The issue of food quality in Powell River’s hospital and seniors’ homes has not gone away. Raised dramatically last fall in a front-page Peak story, the issue will be addressed by a coalition of local groups in a series of public meetings intended to examine the problem and identify long-term solutions.
The first meeting will take place at 6:30 pm Tuesday, February 21, at the Vancouver Island University (VIU) campus, room 148. The series is co-sponsored by Powell River Voices, VIU and the Council of Canadians.
The evening will feature two speakers knowledgeable about the issue: Colleen Kimmett, an investigative reporter who wrote a three-part series on the issue in 2012, and Elaine Steiger, the local seniors’ advocate who brought the issue to light last September.
In her series published online at thetyee.ca, Kimmett discovered that some institutions in Canada still prepare meals onsite. However, in BC, most are contracted out to large corporations such as Sodexo, which provides food services to Willingdon Creek Village, Evergreen Care Unit and the hospital.
In her investigations, Kimmett found it extremely difficult to get answers to her questions about what is actually in the food served by the corporate giant, or if this contracting out actually saves money.
Steiger is still actively advocating for seniors and healthy food. “What a lot of people forget is that the extended care unit is people’s home,” says Steiger. “They should be treated with dignity and should be able to eat well. Food should be seen as equally important as medicine in health outcomes.”
While food quality may have improved a bit as a result of the publicity about the situation in Powell River, there is no guarantee it won’t go backward, according to Trish Cocksedge, a member of Council of Canadians and Powell River Voices. We should not just accept that food served in public institutions is going to be sub-standard, she says.
According to the coalition of concerned citizens, there are alternatives and our community needs to explore them.
Murray Dobbin is an author, commentator and community activist.
