LunchLAB

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Aw Shucks! A Valentine's LunchLAB fundraiser

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PresentED by Growing Chefs and Fresh Roots

Shell-ebrate Valentine’s Day with your favourite bi-valventine! Join Growing Chefs and Fresh Roots for a tasty evening of shucking, slurping, and learning in style with our friends at Organic Ocean. Ticket holders will be treated to everything needed to enjoy a tasty and educational hour together online featuring one dozen sustainably harvested oysters from Organic Ocean paired with your choice of wine from Mission Hill Family Estate or beer from Persephone Brewing. Plus, you'll also get your own oyster shucking knife!

This event is in support of LunchLAB, an innovative program changing the narrative about school lunch! Learning with their teacher and chef-in-residence, student chefs help create the menu, prepare the meal, and serve it to their peers. It’s an exercise in learning and sharing, and it’s delicious.

The world is your oyster!

When: February 14, 2022 7:00pm to 8:00pm (PST)
Where: Online via Zoom
Buy your tickets here before the shell out!

All guests must be available to pick up on Sunday, February 13th between noon and 4:00pm (PST) at the Italian Cultural Centre at 3075 Slocan St in Vancouver.

The Recipe for a Happy Holiday

Monday, December 14th, 2020
NEWS RELEASE: THE RECIPE FOR A HAPPY HOLIDAY

Local food-focused charities partner with chefs and local businesses to support edible education this holiday season

Growing Chefs and Fresh Roots Farms have written the recipe for a happy holiday

  • Start with two local food-focused charities (Growing Chefs and Fresh Roots) 

  • Engage three talented local chefs (Chefs Robert Clark, Tasha Sawyer, TJ Conwi) 

  • Add generous philanthropists (Willow Grove Foundation and more)

  • Throw in a boatload of sustainable seafood (Organic Ocean) 

  • Mix with 345 spatulas and ladles (House of Knives)

  • Finish with a cup of creativity, teaspoon of generosity, and pinch of love.

Chef Tasha Sawyer Photo Credit: Mavreen David Photography

Chef Tasha Sawyer
Photo Credit: Mavreen David Photography

LunchLAB is a collaborative project between two local charities, Growing Chefs and Fresh Roots. In LunchLAB, students learn to grow their own food, supplement that food from local farms, and with the support of their teacher and chef-in-residence, learn to cook for themselves and their peers. This week, hundreds of children will go home with one of their favourite LunchLAB dishes and a special gift to help them keep cooking at home.

““We are not able to be in schools right now and our LunchLAB chefs and team miss spending time with the LunchLAB students,” said Amanda Adams, Growing Chefs’ Program Director. “We wanted to let them know that we are thinking of them this holiday season. We can’t wait to be in the kitchen with them again.””

At Total Education High School, 45 students who regularly would be a part of our LunchLAB program are receiving a pasta meal kit with ingredients and instructions so they can practice their cooking skills at home by creating a nutritious meal for their family, all created by Chef Tasha Sawyer. Additionally, Chef TJ Conwi has bottled up the kids’ favourite salad dressing from the salad bar for 300 LunchLAB students at Lord Roberts Elementary School. They will also receive the recipe for this healthy dressing so they can teach their caregivers how to make it at home. All students will also receive a special gift from our friends at House of Knives to help them keep cooking.

Additionally, 80 local families in need will receive a generous gift of healthy, sustainable seafood (frozen shrimp and salmon, and canned tuna) from Organic Ocean, made possible by a donation from the Willow Grove Foundation. These families will also receive a recipe and cooking tips by Chef Robert Clark, recently appointed to the Order of Canada in November 2020 for establishing a world-renowned program to help businesses and customers identify and purchase sustainable seafood.

Seafood hampers will be distributed to families by Vancouver Coastal Health's Leadership and Resilience program team and Vancouver Technical Secondary School. These are many of the same families that were provided with weekly meals earlier in the pandemic through our LunchLAB pivot, Chefs for Families.

““We are incredibly grateful for such a seamless collaboration between organizations and blown away by the number of people reaching out to volunteer their time and donate food, space, services, products and money. The resilience and support from our community is truly inspiring,” says Alexa Pitoulis, Executive Director of Fresh Roots.”

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About LunchLAB 
Both Growing Chefs and Fresh Roots believe food can be a catalyst for positive change and a source of joy and inspiration, even during challenging times. LunchLAB is a collaborative project between two local charities, Growing Chefs and Fresh Roots. In LunchLAB, elementary and high school students learn to grow their own food, supplement that food from local farms, and with the support of their teacher and chef-in-residence, learn to cook for themselves and their peers.

About House of Knives
House of Knives’ vision is a simple one: to improve the quality of life of all those they encounter through education and innovation. Their goal is to match our customers with quality and functional tools, and to educate them on how to use and maintain their tools. To achieve this, they strive to create an inclusive atmosphere within each of their stores where customers who appreciate quality feel comfortable entering and inquiring about their products and services. If customers' needs are not obvious, they listen openly, and without prejudice or bias, to help them determine what their needs are and how to fulfill them.House of Knives aims to have their customers view them as not only as a destination where one can purchase fine quality tools and functional gifts, but as a resource for the service, knowledge, and education required to use and maintain their investments.

About Organic Ocean 
Organic Ocean was established by fishers who recognized that sustainable livelihoods rely upon sustainable fisheries. Driven by the growing demand for responsibly sourced seafood, Organic Ocean has evolved into a community of seafood producers — traditional, modern, and indigenous — all dedicated to ecosystem and social stewardship. The top chefs were the first to recognize that by making choices for the good of our oceans, they were also being provided the finest ingredients. Now Organic Ocean fish and shellfish is also available for contactless, door to door delivery to the home or office. Organic Ocean is a Certified B Corporation and a member of 1% for the Planet and was named one of the Top 25 Sustainability-minded Seafood Suppliers That Have Transformed The North American Industry. 

Websites:

Donation Websites:

Instagram:

Photo and interview opportunities available. 
Download High Resolution Images Here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JSpuxcrbfls0-H988HPkhkt5doKkZhR4?usp=sharing

Media Contacts:
Jaydeen Williams - Co-Interim Executive Director at Growing Chefs
jaydeen@growingchefs.ca
604-710-1677

Caroline Manuel - Communications and Engagement Manager at Fresh Roots
caroline@freshroots.ca
778-764-0DIG (0344), ext. 108

Program Contacts:
Amanda Adams - Program Director at Growing Chefs
amanda@growingchefs.ca 
604-916-2556

Alexa Pitoulis - Executive Director at Fresh Roots
alexa@freshroots.ca 
778-764-0DIG (0344), ext. 101

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When it comes to helping families, there can never be too many cooks in the kitchen!

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COVID-19 has required the entire world to re-examine how communities operate. Here’s how we fit in.

Those of us in the local food scene already informally work together and share common goals, so teamwork is not new for Growing Chefs! and Fresh Roots. We’ve been in cahoots for a couple of years now. In fall 2019, we launched LunchLAB, an innovative and educational school meal pilot program. 

In LunchLAB, students learned to grow their own food, supplement that food from local farms, and with the support of their teacher and chef-in-residence, learn to cook for themselves and hundreds of their peers twice a week. Through LunchLAB, we wanted to provide:

  • meals that strengthen local food systems and support local farms; 

  • meals that provide non-stigmatizing access to those that need it most; 

  • meals that are nourishing, safe, healthy, and delicious; 

  • meals that kids and youth want to eat. 

With the closure of schools due to COVID-19, Fresh Roots and Growing Chefs!, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Centre, 
Ono Vancouver, and the Vancouver School Board (VSB), redesigned LunchLAB to become LunchLAB: Chefs for Families. This new program provides healthy, delicious, chef-prepared meals to families in need.

Please see the end of this blog to learn more about the collaborators’ involvement, because there’s no way we could do this all on our own!

Times can be tough for Vancouver families right now, and even tougher for those families who may have already been struggling. We are offering families, identified by Youth and Family Workers at the VSB, healthy, chef-prepared meals that provide nourishment and dignity at this uncertain time. Both Growing Chefs! and Fresh Roots believe food can be a catalyst for positive change and a source of joy and inspiration, even during a crisis.

Before, LunchLAB was serving up to 440 lunches per week. Now, we’re at 5,500 meals! That’s more than a 1000% increase! These meals are made available for pick up or delivery two days a week to 260 local families. Created by professional chefs and composed of restaurant-quality dishes, the menus are carefully and thoughtfully crafted to bring comfort and enjoyment. 

And they’re not just healthy, they’re absolutely delicious, and kid-approved!

Plus, we’re happy to be able to provide meaningful, paid work for chefs and kitchen professionals who would otherwise not be working. Growing Chefs! and Fresh Roots is currently providing more than 180 hrs/week of employment for our chef teams from Ono Vancouver and the Italian Cultural Centre. A huge THANK YOU to both the Italian Cultural Centre and Pacific Restaurant Supply who have donated the use of their kitchen facilities and equipment for the chef teams to prepare and portion the meals. AMAZING!

It’s also super important to us that we support the entire food system including local sourcing and diversion of food waste. Thanks for working with us and thank you for your donations Cropthorne Farm, Discovery Organics, Gordon Food Service, Nature’s Path, and Yen Bros Food Service.

And it’s not just food that the community is contributing. Fresh Prep generously donated cold packs for safe delivery of the meals, Fresh St Market donated paper bags for packing meals, Lyft has donated free rides for families to pick up meals, and Odd Society Spirits donated hand sanitizer for our volunteer delivery drivers. THANK YOU!

Now, We Need Your Help!

Program activities would not be possible without volunteers. If you can volunteer your time, or would like more information about what volunteering looks like, please email Amanda Adams, amanda@growingchefs.ca. 

We also know that not everyone is in a place to make a donation right now, and we understand. But, if you or your employer are, we hope you’ll Order Up* a chef-prepared meal for a family in need with a donation today! Each time you place an order, you provide fresh, healthy, restaurant-quality meals, salad making kits, fresh produce, and pantry staples to local families in need, RIGHT NOW.

$5 Order up an individual serving (every donation matters!)

$20 Order up one meal for a family of 4

$50 Order up three days of meals for a family of 4

$100 Order up meals for one family of 4 for a week

$200 Order up meals for two families of 4 for a week

$500 Order up meals for five families of 4 for a week

* This project is a partnership and contact and donation information will be shared with both charities, Growing Chefs! and Fresh Roots.

The cost of LunchLAB: Chefs for Families is $77,000 per month and donations are required to continue operation. 

Financially Supported By:

Participating Collaborators: 

  • Italian Cultural Centre provides LunchLAB with:

    • In-kind use of their entire facility and equipment to prepare, portion, and distribute the meals 

    • Leadership, expertise and culinary talent from their Executive Chef Jackson Noah, their chefs, staff, and catering division  

    • Community connections and supplier connections for in-kind support and donated food/fresh produce. 

  • 
Ono Vancouver provides LunchLAB with:

    • Support developing the new LunchLAB program concept, model, scale, and operations

    • Leadership, expertise, and culinary talent from Executive Chef TJ Conwi, one of the LunchLAB chef-in-residences, and his team of chefs

    • Community connections and supplier connections for in-kind support and donated food/fresh produce. 

  • Vancouver School Board provides LunchLab with: 

    • The list of participating families. Each week, the Manager of Enhanced Services and Youth and Family Workers from across the VSB sign up families they feel will best benefit from participating in the meal program. 

Program Contacts:

  • Helen Stortini | Executive Director, Growing Chefs!

helen@growingchefs.ca | 778-858-0909

  • Alexa Pitoulis | Interim Executive Director, Fresh Roots

alexa@freshroots.ca | 778-764-0DIG (0344), ext. 101

Communications/Fundraising Contacts:

  • Jaydeen Williams | Development & Communications Director, Growing Chefs!

jaydeen@growingchefs.ca | 604-710-1677

  • Caroline Manuel | Communications and Engagement Manager, Fresh Roots

caroline@freshroots.ca | 778-764-0DIG (0344), ext. 108

#LunchLAB #ChefsForFamilies #OrderUp #GrowingChefs #FreshRoots