete health and wellbeing.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

  • Engaging more directly with your food as it is being grown (whether in your backyard, in a community garden, or even on your windowsill) creates healthier eating habits.
  • Cooking healthy and delicious meals can be easy and affordable, especially if you understand how to incorporate seasonal fresh food and how to reduce food waste.
  • Learning about growing, preparing, and preserving the food you eat builds confidence and connections. Food can bring people together.

OUR GOALS

  1. We want to create a social platform that brings members of the Westview community and other communities together to build healthier eating habits that are maintainable in the long-term.
  2. Since many aspects of eating are social (meeting friends at a restaurant, mindlessly snacking while watching movies together), we plan to redirect food’s characteristic of togetherness to benefit the community and the choices we make rather than to let these choices impact us negatively.
  3. By creating a program that brings members of the community together to cook meals and learn about simple changes we can make to our regular eating habits, we can motivate each other to make healthier decisions in everyday life.

OUR BEGINNING

The climate in London was changing in the late 1960’s.  A spirit of community was growing.  It was at this time that Mary Barber, Assistant Librarian at the London Public Library, visited a library in Amsterdam that had incorporated a community development model.  She returned with the idea that London should have such a centre, and began promoting the concept of a place that would house community activities, documents and agencies.

A committee was formed, including Mary, David Harvey, Peggy Bottom and Ormah Gibson, and a proposal was submitted to the Library Board.  A site was found on Queens Avenue in 1974 and the London Community Resource Centre was launched!

The centre relocated to 388 Dundas Street in the autumn of 1978, where it remained until February 2005.  Over the years, it housed over 100 charitable and non-profit organizations, providing a necessary launching pad for some organizations, supported by the expertise to be found within the centre.  With a diversity of organizations under its roof, it provided one-stop shopping for many citizens seeking help.  The centre initiated and developed numerous community projects and linked individuals with organizations and resources in the community.

Grow Cook Learn is the culmination of the food security projects undertaken by the London Community Resource Centre (LCRC).  Since 2002, LCRC has facilitated a variety of community-based programs such as: London’s Community Gardens, Cook It Up, Collective Kitchens, Healthy Tidbits at the Food Bank, and Community Food Advisors. The Grow Cook Learn program builds on this experience to provide more options and opportunities for people to grow, prepare, preserve and enjoy locally grown fresh food.

LCRC envisions a community with resources that enable people to work together to improve their quality of life. Our mission is to improve our collective well being by bringing together individuals, organizations and resources to foster community action and create positive social change.