The Queensland Good Food Box 2013

What is the Good Food Box?

The Good Food Box (GFB) makes top-quality, fresh fruit and vegetables available in a way that does not stigmatize people, fosters community development and promotes healthy eating.

How does it work?

The GFB gives people in Calgary and surrounding areas a way to buy fresh fruit and vegetables at a very low cost. A hands-up as opposed to a hands-out program, the GFB operates by buying bulk quantities of fresh, top-quality produce directly from farmers and distributors through the Food n More program. The boxes, which are delivered according to a city-wide and surrounding areas schedule, contain the maximum produce possible for the price.

Participants pre-order their boxes from centralized locations in their communities. Once a month the boxes are delivered by community kitchen staff and dedicated volunteers to each depot. Depots include churches, community centers, senior centers, apartment complexes, etc. Currently there are 160 depots in Calgary and surrounding areas, 70 of which are public.

The boxes come in three sizes:

Small: $20, 25-30lbs, Medium: $25, 35-40lbs, Large: $30, 45-50lbs

~Orders for the Queensland Good Food Box can be made through the Queensland Community Hall
~ Payment for the Good Food Box is due on or before order date and can be made in cash and left at the hall with Linda Brown

~ All food boxes for the Queensland area are delivered to the Queensland Community Hall

~ Delivery time is not set so you will receive a phone call when they arrive

~ Your Good Food Box Must be picked up on the day of delivery

~ Please leave a contact number with your order

~The Queensland Good Food Box Depot operates October to June

Order Deadlines: Feb 26, Mar 18, Apr 15, May 6, Jun 10

Pick Up Dates: Mar 7, Mar 28, Apr 25, May 16, Jun 20

Thank you Amber V. for the information!

Making Healthy Food Choices as a Family

Last Wednesday, Chatelaine‘s health editor Laurie Jennings was on Cityline, sharing tips for incorporating more nutrients into your daily menus. Some of her excellent suggestions included serving raw veggies with a healthy dip (kids will eat 80% more veggies if dip is also served), adding fibre (such as bulgar) to your meatball recipe, making a vegetarian "meat" sauce and having theme nights (from Mexican to Japanese to Indian) because they allow for different foods and nutrients.

Read more ideas and/or watch the short video here.

Discipline Decline at CBE

In an interview with recently retired Beaverbrook Principal Jeff Turner, he states that early intervention and quick decisive action is the key to a decline in expulsions over the years. According to the article: in 2007/8, principals recommended 364 expulsions system wide in contrast to just 107 last year. Mr. Turner went on to explain that principals weren't adopting a more lassez-faire attitude toward discipline but that there are more tools available for support.

"The big change: students with problems are now being spotted earlier, and worked with long before they derail and are booted from school. As a result, cases of major bad behaviour are dropping."

"What’s different is all the work that’s gone into preventing that student from reaching the point where they must be moved out of the school."

Minister of Education's Conference Call Tonight

This is a reminder that tonight from 7-9 pm, Education Minister Jeff Johnson will be hosting a teleconference with school councils and parents to continue the discussion about priorities for Alberta's education system. He will be co-hosting with Brad Vonkeman, President of the Alberta School Councils' Association.

To find out more about the call and to register click here.

From Karen Drummond: Communications Advisor at the CBE

Attend a trustee-hosted meeting in February

Trustees will be hosting meetings to learn more about parents' vision for their children's future. School council chairs or designates are welcome to attend the meeting in their area or a meeting in another area. All meetings will be held at area offices.

Area I -- Feb. 6 -- 9:30-11:30 a.m. -- Parkdale Centre, 728 - 32 St. N.W.
Area II -- Feb. 11 -- 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. -- Mount View Centre, 2004 - 4 St. N.E.
Area III -- Feb. 12 -- 7-9 p.m. -- Marlborough School, 4711 Maryvale Dr. N.E.
Area IV -- Feb. 4 -- 7-9 p.m. -- A.E. Cross School, 3445 - 37 St. S.W.
Area V -- Feb. 6 -- 7-9 p.m. -- Haysboro School, 1123 - 87 Ave. S.W.

More information about these meetings will follow soon.

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2013-14 school calendars now available

The Calgary Board of Education has approved the system instructional calendars for the 2013-2014 school year. These calendars are updated from the tentative calendars previously linked to this page.

Where is Asia? ... Africa? ...Anyone?

Professor Judith Adler at Memorial University in Newfoundland teaches a family sociology course with a world wide perspective.  She was shocked to learn that some of her students didn't have a perspective of the world.  She started popping an elementary quiz asking her students to label a blank map with the continents; some failed... Read the whole story here.

Smartphone Contract: Great Idea or Mean Mom?

Contract excerpt article #17.  Keep your eyes up.  See the world happening around you.  Stare out a window.  Listen to the birds.  Take a walk.  Talk to a stranger.  Wonder without googling.

Writer Janell Burley Hofmann gave her child an iPhone for Christmas... and a contract - click here to read the whole thing and decide if she has a point.  Do your kids have clear boundaries with their smartphone?  Do you?  Some great ideas here and maybe some not so great - leave a comment, we'd love to hear your take.

CAPSC Meeting

The Calgary Association of Parents and School Councils would like to welcome it's members back to the second half of the school year and we look forward to seeing you at our meetings in 2013.  First up is our January meeting which will take place Wednesday January 23rd at 7:00pm AE Cross School library (3445-37 St SW). 

This month we will be hearing from Jillian Drysdale who will be discussing her involvement with the Alberta Safe Streets initiative, which aims to extend playground zone hours to include all school start times.

Following her presentation the CAPSC executive will be hosting a conversation on how CAPSC as an organization can aid in promoting communication

Meeting Date Change

Unfortunately - due to scheduling conflicts, we need to change the meeting date next week to Tuesday, January 15th.  Here is a link to the agenda.

Back At It and Meetings Day Change

Happy New Year everyone.  I hope your holidays were fun, exciting, relaxing, rejuvenating, quiet, chaotic, or whatever it is that you needed. They are usually a mixture of all of the above in different measures.

A quick note to not only welcome everyone back (tomorrow) to school but also to remind you that our Council/PA meetings will be on Wednesday's from now on and the first one is scheduled for January 16th at 7pm in the library.  Hope to see you there next week.