What is a Community Kitchen?
A key goal of the Blockhouse School Project is to build a Community Kitchen as a Food Hub and Small Business Incubator.
What it will look like?
Who will it serve?
How will it do this?
These questions are part of our ongoing discussions.
We hope that individuals with expertise, great ideas and energy will help build the team to make this happen.
It’s More than Just About Food
It’s also about:
- agriculture and food production
- food preservation
- accessibility
- affordability
- health and wellness
- food and culture
- food production in the local economy.
There’s so much to talk about it as we explore and build the connections “From Field to Table”.
What is a Food Hub?
The Blockhouse Community Kitchen is in an ideal spot to become a Food Hub. There are many roles it could play:
- a centre for learning and teaching,
- catering workshops on the property or elsewhere,
- rental by individuals or small groups.
All ages can be involved. The long-term goal is to build a
sustainable and innovative community-based
business model.
How to get from Field to Table
Field to Table programs, resources and workshops may include such things as:
Recipes for Change:
Sessions on seasonal topics around
- gathering and selecting quality food,
- “How to make it last” – processing and food storage.
These are old skills we can share in new ways.
Harvest Community Suppers
– Growing and eating together: how to combine growing, gardening, healthy eating, exercise and community involvement for all ages.
Cooking Classes or Workshops
- Tips and techniques,
- partner with our growers and chefs,
- internships for culinary students,
- engage other food and nutrition specialists;
- learning ways to eat and prepare food from a variety of perspectives (including vegan, gluten-free, paleo, raw food diets, eating wild, cultural diversity and considerations, etc.)
- Cooking on a Budget
- Cooking Out of the Box sessions.
- Document as a video series for YouTube
Herb-infused vinegar ready for decanting
Retail Challenges & Opportunities
- Building a network to support local growers and producers by providing a place to sell or produce value-added products.
- Kitchen Rentals for individuals pursuing food production as a business, community groups, etc..
- Develop a flexible business model that meets the needs of the Blockhouse Community Kitchen as well as those of small food producers.
Volunteers, Members & Partners
Become a member of the South Shore Social Ventures Co-op Ltd.
Join this ongoing conversation to help make the Community Kitchen happen.
You can also contact Meredith Bell at email hidden; JavaScript is required, participate in the Community Kitchen area of our Forum, or leave a comment below.
Hi Meredith:
I was at the centre yesterday and asked David about cooking for the Permaculture Design course. He took my email address but I decided to contact you here, too. I’m a vegetarian cook, but also cook dairy free and wheat (gluten-free). Some of my specialties are tempura, great Indian curries, veggie sushi, homemade miso soup (I learned to make it in Japan) and other Japanese dishes. I also bake gluten-free. I’ve published a blog on vegetarian cooking for about 6 years and I know how to keep food costs down.
Please contact me. I have a passion for permaculture as well as food, and I want to make sure those good folks are well fed.
🙂
Nancy
Thanks Nancy. You message and request may get bounced around a little. I have some prior commitments and events that have limited by involvement regarding the food portion of the permaculture course. You may have already received a message that your interest and abilities have been forwarded once again to David and his partner Nancy Sherwood who will be developing a meal plan. I’m am sure she would relish your input and assistance. As you may have seen, the space is limited in some ways — so it is like camping as far as on-site food preparation. However, bringing to the School and helping with clean-up, etc. will go a long way to help. Budget awareness is also a major plus and appreciate this so much.
Thanks for your input and I hope this keeps you in the loop and I apologize for a less than speedy response.