T’is the Season of Moral Distress By Karen Secord It’s that time of year again; the couple of months before Christmas when people are inspired by the circumstances of others to pick a charity and give back in the spirit of the holidays. Year after year the cycle repeats itself.  Sadly, there is a moral distress I feel at this time of year. It explodes in the tension between our commitment to influence the creation of a more equitable system – a year long struggle – and the condensed six to eight weeks at the end of every year when many people look up from their busy lives and feel an obl ..read more

The Challenge of Upholding Human Rights Through Charity By Karen Secord Last week someone dropped off a bin of second-hand underwear. This came on the heels of a donation of mostly expired tins from a “food drive”; a box of gross moldy produce, and toiletries that someone had partly used then discarded. It is hard not to feel deflated. It’s why our commitment to creating spaces where wholesome food is the centerpiece for connection, health and belonging has been so important, our mantra – Food is a Human Right echoes throughout 30 Rosemount and 5 Hamilton Avenue. It’s also why we try to direc ..read more

By Karen Secord When I turned 50 my family and friends had a surprise party for me. As I recall, I really didn’t feel much like celebrating anything; my life had been in transition and it often felt like I was floating in the dark, grasping for a “thing” that would ground me. But the evening took an unexpected turn when one after another young people who had spent time with me over the years stood up and told rehearsed stories about my, um, idiosyncrasies. Suddenly, I felt as though I was, and indeed always had been, exactly where I was meant to be. I laughed until I cried. And we all were re ..read more

Simple Connections. Complicated Changes. By Karen Secord two children painting on a large white canvas with the PFC heart logo in the center “Connection (is) the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgement,…” ~ Brene Brown There is no worse place to be than being unknown in a room of people who are familiar with each other. I know well, that nauseous new-person-in-class breathless fear.  My heart would race.  My head would pound.  Every single time I was the new kid. Five high schools.  Dozens of ..read more

By Karen Secord Earlier this month a mother of four told me that she had been feeding her children boiled potatoes because that’s all the food she had. Her income had gone to rent and utilities. Her youngest child was ill and she received a bill from CHEO for services and medication. Her anxiety level was high yet she spoke proudly about how wonderful and understanding her children are. I wish I could say that these conversations are unusual or that the number of them were decreasing. When I volunteered in Central America I learned to identify the signs of malnutrition in children;  bloa ..read more

Speaking The Language of Neighbourhoods~ Karen Secord In the 1960’s my mother told her five children to go outside and come home when the street lights came on. I’m pretty sure she didn’t worry about us. We lived in a subdivision outside Toronto where bungalows lined the streets and there was always an adult watching your every move; children belonged to the Neighbourhood.  Even though the lawns in this new suburb had barely taken root and there wasn’t a mature tree in sight, bug collecting was sport and cars drove slowly, mindful not to interrupt a good game of street hockey. While yard ..read more

Last week at a Staff meeting, and then again at an Advocacy Committee meeting, Karin Freeman, Manager of Growing Futures, reminded us what it means to be a “Solutionary”.  Solutionary – someone who sees opportunities where others see problems. It’s a word adults may not be familiar with. But if you are 8-16 years old and have taken one of our social justice workshops I’m hopeful that you identify with this good kind of disruptor. Since 2016, Parkdale Food Centre has been making space for young people to become the fearless leaders our city needs, especially if we are ever going to solve ..read more

Every February my heart aches ever so slightly affected by what I consider to be forced romanticism; pink hearts, cupids, and red lips adorning cards with romantic musings, the crazy expectations, and ridiculous segregating of, what can appear to be, the more or the less loved.  Does the delivery of red roses on February 14 really mean you are truly loved? Or, does the inability to buy your sweetheart a special trinket means that they aren’t quite loved enough? Media has a way of influencing our thoughts and then almost magically, without us even realizing it, our behaviours. We don’t st ..read more

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  I think I spend far too much time worrying about offending people, especially when they are eating. It’s a hazard of my job; a kind of quicksand I can find myself drowning when the conversation doesn’t go the way the person across from me feels it should.  “You must really feel so pleased to be helping those people eat good food”.   I wonder when I hear this, or any number of variations of it, whether the speaker sees my chest heave deeply, holding in a growl while I try not to choke. Am I one of those people? Who are those people? I am not disabled. I am not trying to r ..read more