Cooking for a cause

Cooking for a cause

Fanshawe’s baking and culinary programs provide food for youth in shelter.

Out of the challenges and uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic, an exciting partnership formed that gives students a chance to make a significant difference in our community while completing their studies at Fanshawe.

Students in the Baking and Pastry Arts Management and Culinary Management programs learn to produce large volumes of food as they prepare for careers in culinary arts. Normally, the College’s oncampus restaurant and café, The Chef’s Table, sells the food produced by students.

“We are making everything from scratch and learning all the techniques,” says Valeria Vettorazzi Ruiz, a student in the Restaurant Production Course. “We have made everything from baguettes and hamburger buns—and we learned to make a dish from El Salvador called pupusa.”

The Chef’s Table was temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This presented a challenge—what would happen to the food prepared by students during their program?

An innovative partnership was formed with Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) in London. Since the fall 2020 semester, students have prepared three meals per week, along with bread and pastries, for young people staying at the organization’s youth shelter.

“YOU is so privileged to have this partnership with Fanshawe College’s culinary programs to help feed the young folks who are accessing our emergency shelter,” says Nick Martin, manager of Food Services at YOU. “Partnerships like this reinforce our vision of a community where youth are embraced and will thrive.”

This important collaboration allows students to continue to have experiential learning opportunities, and ensures young people in need have enough to eat.

A participant in YOU’s youth shelter commented, “This is the best food I’vehad at a shelter, and it really makes me feel like I’m cared for.”

Go to https://youtu.be/niufhbQaTog to watch 'The Focus' interview with Steve Cordes, Executive Director of Youth Opportunities Unlimited London