Fed up with growing food insecurity, chefs are teaming up with young culinary students to tackle the issue in Toronto with “Get Fed Up 2024.”
The June 1 event is part of an ongoing collaboration between The Chef Upstairs, a unique company that offers a variety of cooking classes and experiences, and the Daily Bread Food Bank. Participating children will hone their culinary skills, and the food bank's member agencies will benefit from the fresh meals provided.
“I became a chef to feed people, so this really resonates with me,” said Julian Panther, chef and co-owner of The Chef Upstairs. “When we were deciding what to do in 2020, food insecurity was the main concern in the news. The pandemic had just started, people were losing jobs and cooking at home a lot more. We just found ourselves in this situation, and it made perfect sense for all of us.”
The first Get Fed Up event took place online in February 2021. More than 1,600 families from 10 countries participated in online cooking classes and raised funds for Daily Bread and other local food banks.
Last year, the team of adult professional and kid sous chefs cooked 1,101 meals for donation to Daily Bread's 132 member agencies and raised $17,000 to support food bank operations. This year, the Chef Upstairs team hopes to raise even more money, delivering 1,500 meals to Daily Bread customers at an event hosted by John Cantucci of Food Network's “You Gotta Eat Here.”
“We will have at least 1,000 meat dishes and at least 500 vegetarian dishes, both of which will be delicious Moroccan-inspired meals,” Panther said.
While teaching children the practical elements of cooking is beneficial in itself, it’s the opportunity to make a positive impact on local people who rely on food banks that energizes the team at The Chef Upstairs to continue running Get Fed Up.
“The idea is to teach the kids a skill and develop a sense of community while also showing them the tangible result of accomplishing something great,” Panther said. “The opportunity we can give the kids is that once they learn how to cook with us, they can use that skill to do something great, and I see that as the ultimate fulfillment for themselves.”
The Daily Bread Food Bank was founded by Sister Marie Tremblay of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Toronto, a religious order whose work continues to inspire us to this day.
“We are forever heartened that Daily Bread Food Bank continues to do what Sister Marie Tremblay and others began in 1983 – serving unmet needs in Toronto with the belief that no one should go hungry,” the sisters wrote in a statement. “We are continually inspired by Daily Bread Food Bank's creativity, from canned art projects to cleverly designed events to raise funds and awareness, heartfelt collaborations with other organizations, and other forms of passionate advocacy for the right to food and 'daily bread.'”
This is essential as the country continues to deal with a surge in food bank usage: One in 10 people in Toronto now relies on food banks, up from one in 20 last year, reports The Daily Bread. There will be nearly three million visits to food banks in Toronto in 2023, a 50 per cent increase from the previous year.
Nationwide, 25 per cent of Canadians experience some form of food insecurity, according to Food Banks Canada's 2024 Poverty Report Card, and a quarter of children in Ontario live in food insecure homes — a painful contradiction that organizers hope to raise awareness and address.
“Last year, we stood with the kids in front of Daily Bread's giant walk-in refrigerator and showed them our cart and said, 'Here's what 1,101 meals look like,'” Panther recalled. “We told them they did a great job and we were proud of them, but it's not enough. The need is so great and this is just a drop in the pond. Our goal is to teach the kids to give back and to know how lucky they are to have food on the table.”
For more information, visit dailybread.ca
