Today we had the opportunity to visit with one of the two staff members from Coalition des Families. Coalition des Families is an organization in Montreal that advocated for diverse families as well as diverse populations. Some of this work is done in local schools which was of particular interest to me. The topic reminded me of my course work in Children’s Literature where we talked about how teachers can incorporate children’s literature into the classroom to teach students about social issues. The above picture is of a book used by Coalition des Families to teach students about gender roles. I think that literature is a very effective way to introduce social issues such as homelessness and diverse families to students and to start a conversation especially at a younger age.

When we were leaving Coalition des Families, we asked our speaker the one thing she recommended we do while in Montreal. She recommended Marché Jean-Talon, so we decided to venture there for lunch. While there, I was able to browse through all the food vendors as well as produce and flower vendors. The fruit vendors even offered free samples. I would be happy to share which vendor had the best cherries because I of course had to try them all. For lunch I had a Colombian arepa which was so very delicious. The photograph above shows one of the vendors from a local farm. This particular vendor did not offer samples, but the produce was too green and fresh to not photograph.