Thursday, February 4th 2010

By unknown

RACHEL HARVEY

THE SILHOUETTE

An event called “Soulfood Fair” is sure to get people salivating with visions of fried green tomatoes, collard greens and freshly baked cornbread. However, after reading the event’s on-line program and taking a confirmatory browse at the Fair, I realized that it was focused on offering food of a different, metaphorical kind: food for the soul.

Last Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010, marked the eleventh year of McMaster’s annual Soulfood Fair, hosted by the McMaster Chaplaincy Centre in conjunction with many on and off-campus partners. The Fair was housed in the marketplace area of the student centre, drawing in passers-by with an eclectic selection of live music, demonstrations, testimonials, information booths and herbal products for sale. The goal of the event was to promote positive thinking and action during a month when many suffer from the winter blues.

The day started with a yoga demonstration from Phil Penner, who teaches yoga at McMaster’s Athletics and Recreation Center. Event Organizer and Ecumenical Chaplain Carol Wood said, “The yoga demonstration…was a very relaxing way to enter into the day, and hopefully made people think ‘I could do this.’ It’s very easy to sign up for a class over at Athletics and Recreation before work or during school. [This is something] people can do that is good for their body and good for their mind.”

A huge draw for students at this year’s Fair was Luca “Lazylegz” Patuelli, a 25-year-old breakdancer from Montreal. Patuelli was born with a muscle disorder that limited motion in his legs. Despite his physical setbacks, he started break dancing in his teens, developing a unique style of dance incorporating his crutches. He has since won major break dance competitions worldwide, and speaks to college and university students about his approach to life: “It’s about taking the bad and making it good.”

Wood described Luca and his crew’s performance as fantastic, saying “There was a wall of people all the way around [the student centre], everybody stopped to look.” She continued, “The dancers always seem to add energy into the room, but also I think today the message that Luca brought was really an important one for everybody to hear: no limits, and no excuses.”

Volunteers and organizers of the event welcomed incoming staff, students and faculty with a large basket of free clementines, provided by McMaster’s hospitality services. Wood found it interesting to gauge people’s reactions to the free clementines, saying that some people were pleased with the gift, while others were skeptical. “It’s interesting to observe people’s ability to receive something.” She also noted that giving clementines was a great way to promote the health benefit of Vitamin C.

Adjacent to the clementines was a table hosting large containers full of free pink lemonade, with brightly coloured posters that encouraged, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!” Wood explained that the idea here was to promote reflection. “Helping people think about how to transform or rethink something that has happened [that] may not be good news at first.”

Wood said that many people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, a form of depression experienced in winter months due to a lack of exposure to sunlight.

The Soulfood Fair purposely falls at the end of January before midterm exams in order to remind people to think positive and be aware of the mind/body/spiritual aspects of health. “I think just bringing attention to the fact that people do have the winter blues, and sometimes people [are] hesitant to share that. There are a lot of things that we can do about that.”

In general, Wood said the reaction of participants to the Fair was positive: “People that I talked to were happy that they came.” Certainly the winner of this year’s major door prize—a Wii console and Wii Fit program—was made happy. For everyone else, perhaps the inspiration this event sought to bring will lift their spirits through the last stretch of the school year.

Tags: soul food