The evolution of a feast.(Currently:: Listening to Leviathan purr on my bed.) I am tired. So I think I'm going to sleep.

I spent the day cooking at The Bridge with Dahn, Little Dan, Chris and Kerri, as is our habit.
For the uninitiated, every Wednesday night the Bridge Youth Center (where I work) holds a community feast. It exists to address the needs of hungry people in Peterborough. In our neighbourhood there are lots of hungry people, and a lot of loneliness from the looks of things. The feast exists to address both of these issues.

The meals for the past two weeks have been vegan. The vegan food is great. But strangely enough, it's not really the main reason why I'm stoked on the meals of late.

I am happy about the meals for the past couple of weeks because ::

- We have served food in a sit-down style rather than a bread-line.
This serving style has minimized wait time and stress. More importantly, the sit-down style has given the meal a dignity that I had previously thought impossible.
I am uncomfortable with breadlines because they are a traditional marker of poverty. If you really really need food, you will stand in line for it. But anyone with enough cash for groceries would never have to stand in line and wait to be fed. I want to work to minimize the Us and Them dynamic within community meals, this is a fantastic step.

- We are serving food that is really good.
The temptation to just serve whatever is donated is pretty great. We get donations of food and we operate on a shoestring budget. It costs a lot to feed 150 people dinner, and most of it comes out of pocket. The issue with the food that is donated though is that we probably wouldn't serve it to friends. I would never have friends over and serve them coleslaw from a bucket or mock chicken sandwiches. I would serve them the best thing I could whip up, to honour them. The people who eat food with us on Wednesdays are my friends. I refuse to succumb to the idea that I should serve them anything less than what I would serve at a dinner party at my place.

- We are serving food that is healthy.
Diet makes or breaks health. We want to serve food that is nutritious and balanced. The trick is to convince people who are unaccustomed to healthy food that the whole health thing is really a good idea. So far, it's going pretty well.

- We are spending more time building community.
I like being able to sit, and talk and eat with people. Food is a good equalizer. We all need it. An when you sit and eat with people, something great happens. Conversations happen. I connect with the kids at the centre about their days. I meet the parents of the drop-in kids. I meet cool old people with good stories. It's good. It's breaking down barriers of isolation and working towards something more kind.

It's great to feel good about Wednesdays at The Bridge. Thanks to Little Dan, Chris, Dahn and Kerri (who make it happen). I am blessed when I cook with you.
To food! To community! Thank God for both. :)

Goodnight.