A Shared Table: Food, Culture & Identity, by Flavours of Hope

A SHARED TABLE: FOOD, CULTURE & IDENTITY

In a time of increasing divisions, food has the healing power to break down barriers, build bridges between cultures, and amplify the voices of women of colour. Join us for an engaging conversation on Tuesday, September 29 at 4:00pm with a panel of women leaders and change makers in the communities.

By sharing stories of migration and intersections between food, culture and identity, we hope to shed light on how women are leading the way in preserving traditions and uniting people together around the table and in the community. Our hope is to create spaces and opportunities for people to listen, learn, and take actions to create positive changes through food, dialogue, and community.

As settlers on Indigenous land, we are holding this conversation on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.

This online event is co-hosted by the non-profit social enterprise Flavours of Hope and Canadian Community Action & Restorative Empowerment Society.

EVENT TICKETS

Tickets are pay what you can. All the ticket sales will support the work of Flavours of Hope in empowering women through celebration of food, culture, and stories. A Zoom link and instructions will be provided to participants.

PANELISTS

Marialejandra Reyes Valerio – Born in Venezuela in 1982, Marialejandra arrived in Canada in 2018 as a refugee and settled in BC. As a result of the settlement experience, she has developed a deep interest to serve in the social services sector using her project management and leadership skills. She is passionate about well-being, intercultural learning, and social justice, and enjoys being a part of women empowerment initiatives. She is currently working as a Cultural Facilitator for Flavours of Hope and a Program Resource Outreach Worker for the Women’s Economic Council of Canada. She loves cooking and sharing Venezuelan food and culture with people in the community.

Melanie Matining – Melanie is first generation Filipina settler on unceded xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) land. Her work focuses on creating equitable and just systems to support diversity and inclusion in the workplace. She is a Consultant and Associate at Elevate Inclusion Strategies and currently sits as the Co-Chair for the Multicultural Advisory Council for BC. On the day to day, she work walks everyday in love and liberation alongside communities working towards Indigenous solidarity, migrant justice, and queer rights.

Anne Kang – An immigrant from Taiwan, Anne has lived in Burnaby for more than 30 years and is a trailblazer in Canadian politics, having served the community of Burnaby as a 3-term city councillor and currently serving as the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Burnaby – Deer Lake. Anne now serves as British Columbia’s Minister of Citizens’ Services and Minister Responsible for Multiculturalism. Despite all her various responsibilities, Anne still finds time to prepare meals for herself and 2 young children. In the past, she has hosted virtual events, sharing her family recipes. Anne hopes that cuisines can continue to allow us to express our own identities and to bridge different cultures.

Trixie Ling – As a Taiwanese immigrant and settler, Trixie is passionate about creating intercultural spaces and opportunities to learn together, break down barriers, and build relationships through food. She founded the non-profit social enterprise Flavours of Hope in 2018 with the vision of empowering newcomer women to flourish and experience belonging in the community through cooking, storytelling, and entrepreneurship. She finds much joy in gathering around a table and eating with newcomers, neighbours, and friends.

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/a-shared-table-food-culture-identity-tickets-121122509687