Diversity in Adversity
The University of Winnipeg based Diversity Food Services is an anomaly in the food service industry landscape. As a social enterprise, Diversity is structured like a for-profit business but its primary objective is to benefit the community through delivering food in ethically and environmentally conscious ways. As Diversity Chef Darwin Gaspar and Chief Operating Officer Ian Vickers can attest to, running a social enterprise can be a challenging and rewarding experience. However, the on-going uncertainty and economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has forced Diversity and other food service providers to pivot to other service models or risk closing.
Episode Transcript
Subscribe: Apple Stitcher Podyssey Spotify Google
EPISODE CREDITS:
Produced, written and narrated by Kent Davies
Interview participants: Darwin Gaspar and Ian Vickers
Hosted by Kent Davies and Janis Thiessen
Episode image: Kimberley Moore
Theme music: Robert Kenning
INTERVIEWS
Darwin Gaspar, interviewed by Janis Thiessen, Kent Davies and Kimberley Moore, July 23, 2020 in Winnipeg, MB. Digital Audio Recording, Manitoba Food History Project, “Winnipeg Interviews,” Oral History Centre Archive, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB.
Ian Vickers, interviewed by Janis Thiessen and Kent Davies, April 7, 2021 in Winnipeg, MB. Digital Audio Recording. Manitoba Food History Project, “Winnipeg Interviews," Oral History Centre Archive, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB.
MUSIC
Blue Dot Sessions - Um Pepino
Podington Bear - Dark Matter, Holding Hands, Poise, Sidecar, Tender and Curious, Twine, You Wasted My Time When I was Time Wasting
SOURCES
Agg, Jen. “I’ve spent my life building restaurants. COVID-19 has killed their magic – and threatened their future,” The Globe and Mail, December 5, 2020. Accessed August 4, 2021
Coppolino, Andrew. “Employees are leaving food service jobs just as things reopen,” CBC News, June 5, 2021. Accessed June 24, 2021.
Dacey, Elisha. “A list of Winnipeg restaurants offering grocery pick up and delivery service.” Global News, April 23, 2020. Accessed June 24, 2021.
Doradea, Karen. “10,000 restaurants have closed across Canada since the start of the pandemic,” Daily Hive, January 4, 2021. Accessed June 24, 2021.
Edwards, Danielle. “Buy local mindset on the rise as consumers, distributors seek food security,” Winnipeg Free Press, July 13, 2021. Accessed July 26, 2021.
Goddard, Ellen. "The impact of COVID‐19 on food retail and food service in Canada: A second assessment." Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie 69, no. 2 (2021): 167-175.
Kushner, Erin. “Coronavirus prompts some restaurants to rethink communal tables,” Boston March 12, 2020. Accessed June 24, 2021.
Larue, Bruno. "Labor issues and COVID‐19." Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie 68, no. 2 (2020): 231-237.
Lefebvre, Charles. “How food trucks will operate after health orders are lifted,” CTV News, April 27, 2020. Accessed March 20, 2021.
Liu, Karon. “Why do we miss indoor dining so much? It’s about a lot more than eating food on actual plates,” Winnipeg Free Press, July 16, 2021. Accessed June 24, 2021.
MacLeod, Meredith. “New Normal: The year in takeout trends as restaurants face a reckoning,” CTV News, January 1, 2021. Accessed March 21, 2021.
Mintz, Corey. “People want to cook and serve food. They also want decent pay,” TVO, June 21, 2021. Accessed June 25, 2021.
Mintz, Corey. “Ontario’s restaurant crisis is a mental-health crisis too,” TVO, September 9, 2020. Accessed March 20, 2021.
Newton, Emily. “Coronavirus will have lasting impact on restaurant industry,” FSN, February 16, 2021. Accessed March 21, 2021.
Piché, Gabrielle. “Worked up over no workers,” Winnipeg Free Press, July 28, 2021. Accessed July 28, 2021.
“Winnipeg food truck owners adapt to survive during the pandemic,” CBC News, June 23, 2020. Accessed June 24, 2021.
Wu, Leslie. “60 Percent of Canadian Restaurants Could Close in the Next Three Months Due To Covid-19, Says Industry Group,” Forbes, August 31, 2020. Accessed March 20, 2021.