Cooking For The Community

Photo of Chef Joey and students at CKA Barre.

While getting food out into our Vermont communities is a core function of your Foodbank, we know that addressing the root causes of hunger is key to solving the issue. A place to see this work in action is in the kitchens at Capstone Community Action in Barre, and Feeding Chittenden in Burlington, where the Community Kitchen Academy (CKA) program has been training cooks since 2009.

Over 430 students have graduated from the academy, with 88% obtaining employment after graduation. They leave with more than job skills; throughout their training, students prepare meals that are distributed to neighbors experiencing hunger in the community. More than 785,000 meal servings have been distributed since the program began, and thanks to you, CKA will continue to feed communities and prepare students for fulfilling careers.

Here’s what a few recent grads have to say about the program, and their favorite recipes for you to try this holiday season.

Phill

“Being in this kitchen, making these meals now, really hits home because I was on the other side of that receiving end, and I just feel really good being a part of that, knowing that there are other people like me who can’t afford the food at that time in their life, and it really makes a huge difference, you know. It takes a lot of stress off you when you know you can at least eat that day.”

Phill’s Recipe:
Pasta Fasul

Roxanne

“It makes me happy [to cook for the community] because I’ve been in the circumstances where I’ve had to be on the receiving end. So doing this, and learning about all the different vegetables and things, I feel like I’m giving back to the community and learning at the same time.”

Roxanne’s recipe:
Green Bean Casserole

Matty

“I love [CKA], absolutely love it. I started here like five weeks ago, six weeks ago. I struggle with addiction pretty seriously…my life’s been pretty sporadic and crazy, but in the last six weeks I’ve done nothing but be here, and I’m composed, on point…I’m really doing it right now, [Chef] Joey is an amazing person.”

Matty’s Recipe:
Peanut Butter Fudge