Puppeteering and Careering

Some days working in a big non profit in the DTES exceeds the usual levels of absurdity. Generally these moments of ridiculousness stem from the people above me in what is a highly bureaucratized (though always disorganized) and increasingly corporate environment, rather than from the clients deemed "crazy."

A few weeks ago my coworkers and I were scrambling to start serving the meal (on "special," aka "no soup" Thursday), when a slick, bald man with a a big camera showed up in the kitchen. He asked to talk to me about my experience cooking for the clients (completely ignoring the fact that I am not the one actually running the kitchen and that the woman in charge was standing right there) for a "pitch" "they" were making to Whole Foods with a number of other organizations who had also been invited by the CEOs to compete for funding (yay corporate responsibility). My "experiences" were already on display: plates were crashing; clients were knocking on the door repeatedly asking to know what we were serving or when the coffee would be on; there were about 130 people waiting for food as tensions were rising on the floor, and my coworker was stressing over the fact that we didn't have enough lettuce for the salad! This was obviously a time of chaos, which this PR person (freshly contracted) seemed oblivious too, until we pointed out that perhaps we would be less distracted before opening the following morning.

The next morning our friend showed up exactly ten minutes before we open the doors to the hungry, decaffeinated masses, with an even bigger camera and a tripod. Apparently this was to be a filmed pitch (more compelling, I guess) and we needed to go through a few "dress rehearsals" to make sure we answered the questions effectively (my coworker and I were at this point looking at the time). We were informed that "props are always a good thing," (though he asked our loyal kitchen volunteers to move out of the way) and when I suggested he take pictures of all the rotten donated fruit I was about to sift through in order to painstakingly piece together a breakfast nominally healthier than the donated, stale pastries ubiquitous on the DTES meal circuit, he sort of brushed me off. I added that showing what some of these donations actually look like would really drive the point home the degree to which food funding is needed and the degree to which charity is an inadequate means of feeding our nutritionally vulnerable clients, throwing in that Whole foods does indeed provide some of our better donations. He told me to stress the last part and provided us with the three questions we were to practise answering:

1. what do i like about cooking for --- society

2 what impact on people's lives does the food i provide make

3. what are some challenges

(or something along those lines)

We had about 3 minutes to answer these questions (!)  and were subjected to three takes by the end of which I  lost steam (and interestingly the last one seemed to be the most palatable take despite our dwindling dynamism). By the time we had performed satisfactorily, the clients had already asked for their second pot of coffee. All the while I was wondering why actual meal program recipients aren't asked directly about their experiences consuming these services? Would that not be "cutting edge" in the competitive, fund raising arena?  My coworker asked our friend if this funding, if secured, would actually go to the society's meal programs (currently completely un-funded) and got a shrug. I also explained to the gentlemen my particular interests (and yes, expertise) when it comes to the question of food security in the DTES and told him that I would be willing to help out with "pitches" to stakeholders in the food industry (free of charge!), all the while feeling like a careerwhore for mentioning this. I got a blank faced "interesting, I'll keep that in mind, "  as he looked at the clock and packed his stuff. We asked him to keep us posted on how it went and have heard nothing.

Yes, people are busy.

Beggars SHOULD Be Choosers

This week marks a small victory for the Right to Food movement in the DTES or at least the tiny wave of food activism that reverberates within the walls of where I work: we successfully got Food Runner  (the principle link between food donors, the food bank and non-profit organizations) to stop giving us bag loads of day old pastries! Yes, two weeks after we made a bold request, they showed up sans those big clear bags of stale poverty-diet-staples for us to sort.

Hell did not break loose, the apocalypse did not happen (yet), and we did not piss the FR off enough for them to stop delivering the food we actually need. Our clients will not starve as a result of our impudent requests (though it is fucked up that they could without the help of charity.) Nor did any of the other fears that keep organizations from telling donors what they do and do not need materialize--though we were afraid...

Email Revolution:

All it took was a simple email, one manager to another,  politely reiterating the health concerns that prevail among the population we serve and courteously requesting (if it is not too much trouble)  that they please keep those refined sugars and flours AWAY! It's probably a good thing that I didn't write the email, I do have a tendency to get a wee bit militant. Some clients refer to me as the food police--yes I am, so?--and I got in trouble in an interview setting with two managers once when I stated that I rather have clients starve to death than have them eat day old pastries every morning--its true though! Well at least theoretically.

Now my coworker Jess and I no longer have to cringe as we watch clients eating handfuls of donuts and cakes that we were forced to put out on the counter when we ran out of garbage space--a regular occurrence that completely reduced all our efforts to serve the most tasty and nutritious food possible to crumbs. We are still not able to do everything that we would like in the kitchen (the revolution is not funded!), but at least we can help our clients start the day off a little less toxically. 

Wants versus Needs and for Whom?

What we do deal with now though, even more profoundly, is the reality that it is very difficult to create a healthy meal with what tends to get donated and that pastries really filled a void (filler in the fullest sense of the word) where proper funding ought to be. 

We also deal with backlash from some clients who want the sweets, which raises ethical questions around speaking on behalf of individuals who seldom have the opportunity to speak for themselves and who don't have access to choice of any kind including in the basic realm of what to eat for breakfast today? 

It is important to think about the huge discrepancy between workers and the clients we are representing (and to always remember that it is pretty messed up that we are employed to "represent," at least ostensibly). Yes beggars can't be choosers in our society, but that's not just an old cliche, its a pervasive ideology that is self serving.

And it is so easy for me to take on the role of food Nazi when I can satisfy both wants and needs (i.e I can spend some of my paycheck on some tasty craft beer and overindulge with no critical--or pitying-- gazes monitoring and discussing my every move. I can also easily knock back some of my expensive supplements and organic foods the next day to bring the rosiness back to my sallow cheeks. )

Of course it is not me the individual who is robbing people from their right to choose (but maybe me as part of a collective); it is the charitable system itself (donor driven!) which is also a symptom of an inequitable society. Charity does not even allow us to secure basic needs and all the sugar in the world can't coat that truth.

The position I am in allows me two limited choices: to be a highly limited spokesperson (as  utterly problematic as that is) or to say nothing at all and carry on with business as usual.

I pick the lesser of two evils, that is my only choice. 

Tin Pan Chef

What a blast!

Yesterday I had the honour to represent the Lookout Society at the Tin Pan Chef cooking competition. This is an awesome event that raises awareness about food security issues in the Downtown East Side.

The Tin Pan Chef is part of the the 9th annual Heart of the City Festival that aims to celebrate and showcase talented DTESers as well as serve as a forum for the issues many people have to deal with here on a regular basis.

Food security issues are huge in the DTES where many residents don't have proper cooking facilities, have very limited income, and rely on charity for meals as a result. Many also face challenges like HIV/AIDS, Hep C, diabetes, cancer, food allergens, mental health issues and heart problems. These health issues are in large part caused and made worse by poverty and could be avoided or at the very least managed through regular access to healthy, tasty food.

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My team mate Jordan and I competed against Anna and Andrea from the Carnegie Centre and Kevin and Marliene from VANDU (Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users). Our food was rated by three judges from the DTES Community who awarded points based on taste, presentation, and creativity.

We were given 1 hour to cook as many courses possible with items from sealed boxes donated by the Food Bank.

Here is the catch--we did not know what we were getting until the timer was set for the hour! And we only had a two hotplates and very little running water to make the magic happen, much like those many folks living in the single room occupancy hotels down here.

Tin Pan Chef aptly demonstrates the challenge of meeting nutritional needs through charity since all the food used was donated by the Food Bank, save for three dollars worth of secret ingredients. This mirrors the food situation at many local non-profits including the kitchen I work at since we purchase less than 15% of the food we serve--not a whole lot.

The secret ingredients we asked for  were cilantro, limes, chilies and ginger which are staples in my own pantry as they pack a lot of flavour and health punch! But something tells me these ingredients would be considered real luxuries down here where the majority of residents only have 26 dollars a week to feed themselves with, and this is if they are able to find housing under $375 a month--highly unlikely in Vancouver.

After ripping the boxes open with gusto and excitement we discovered an array of often donated items like canned beans, tuna, corn and tomatoes, as well as cream of mushroom soup, taco seasoning and of course Kraft dinner. We also had access to a pantry that provided staples like oil, potatoes, eggs, carrots, onions, garlic, packets of soy  and hot sauce, jam and peanut butter, as well as a loaf of bread.

The three teams turned out some pretty interesting dishes.

Team Carnegie placed third and created three dishes:

1. Mexican black bean salad with rice, corn and cilantro
2. Salmon and potato pancakes with a mushroom gravy
3. French toast with icing sugar and raspberry jam

Team Lookout (mine!) place second (by only .3) and made three dishes that were similar to the Carnegie:

1. Rice, bean, corn, tomato, cilantro salad with a lime chile corn chowder vinaigrette 
2. Food Bank pad thai
3. Egg battered peanut butter and jam sandwich

Team VANDU made two dishes and blew us all away with their creativity:

1. Tuna Sunrise: a groovy looking loaf made with Kraft dinner noodles, mushroom soup gravy, tuna, and hard boiled eggs
2. A carrot soup, which rocked considering they only had an hour to develop flavors!

I could not believe my eyes when I saw VANDU wrapping their loaf in a bunch of tinfoil to create a makeshift oven with the hotplates. Amazing. 

The atmosphere was  terrific with a super supportive audience, fabulous MCs, kind yet non-sugarcoating judges and friendliness between the teams.  Team Carnegie were even nice enough to give us some of their basil which we used to garnish our plate earning us a few points for presentation, I am sure!

Check out some more awesome video and photos of the event by AHA media

The Tin Pan Chef would not be possible without the boxes provided by the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, the hardworking crew at the Carnegie, the DTES Neighbourhood House and Diane Brown of the awesome Carnegie kitchen. Diane is kind of my hero and the author of the One Pot Cookbook, a terrific resource for people living in single room occupancy hotels who must feed themselves with Food Bank staples and hot plates every single day.

Check out Diane's website:

http://onepot.ca/wordpress/