On October 17, Fused Network participated in a Charity Challenge event hosted by Kontent Creative. Three teams of the mid-October Vancouver Innovation Camp jointly raised $5000 for the Vancouver Food Bank. After an astounding amount of success, I was asked to profile Fresh Choice Kitchens, one of the many prominent programs operating under the illustrious Vancouver Food Bank. Their goal? To fuse together the art of community with the lost art of creating affordable and soul-satisfying meals.

Their warmth struck me first, and I was immediately drawn to Diane and Shona’s energy. They welcomed me with the widest of smiles and the firmest of handshakes, their warm reception a striking (and most refreshing) contrast to yet another cold and rainy Vancouver afternoon. Formalities naturally evolved into friendly banter back and forth. They are such a delight to speak with from the very beginning.

Diane and Shona’s enthusiasm, passion, and infectious energy are a testament to the working environment behind the doors of Fresh Choice Kitchens. Its humble beginnings stem from the concept of community kitchens, combining the simple pleasures of communal gatherings with wholesome and nutritious food. The frequency of communal, sit-down dinners have significantly decreased with the onslaught of technology, the exponential growth of social networking systems, the odd working hours, and the many other innumerable factors that have infiltrated and therefore defined the “norm” of the 21st century. Good, nutritious, healthful meals are catalysts to long-lasting community ties. The sautéing, the chopping, and the overall process behind food preparation – these activities become vehicles for conversation, for banter, for witty repartee, for emotional unloading. What better way to return to the good old days of communal dinners than to partake in community kitchens?

In 1996, the Vancouver Community Kitchen Project was launched, catching the attention and support of Vancouver Coastal Health, BC Gas (now Terasen Gas), and the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society. By 1998, 25 community kitchens have been organized, self-directed and fully operational with help from the various workshops and [kitchen] equipment drives organized by those involved in the Vancouver Community Kitchen Project. The focus of the project eventually shifted to providing a resource centre for small groups and communities interested in starting various CKs all across Vancouver and eventually, the entire province. The Vancouver Community Kitchen Project changed their name to Fresh Choice Kitchens in 2008 to reflect this evolution. Diane Collis, Fresh Choice Kitchens manager, helps organize seasonal workshops, Level I courses on Food Safe, and equipment drives to help jumpstart any group looking into developing a CK program in their community. Shona Lam’s organizational and newfound social networking skills have helped brought awareness of this long-standing concept to the online demographic. The people at Kontent Creative, for instance, have worked closely with Fresh Choice Kitchens and the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society to raise funds for these projects through Innovation Camps. The amalgamation of the social media realm and this highly-evolved CK project made for a natural, super-charged pairing, one that will most certainly bloom with time, dedication, and perseverance.

The emphasis, really, is on the most basic of human needs. We need to be sated both physically and mentally. We need food to survive. Camaraderie and human companionship, abstract and intangible concepts, is food for our souls. Combine healthful, seasonal, nutritious (yet affordable!) food with human interaction and you have before you the recipe for success. Diane and Shona, in their warm reception, allowed me to glimpse but a minute fraction of what goes behind these open doors. I can hardly wait to participate in the cooking session that is to occur on the 10th of December. This post is merely a prelude to the fun that awaits my person over the next few weeks.

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For an in-depth article on the concept behind Community Kitchens, Diane Collis, manager of Fresh Choice Kitchens, has written a wonderful article for SPARC BC here.

For more information on Fresh Choice Kitchens, visit CommunityKitchens.ca

Fresh Choice Kitchens has also released a cookbook titled Many Hands, available in all Vancouver Capers Community Markets, or online. You can find more information on this wonderful cookbook here. The cookbook places emphasis on cooking as a community; the recipes in this book are tailored to accommodate communal cooking sessions and feeding large groups of people!

For information on how to donate to this wonderful project, click here.