Winnipeg chefs host Stone Soup fundraiser for kids' food programs

A dozen Winnipeg chefs are going soup-to-soup on Wednesday to raise money for nutrition programs in schools.

Feast Café Bistro owner Christa Bruneau-Guenther made a Manitoba bison roasted root vegetable barley soup with sweet spring peas for the fourth annual Stone Soup fundraiser.

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Donations will be distributed as grants to Manitoba schools and community organizations to provide kids with free breakfast, snack and vegetable and fruit programs.

"This is something I hold dear to my heart," Bruneau-Guenther said. 

Before she opened the West End restaurant, she owned a daycare for nine years and ran a program focused on food. The children were involved in grocery shopping, gardening and sometimes even food preparation. 

"Learning about food and how to cook really gives a sense of pride," she said. 

She saw the impact food had on the children's ability to learn, focus and be happy and healthy, she said.

"It's amazing what food can do. This is why this event and being a part of it is really special," she said. "Food is love."

The event is downtown at Manitoba Hydro Place on Portage Avenue from 11:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. It includes chefs from 529 Wellington, Inferno's Bistro, The Tallest Poppy, Clay Oven, Smith Restaurant, Elements, Sydney's at the Forks, Rudy's Eat & Drink, FrenchWay Café, Red River College School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts, and Louis Riel Arts & Technology Centre's culinary arts program.

CBC's Radio Noon show will also broadcast live from the fundraiser.