Leah’s Pantry is committed to improving the lives and potential of people living in economically disadvantaged communities. Our cooking and nutrition workshops and events empower homeless and low-income children, adults, and seniors to make positive changes to their health and nutrition, as well as the overall health of their communities through
a. culturally competent cooking and nutrition programming for all ages
b. support of and participation in community-driven, food-centered activities and events
c. ongoing follow-up support of individual, family and community pursuits of healthy lifestyles
Adrienne
When I taught high school Ethics, one of the main concepts that wove through the year was the idea of interdependence. As I read the SF Chronicle this morning - they had a large feature on the rising costs of food - I was struck by how many other issues were tied into this topic.
Some negatives: concerns about climate change and dependence on foreign oil have led to large subsidies for farmers producing corn for ethanol, which has resulted in higher commodities prices. Higher food costs restrict schools from providing healthy choices and adequate portions for their students, which makes paying attention and learning more difficult.
Some positives: growth in farmer's markets, "victory" and community gardens, and other grass-roots attempts to mitigate the rising food costs. Many of these efforts move people away from highly processed and packaged foods and towards sustainably grown produce. Much has been written on the amount of petroleum required to move food around the world (often needlessly) - so these movements are definitely a step in the right direction.
I try and maintain a glass-half-full attitude, and although there is plenty of evidence that things may get more difficult before they get easier, I am heartened by the idea that the best solutions involve individual choices that have immediately tangible results. In these times, everyone can make a difference.
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...trying new things." A resident at Valencia Gardens, our new programming site in San Francisco's Mission District, said this to me last week during an outreach visit. She, along with all of the VG residents we talked to, were so excited to take advantage of the cooking and nutrition information we'll be offering there all summer.
I love her enthusiasm - and it has helped inspire me to do new things too. I've been spending a lot of time lately thinking further ahead then next week (which is a challenge, believe me!) and it's a difficult exercise to imagine where Leah's Pantry will be next year at this time, or in three years from now.
But, as someone who's been here since the beginning, it's a wonderful feeling to believe that Leah's Pantry WILL be here in a year from now and three years from now. We are running 13 workshops this summer, from San Diego to San Rafael, and I see no reason why our growth won't continue to skyrocket. We're meeting a need for nutrition education, and our hope is that the way we approach the topic is effective in empowering people to make changes. Otherwise, who cares?
So, we'll be trying some new things this summer regarding our assessment - how do we measure our impact?? What, exactly, are we measuring? These are the things we're thinking about...and trying new things is our first step.
Happy Summer!
I'm very excited to get started on a new project. Without giving away all of the juicy details, we're looking for people to get involved with a new workshop format right here in San Francisco. Instead of our usual seminar, we're going to be experimenting this summer at a housing site in the Mission.
We're on a tight budget (what's new) so we're hoping to involve some volunteers as well as paid facilitators on this one. We'll be running "bite-sized" programming during a Food Pantry day. This means that the residents are already participating in a great Food Pantry program on Wednesday afternoons sponsored by the San Francisco Food Bank. We will set up shop doing cooking demonstration, activities for kids, info and resources for adults and seniors. I think it has fabulous potential and I can't wait to get started!
Interested in getting involved? Apply here.
Several things point to the growing importance of food and nutrition in our culture. One is the popularity of books like The Art of Simple Food and The Omnivore's Dilemma (and the follow up, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.) In fact, we're even summarizing the main ideas of these titles in a workshop we're creating for the employees of BRIDGE Housing. People really want to know about what they're eating!
Another is the unbelievable amount of resumes I've received in response to our most recent round of job postings. We've always had a fair amount of interest in facilitating our workshops, but this level of enthusiasm is certainly unprecedented. Letter after letter reminds me how many people are on board with our mission and are already working in their communities to bring about empowerment and change with regards to food and nutrition for people from all backgrounds. It's inspiring to me when I think about our involvement in such an important mission - and we're not in it alone.
On a personal note, my younger child is embarking on his own food journey - and it hasn't been easy. Unlike my daughter, who shovels most food in like it may be her last meal (she even finishes the baby's food for him), my little one is much more hesitant to open his little mouth. It's definitely forced me to go back and think about what we tell our clients during workshops and put it into practice.
Our patience is paying off though - today when he opened up to welcome multiple mouthfuls of yogurt, my daughter leapt from her chair screaming with excitement: "Mom! He actually opened his mouth, you didn't have to trick him!" I was glad to have someone with whom to share the moment. I hope that's how our workshop participants feel when they find a way to accomplish one of the goals they create during our workshop - like they have plenty of excited people cheering them on.
For some time now, Dianne and I have wanted to create an online presence for Leah's Pantry. Everyone seems to be online now - and many of our workshop participants have access to computers at school, work, home, or computer labs in their communities. We're working to create a site that continues the dialogue started in our workshops. We want people to have access to our resources, trusted sources to help answer their questions, ways to track their SMART goals, and a forum to discuss topics that relate to their health and nutrition.
So, here we go! We welcome all comments and suggestions as we put this together.