Hello and welcome to the Food4Health Equity (F4HE) Project Blog!

Our friend at Youth Voices, Laura O’Grady, recently blogged about her reflections on the HIV / AIDS movements and how far its come in 25 years and how much further it has to go. With the 2010 world AIDS conference having recently wrapped up in Vienna, it is worth considering how something that was virtually unknown 30 years ago (AIDS) has become arguably the most high profile health issue on the global stage.

Decades of research has shown that mass media is one of the most powerful sources of information society has about mental health. For better or for worse, movies, TV, radio, and the news, all have a role in shaping the public’s perception of mental illnesses. This often includes perpetuating a number of false stereotypes about people with mental illnesses, including the idea that they are violent, unpredictable, or social outcasts. These images are false. Negative media images promote negative attitudes, and resulting media coverage feeds off of an already negative public perception.

Facebook has a relationship status option that says "It's complicated". But at Youth Voices, we tend to view things as complex. So what's the difference?

Monica Nunes and Stephen Barrett talk about Food4Health Equity Project

So here in YVRG-land we’ve been playing with Photovoice for quite some time now, and watched as this technique for community engagement and expression has really caught on as a popular and powerful tool.

Through the course of this work, something I and others have noticed and reflected on, are the ways in which Photovoice outcomes and outputs can communicate, differ and evolve. In particular, I’ve been thinking a lot about how we deepen the analysis using this tool, and maximize the impacts on voice, dialogue and action.

"A picture is worth a thousand words". I have heard this phrase countless times throughout my life and I've always been amazed at how pictures and videos attract attention and convey messages quicker than words. It's sometimes hard for people to find the right words to express themselves. Collections of pictures and videos are different. They allow to break down the barriers formed by verbal expression and enter a realm of interpretation, deeper expression and creativity (not to say that writing is not creative!).

A project update, fresh from my balcony garden!

Though the G20 officially ended on Sunday, about 3 days ago now, I think I can only now think of the event as a whole. Despite some activities still going on around the city that are remnants of the Summit, life in Toronto and around the Youth Voices office is slowly crawling out of the whirlwind weekend that was the G8/G20 Summit. I only feel ready to write about the Summit now was because there was so much activity and I have been able to sit back, reflect, hear a myriad of opinions and stories, and take in the intense amount of photos and videos.

I didn't feel the earthquake, but Wednesday was surreal. Activities related to the G20 summit were visible and in nearly full effect here in downtown Toronto. Mid-day, walking out of the Youth Voices office near College Street and University Avenue into a sidewalk of pedestrians and a street full of equal amounts of protestors and police I felt a bit overwhelmed. Strangely enough, it also felt almost exciting to be on the side lines of an at once controlled and unpredictable global event.