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Building bridges – one meal at a time

More than sixty people, ages 4 to 80 +, are eating better for less thanks to the Baccalieu Trail Seniors Outreach Services (under the umbrella of the Seniors Resource Centre NL) to learn how to cook nutritious meals on a budget. Between January and May 2010, the Baccalieu Trail Seniors Outreach Services carried out five six-week Healthy Cooking Program sessions for seniors, young mothers, and children. Working in partnership with the Trinity Conception Family Resource Centre, Carbonear, the Baccalieu Trail Seniors Outreach Services brought their nutritional show on the road to Carbonear, Harbour Grace, Winterton, Bay Roberts, and Greens Harbour.

Thecook1 objectives of the Healthy Cooking Program were:

  • To increase nutritional education and promote healthy eating for seniors, single parents, and young children
  • To improve intergenerational communication between the generations
  • To educate the different age groups on how to prepare healthy meals on a fixed income
  • To encourage participants to buy fresh local food
  • To improve future eating behaviors of all participantscook3

Programs like this embody the anchor role that the Seniors Outreach Services office plays for the string of more than 60 communities dotted along the Baccalieu trail. The office itself is located in Spaniard’s Bay in scenic Conception Bay North on the Avalon Peninsula. It is the only Seniors Outreach Services office in Newfoundland and offers services that focus on seniors, family members, and caregivers.

By forming partnerships with community organizations, government agencies, seniors & 50+ clubs, churches, and school, the Seniors Outreach Services has created a vital bridge between the many seniors living in the area and the community agencies that can serve them.  Providing a physical location along the Baccalieu Trail where seniors, older adults, family members, and caregivers can call or visit is a critical element to their work.

cook2In its success, building on intergenerational communication and social inclusion – not to mention the difference it made to participants’ health -- the Healthy Cooking Program can serve as a blueprint for organizations who want to knit their rural communities a little bit closer together. By working on ageless topics like good nutrition, the Baccalieu Trail Seniors Outreach Services has helped bring their work to the heart of their community – just where our seniors should be. 

For more information on the Healthy Cooking Program or the Baccalieu Trail Seniors Outreach Services visit http://www.seniorsresource.ca/Baccalieu.htm or contact Regional Coordinator Marie A.  Ryan, at 709.786.4630 or seniorsinfo@gmail.com or marie.ryan@gmail.com