chef

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

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

Volunteer Profile: Chef Jason

We love the enthusiasm that our volunteers bring into the classroom, and we’re especially excited when we get to support volunteers through their own professional growth. Thank you Chef Jason for all you have given us. Your future students are lucky to have you!

Chef_Jason_2018.JPG

Jason, how did you first hear about us?

I heard about Growing Chefs! on Twitter in 2014. I was just flipping through and a chef I follow had tweeted about it so I clicked on the tweet and link, and read up about it. After reading about it I thought it was something I’d like to help out with. 

When you’re not in the classroom role of “Chef Jason”, what are you up to?

Currently I’m in school to become a secondary school teacher, specifically a teaching chef in the cafeteria. As part of the Bachelor of Education program, we are to do a 3 week Community Field Experience where we can choose from quite an extensive list of places to volunteer at, with a focus on school-aged children.  When I saw Growing Chefs! was on the list I jumped at the opportunity to be able to work with them again as my previous experiences were awesome! 

What about Growing Chefs! makes you return as a volunteer?

The curriculum is so well thought out and easy to present and engaging, not just for the students but for volunteers also. The excitement of the students as you are walking towards the classroom and entering it is great. Teachers are always asking how to get it into their own classrooms and I think that’s a testament to their thoughts and feelings about the program and how it enriches the students' experience.

And the students are great. They have tons of questions and are truly interested in what we are looking to teach them. Seeing them excited about vegetables and trying vegetables that they normally wouldn’t experience is also a neat experience.

If someone is on the fence about volunteering, what would you say to them?

The program is extremely well set up. The Growing Chefs! team puts all volunteers through a training session where they give you the binder with the curriculum in it. It is all the lesson plans, materials, and tips and hints on working with school-aged children. It’s so well laid out and definitely, after going through the training session, I was set at ease.