Cooking together in our community
Nourish has been supporting several pilot programs intended to bring together community volunteers to make and share food offerings in community kitchens, thanks to support from the Medavie Foundation. This has included a series of intergenerational cooking sessions in Cape Breton, bulk-baking sessions for school breakfast programs in HRM, and youth drop-in cooking classes in Dartmouth North.
Intergenerational Cooking in Bay St. Lawrence, Cape Breton
Nourish partnered with the Bay St. Lawrence Community Centre to host six community cooking sessions back in November and December of 2023. Youth and seniors from the community came together to share and learn valuable cooking skills and to connect over healthy, tasty food while gaining essential food literacy skills in the process.
When we get kids involved in the kitchen, it strengthens their relationship with the foods they eat and encourages them to be thoughtful eaters.
Testimony from one of the Bay St. Lawrence Community Centre program coordinators:
"Fantastic week #2 for our multi-generation cooking! We made chicken fingers from scratch, basmati rice and steamed broccoli. […] Big thanks to all 25 people who came! While the food was cooking, we played bingo together, prizes were items to encourage baking at home”.
Baking for Breakfast Sessions in HRM
Nourish’s Baking for Breakfast sessions have been supporting school breakfast programs that are currently struggling to meet the increasing needs of feeding youth and children in schools. Participants have been gathering at St. Andrews Community Centre and the Dartmouth North Community Centre to share a meal together and to bake breakfast recipes to be delivered to school breakfast programs in the North End of Halifax and North Dartmouth.
A mix of university students, working, and retired folks from across the municipality have baked almost 1000 breakfast squares for these programs. As a result, Nourish is continuing to grow our connection with North End communities in both Dartmouth and Halifax, and we hope to foster more conversations about food, how we engage with it, and how we talk about it.
From Noreen, a program volunteer:
I love everyone working together to complete a positive task for the benefit of others. I so appreciate food programs for how they nourish and nurture others.”
Mobile Youth Support Team (MYST) Drop-In Cooking Classes in North Dartmouth
After an initial connection through the North Grove, Nourish and the Mobile Youth Support Team (MYST) have been collaborating on a drop-in cooking program that coincides with a drop-in basketball program at the North Dartmouth Community Centre. MYST consists of a Halifax Recreation Youth Counsellor and a Youth Outreach Worker, supporting youth aged 13-24.
This collaborative program is intended to host a space where youth can come together, talk openly, get excited about food, and learn new cooking skills to improve their food literacy. Youth at the sessions can make a recipe, share and enjoy a meal together, and take leftovers home afterward.
Testimony from NNS staff who co-facilitated the first session:
“Seeing the youth come together to work toward the common goal of making a meal, and then sitting down around a table to share it together was really special. Each youth participant learned something new, and some tried peppers and guacamole for the first time.”
We’re looking forward to supporting these programs and others to come in the future as we continue to bring people together, celebrate food, and explore new ways to share and connect with each other.
