It’s summer in Guelph and the joy of sharing food is everywhere. Our downtown is populated with people sharing food at the Royal City Mission and on the many seasonal patios.
There is both ease and joy in sharing food in summer. Food brings us together and post pandemic, we know to cherish their time together.
Coming together to prepare and eat food is also one way of reducing the cost of food. The delicious aroma wafting from your backyard barbecue smells even better knowing those burgers cost less (and likely taste better) because you made them in bulk with your friends.
While the grocery store will sell you eight prepared burgers for $14 you can make your own burgers using great ingredients (see recipe below) for about $1.10 per burger or $8.80 for the same number of burgers.
Consider the possibility of purchasing your beef in bulk from a local farmer. While a quarter beef is an investment and requires a freezer, it can be a relief not to have meat on your weekly grocery list.
The potluck barbecue can be even more cost-effective with a green salad from one garden, devilled eggs from the backyard hens and raspberries, fresh off the cane for dessert. Local foods that taste great!
Socializing is a way of caring for ourselves and our mental health.
Community Food Centres Canada’s document called 'Social Isolation and the Value of Community Connection,' calls out poverty and low income as factors that increase loneliness and isolation.
Cooking and eating together has long been used as a way of addressing isolation. Furthermore, it’s fascinating how much people’s nutrition improves when dining together.
Communal dining increases the amount of food consumed and often increases the variety of foods eaten. Imagine an older adult subsisting on tea and toast who starts going to a weekly church dinner with a hot meal and dessert. That’s a nutrition game changer.
Hope House, in Downtown Guelph, includes food in its day-to-day programming. Chef Kay welcomes people into a monthly group called the ‘Collective Kitchen’ to share food and food skills. Sharing skills and reducing costs while building community is beneficial for both well being and nutrition.
Collective ways to shop and cook are everywhere.
A group of families in the Sunny Acre neighbourhood shares the load of weeknight dinners by each making a big batch of one meal on the weekend and sharing the wealth with each other.
Another group of coworkers enjoy a fun night out by attending a cooking class with a professional chef. It’s a chance to learn to cook something new and the group intentionally produces enough food to serve themselves and more to share with a local food-sharing organization.
Food brings a group of single, older adults in north Guelph together to share both food and friendship. They put their minds and ingredients together in their apartment kitchens making delicious and creative meals.
Looking for a great way to get involved? Bake Their Day is a volunteer project of Wyndham House youth shelters. Kim Evershed, fundraising and communications manager at Wyndham House, mentions that Bake Their Day is a program where volunteers bake from their own kitchens and safely drop off baked goods or meals to the supportive housing sites and youth emergency shelter.
The initiative has been supported by students, individuals, families and local businesses who want to volunteer and prepare homemade meals and freshly baked treats.
Launched during the pandemic the program has had a huge outpouring of support from the community. By baking or preparing a meal the volunteers support the youth experiencing homelessness and lend a helping hand to the front-line teams. To get involved check out the Instagram page or email [email protected] so you can help Bake Their Day!
Family favourite burger recipe (serves six)
Ingredients:
1 ½ lb. lean ground beef
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup low-fat milk
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 egg
2 teaspoons horseradish
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
6 whole wheat burger buns
Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Shape mixture into 6 patties, each about 1/2-inch thick.
3. Make a thumb print into 6 of the patties. It keeps the burger flat while cooking.
4. Broil patties, turning once, until the desired doneness is reached, about 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Serve on whole wheat buns with your choice of toppings.
Recipe adapted from Shelley Murphy’s recipe collection, Guelph CHC
