Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts (CHCA) students and faculty completed an amazing feat by preparing and packaging 20,000 meals in three days to support Second Harvest.
The effort kicked off on April 26, with everyone rolling up their sleeves to chop, mash, and sauté the massive amount of ingredients used to make thousands of portions of pork parmentier (like a shepherd's pie). Then, volunteers packaged the meals in eight-portion containers and delivered them to Second Harvest on April 28.
An incredible team effort
The collective cooking was an effort to fight food insecurity as part of La Tablée des Chefs' Solidarity Kitchen program. It gets culinary professors and students involved in preparing meals for food aid organizations. The program started in Quebec in 2003 and has since expanded to other provinces.
"What our faculty members and students have accomplished is incredible. Preparing meals on this scale and in such a short time provided an important learning opportunity for our students. The teamwork involved in pulling off this mammoth task demonstrated the positive impact our industry can have on the greater community," said Chef Tara Montgomery-Ferguson, Chair of the Chef School at CHCA.
"Efforts to reduce food insecurity align directly with our goals at the Chef School. Increasing access to healthy and nutritious food is an issue close to our hearts at George Brown and across the hospitality and culinary industry."
More than 15 Chef School faculty members oversaw the completion of the cooking and packaging processes. The Chef School support staff team organized beverages, lunches, and snacks for over 100 students, and the school's inventory control team organized food product logistics, Montgomery-Ferguson said.
Students eager to give back to the community
Culinary Management student DJ Jia volunteered to show gratitude for receiving a George Brown College scholarship. He wanted to pay it forward and did so with his prep skills — he said the volunteer team chopped about 60 50-pound bags of potatoes on the first day.
"I think if people help you, you should try and help them back," he said.
Culinary Management student Stephanie Leon-Cruz was drawn to volunteer because the effort involves her two passions, cooking and helping others.
"I think I'm following my ideals doing this and being loyal to the values I followed when I decided to get into this industry," she said.
Learn about programs at the Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts.
