UNITED WAY IN ACTION ON OUR CAMPUS
Monday, November 7, 2011

 Photo caption: The Diversity Food team

In June 2009, The University of Winnipeg introduced a revolutionary food concept on campus - nutritious, ethnically diverse food with a focus on locally sourced, organic ingredients, and a commitment to fair-trade practices. The new concept was named Diversity Food Services, and was made possible by the support of the United Way.

The University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation (UWCRC) and SEED Winnipeg (Supporting Employment and Economic Development, a United Way agency) teamed up to form the successful joint venture, training and employing people from ethnically diverse origins from our surrounding community. Diversity continues to be a going concern and sales have steadily increased in the two years of operation. Food services are offered at Pangea's Kitchen, Malecon and Café Bodhi on UWinnipeg's main campus, and most recently at Elements: The Restaurant inside the Richardson College for the Environment and Science Complex. Diversity also runs a thriving catering business for both the University community as well as the general public.

More than 90 people now have meaningful employment as a result. Our specific community objectives include providing job opportunities in the food industry for new Canadians, Aboriginal people, community residents and University students.

SEED Winnipeg is a non-profit agency whose mandate it is to reduce poverty and assist in the renewal of primarily inner-city communities by providing capacity building services that assist low-income individuals, groups, organizations and economically distressed neighbourhoods to improve their social and economic vitality. SEED helps individuals and groups start small business and save money for future goals. By offering business management training, individual consulting and asset building programs, SEED has been instrumental in changing the course of many lives.