SLU’S CAMPUS KITCHENS PROJECT

Teach. Reach . Feed. Lead.

Katie Madges

Campus Kitchens Services and Mission

The goal of the Campus Kitchens Project is simple. If it were an equation, it would look something like =>

unserved food in cafeterias and donations from restaurants/grocery stores + students = people getting nourishing meals who otherwise might not

In other words, Campus Kitchens coordinates food donations, prepares the food into healthy meals, and delivers the food to places like agencies and apartments. Campus Kitchens also focuses on the social issues that are relevant to hunger by teaching culinary job training to unemployed men and women, nutrition education to children, and healthy cooking classes to families. The saying Campus Kitchens lives by is “Teach. Reach. Feed. Lead.”

Students involved in CK:• Cook/prepare meals, package them,

and clean the kitchen (These shifts are on Monday and Wednesday.)

• Deliver meals to individuals, families, and agencies in surrounding neighborhoods (There are delivery shifts almost every day of the week.)

• Provide empowerment-based education to clients and tutor/play with kids (These are on Thursday and Monday.)

My experience and attitude

• The majority of my shifts focused on cooking, packaging, and cleaning but as soon as I went on my first delivery shift, my perception of the entire process changed. Instead of just cooking for faceless numbers and addresses, I actually envisioned the people behind the meals. I’m cheesily quoted in the latest edition of the Unews as saying something like “Seeing the people behind the food is wonderful. It means so much more.” (They made it cheesier than I actually said it)

• My attitude toward social work didn’t particularly change because the view I have is a growing one. What I experienced through Campus Kitchens meshed well with the developing sense that I had, though.

A leadership role

An aspect that I thought was very positive is that the students plan everything, from planning the meals and making the food to organizing the drivers and completing the paperwork. Jenna Grime, the Coordinator for Campus Kitchens said, “A lot of what we’re trying to do is teach people to be leaders. Something that a lot of nonprofit agencies are running into is a lack of leaders. Campus Kitchens gives students the opportunity to be leaders in a nonprofit environment.”

For me personally this was interesting because I’m not a particularly good cook. So when the leaders would say, “Just make it how it seems right to you” that wasn’t really very comforting because I had no clue. So I actually gained some cooking skills in this process.

What I learned

• Campus Kitchens is involved at the mezzo level of intervention; all people who receive meals from Campus Kitchens have a social worker that referred them.

• Hunger isn’t about a lack of food, it deals more with a lack of access to food. There isn’t a fair or equal access to food, which is the main problem. People living in poverty aren’t starving to death so much as they aren’t getting the nutrition that wealthier people can afford.

Knowledge or skills related to SW

• Again emphasized that social workers need to be organized. There was a set and specific way to store food, check temperatures of food regularly, and prepare meals for people with special dietary needs (ie, people who are vegetarian or diabetic).

• Helped with the skill of multitasking. At times I or my group would wash dishes while waiting for our food to finish cooking while starting to make something else. I think that multitasking is a skill every social worker is adept at (or is forced to develop)

More than just meals• I learned that hunger is not just an empty stomach,

but also isolation and loneliness. CKP tries to combat this loneliness by offering conversation and companionship particularly with the delivery shifts.

• CKP recognizes that providing meals is only one part of the solution so it works with recovery centers, shelters, agencies on aging, and social workers to link meals with services. This idea of thinking about systems linked well with what we’ve learned in class, demonstrating that in the field, social workers really do tackle all aspects of life and take into account all of the strengths available in the community.

the end