It seems fitting to release on St. Patty’s Day – a podcast with a brilliant human named Patty – although of course not affiliated. The content of course will have nothing to do with St Patty’s Day but a good reminder that there is room for fun as we speak about some of the complexities of life.
Quick note – there is a challenging story so you will hear my voice around the 20-21 min mark state there is a warning of ‘listen at your own risk’ so please skip forward by a few minutes and within the first section as it is not easy for anyone to hear – although not gone in depth – 24 minutes speaks to lessons.
Please listen in via blog – or your preferred platform
May you enjoy the podcast as you go about thinking about St Patty’s Day (See end of post for a quick note on St Patty’s day, halifax and of course celebrating Alexander Keith’s birthday).
Patty Williams is a Professor at Mount Saint Vincent University, Director at Food Action Research Centre, for food security and policy change. Dr. Patty Williams is one of the most brilliant humans. Do not be fooled by her easy way of speaking as she knows her stuff! It is one of my favourite things about her. There is a resiliency to how she sees people and completes her work. She speaks to how her clinical experience as a dietitian has shaped her research to include people affected at the table, is a champion for the leading edge of food security work. Plus she is a delight, and very intelligent. She even helped to create a board game! She loves speaking about clamming, mackereling as a family tradition!
For this podcast – I think it is best to really listen in. I love how Patty Williams speaks about how her personal experiences including having grown up in rural and studying in the city and the complexities of navigating both. She is open about how her personal experiences and how it shapes her professional way of being.
She does speak to a missing piece on the coping strategies people use experiencing household food insecurity and there are several websites to take a look at. This is actually something I have been working on for several years although not because of this podcast – If you have access to PEN (Practice Evidence-Based Nutrition) especially for my dietitian colleagues there is some very educational notes on the coping strategies which are not recommended that people should never be forced to make such as choosing between life-saving medication and basic food and nutrition, or heat or rent and nutrition. It would be an privilege to provide a safe space to ask questions about this or find a way to provide some resources for any questions – food can be emotional and it can be challenging to find a safe space to ask questions you may have and there are pretty standard biases which exist about food insecurity
– math is math when it doesn’t add up to make ends meet.
And although this is serious – life is too important not to also be real and human so here we go –
A few personal notes based on this podcast:
As mentioned – it seems that St. Patrick’s Day must be mentioned as it does bring back memories having lived in Halifax, and a bit of proud Canadian history. It is often a day to celebrate Alexander Keith’s birthday. The brewery in Halifax is (I believe but not super fact checked – a historic site!) It has been around since 1820!! If you are feeling extra St. Patty’s-like and want to celebrate a little extra here is the Merch or book a brewery tour! There is much folklore regarding St Patty’s Day so please do consider.
This is one of the (so far) which were done via technology of the entire trip. I made a big point driving for the trip to go to each person and set up in a place I had never seen before – this was fun for me to discover. I loved being in someone else’s space as you can learn so much from the privilege of being able to see a person’s preferred set up, what is important to them. I travelled by myself across the country, but I loved it and never felt alone being in touch with people who wanted to know what was going on and mostly staying with people who wanted to support the trip including some I never knew – but it all felt easy at the time. Was so grateful and kept saying the trip took on a life of its own that I needed to navigate. One of the best parts of the trip was how true to hospitality all the way along was the real Canadian feel.
As a personal belief, one of my reminders was my belief that when we are provided with adequate resources whether as a community or individually it optimizes a person’s potential to make appropriate decisions. It is also why I do not believe in being hungry – it doesn’t work aesthetically or emotionally or factually.
Happy Tasting
– If you are hungry today there are people who care
– and if you are able to have some food today I hope you are enjoying
– and if you get a chance – consider a toast to Alexander Keith!
Irena