Dialouges Inspired by Food and Cooking

For the past couple months I’ve had the oppertunity to work with the Surrey “Welcoming Communities Dialogues Inspired by Food and Cooking”. This wonderful program hosts six different cooking sessions from different cultures working with different societies such as Pacific Community Resources, S.U.C.E.S.S., DiverseCity and more.

What could be more universal than a love of tasty and interesting food? And, for some, food is a great entree into the topic of welcoming new immigrants to the community.

Culinary events will pair cooking demonstrations with awareness building. Partner groups will create tasty dishes from Korean, Indian, Filipino, Chinese, African and Middle Eastern repertoires, enabling Surrey residents to sample delicious cuisine and fascinating cultures at the same time.

The City of Surrey, Surrey Parks, Recreation & Culture and six community service agencies are working together to host the six Welcoming Communities dialogues. The intent of these events is to attract those who may not have considered issues related to the development of welcoming communities. The dialogues will engage attendees in facilitated discussions on the challenges faced by newcomers to Surrey and means for the community and its residents to be more welcoming. The six agencies hosting the events will be:

Options Community Services Society – Korean cooking and food
Progressive Intercultural Community Services – Indian cooking and food
S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Surrey Delta Service Centre – Filipino cooking and food
DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society – Chinese cooking and food
Umoja Operation Compassion Society – African cooking and food
Pacific Community Resources – Middle Eastern cooking and food

This wonderful program was organized by Jessica Danyk, and has recieved a very positive response by all attendees. Each session serves up a three course meal, and the food is amazing. The Chef’s are all world class!

The host of the Program is Alden Habacon, Director of Intercultural Understanding Strategy Development at the University of British Columbia and founder of Schema Magazine.

I’ve linked some photos and video from the first three sessions, that focused on Korean, Indian, and Phillipino cuisine and culture. If you are interested in signing up for the program, visit the website here: http://www.wicsurrey.org/projects/dialogues-inspired-by-cooking.