Hannah Cohen is a U2 Linguistics Major with a passion for healthy food and community work in Montreal. She is an expert at organizing conferences, juggling work, and getting involved.
Her Campus McGill (HC): Why did you decide to get involved with Femmedère?
Hannah Cohen (Hannah): I came to McGill from a small town without knowing anyone. I got involved because I wanted to make a difference, form connections, learn new things, and build communities for myself and for everyone around me. And I also wanted to challenge myself. I was a little afraid of spreading myself too thin, but looking back, getting involved was the best decision I ever made. It has been an incredible journey, seeing the impacts that the projects I’ve worked with have had in the McGill and Montreal communities. With Femmedère, we wanted to address issues relating to nutrition and underserved populations, focusing primarily on women and children.
HC: What is Femmedère’s mission statement, and what does it do?
Hannah: Femmedère aims to educate and support marginalized populations by offering workshops at women’s shelters within Montreal. To fund workshops and increase the accessibility of healthy food within the student community, we established the Good Food Box Program on McGill’s Downtown campus. Femmedère is a bridge between the Montreal and McGill communities through events, such as the “Food: Safety, Security, and Sustainability” conference, and brings people together to create positive, sustainable change in everything it sets out to do.
Femmedère is unique in its sustainable approach and constant drive to improve, expand, and increase the positive, long-lasting impact it has on both the Montreal and McGill communities. Every meeting is discussion-based and all members can impact the club in a fundamental, dynamic way. All of our projects come directly from the visions of club members and partners.
HC: What is the Good Food Box Program?
Hannah: The Good Food Box Program of McGill-Downtown (GFB) enables students to buy fresh fruits and vegetables at sustainable prices on campus. GFB is a food security program coordinated by Moisson Montreal. GFB purchases from local farmers whenever possible, and this supports the local economy and small-family farmers who are quickly disappearing, while reducing the environmental impact of transporting produce from far away. We’ve expanded our reach with GFB to over 600 (from around 50 last year) students and faculty members. The GFB allows us to be financially sustainable, with over 700 boxes sold. Two dollars from the sale of each box funds our monthly nutrition workshops. We’re very excited, because survey data show the 90% of GFB customers feel that they’ve increased their consumption of fruits and vegetables as a direct result of purchasing the GFB.
HC: What is the “Food: Safety, Security, and Sustainability” conference?
Hannah: This was Femmedère’s first annual conference, meant to raise awareness and involvement among the student population relating to issues surrounding food safety, security, and sustainability. The conference brought together the McGill and Montreal communities with speakers from Montreal non-profits, NGOs, and faculty members at McGill University. We educated over thirty students on local and international food security issues. The conference allowed students to learn and become more engaged.
HC: What sort of workshops does Femmedère run?
Hannah: We also hold workshops at the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal (NWSM). After forming a long-term partnership with NWSM, our members have delivered nutrition workshops to shelter participants. There are interactive cooking segments demonstrating how to prepare affordable, healthy meals, and discussions that address the nutritional concerns and demystify nutrition “myths”. The topics of these workshops are guided by the health needs of the shelter population as identified by NWSM workers, and they also incorporate financial literacy, showing how to live healthily on a budget. Over the past year, Femmedère delivered workshops to over twenty women and children in shelters, and significantly increased the nutrition and financial education among workshop participants; feedback surveys show that over 75% of workshop participants gained new insight into healthy eating.
HC: What is the most rewarding part of being involved with this organization?
Hannah: I’ve found that getting involved has given me more than I ever imagined it would. I’ve made some really great friendships, learned more about the city I now live in, and gained such incredible experiences.