Free food, good friends, great cause! What is the Community Cabbage and how can we help them?

by · February 26, 2018

One Friday afternoon I was making my way over to the Student Union Building, as one does, but right before making it to my destination I noticed a large tent with signs reading ‘Free Food!’

Well, of course, I stopped. As university students, many of us find ourselves on a very tight budget and we are constantly seeking free or very cheap food sources. So I grabbed a bag of produce and a cinnamon bun and was on my way.

This happened a few times before I thought to ask one of the people at the tent who they were and where all of this free food was coming from. And here’s what they said:

The Community Cabbage:

  1. A student run organization that serves free weekly hot meals on campus.
  2. The food served is prepared from reclaimed food.
  3. Reclaimed food: food that is or will be thrown away due to beauty standards or best by dates regardless of whether that food is actually edible or not.

Community Cabbage Facebook page

Community Cabbage website

I was instantly in awe of this organization. What an incredible initiative and what convenient results! They were supporting food sustainability and at the same time giving me FREE food!

So one day when the MyUVic Life Blog Coordinators told me that I could have $100 to put towards an idea I was passionate about I knew what I had to do.

I sent an email to the Community Cabbage and asked them: What can I do to help?

I wanted to know what they could do or improve with $100 dollars and I wanted to be a part of making that happen.

The Community Cabbage reclaims food from all over Victoria and in order to do so a volunteer driver is needed to transport food from each location. The Cabbage wants to be as sustainable as possible and requiring a vehicle is holding them back. And even worse, sometimes a driver isn’t available and they lose the chance to serve food that day. So with $100 the Community Cabbage decided they wanted to build a bike cart to transport the food instead.

Here we have the final product. Ain’t she just a beauty?

Now, I know we don’t all just have $100 lying around but there are still things we can all do to help the Community Cabbage expand and improve their cause:

  1. Go attend their serves! They happen from 12-1pm every Friday and, if you can, donate.
  2. Become a volunteer. They’re always happy to have people help collect and cook food.
  3. Spread the word. Tell your friends, share their Facebook posts, let people know that something amazing is happening on campus.  

Check out the video below to see how the Community Cabbage is truly creating change for countless students at UVic!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZQYxizPYl0&feature=youtu.be

Thank you so much to the MyUVic Life coordinators for giving me this opportunity. Thank you to the Community Cabbage for being willing to partake in this project and for being so helpful along the way. Special thanks to Mike Graeme for helping me with the filming for the video.

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