Regent Park food workshops bring community together, teach new culinary skills

Pamela Neblett heard there would be a pie making workshop in her neighbourhood, she signed up right away.

"I love pie," the Regent Park resident exclaimed. "My problem is I do not know how to make the crust."

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She'll be learning that crucial skill at the Regent Park Community Food Centre on Oak Street near Gerrard Street East and Parliament Street. It's part of a series of workshops focused on food security.  

The food skills programs are free-of-charge and include a light snack or meal as well as food to take home. 

Neblett says the benefits go beyond gaining new culinary skills.

"I get to meet new people. This is a great way of getting involved with your community," she said.

"Although I live not far from here, I never knew this existed."

Building relationships

Emma Palumbo, the food skills coordinator at the Regent Park Community Food Centre, asked participants for feedback on what type of programming they would like to see in 2018 and an overwhelming number of people requested to learn how to make pie.

​"I think when we come together in these workshops, some of them have different aims but we are building relationships together here too and I think that's one of the most meaningful things that happen," Palumbo said.

The centre addresses the extreme isolation of poverty, and how building social connections through food helps residents form new relationships and connect with resources in their community.

In the kitchen at the centre, about a dozen participants peeled fruit, kneaded the crust and prepared the toppings. Palumbo helped lead the process. She says there's a wide range of benefits to programs like this.

"It's about food security, food justice and challenging poverty," she said.

"When we get together, we sit down, we eat a meal together, people are laughing, sharing stories and meeting new people."

The pie making workshop is part of the food skills series running all year. Topics range from nutrition, urban agriculture and cooking from scratch. 

Reducing food waste 

The berries, apples, peaches, apricots and cherries for the pie filling were all harvested locally through Not Far from the Tree — a Toronto-based fruit picking project.

L​auren Ramsay, the program manager, says one third of the fruit that's harvested is given back to various agencies across the city, such as food banks.

"Our role is helping to reduce food waste and ensuring food that's perfectly edible, totally natural ... is put to good use," Ramsay said.

Ramsay stresses the importance of continuing to practise minimizing food waste even after fruit picking season is over.

"We really encourage that even though picking season happens throughout the summer, that folks are thinking about sustaining themselves with the fruit they've harvested through things like preserving, canning, drying."

The workshop's plan was to produce 44 pies. Many will be donated to the overdose prevention sites in Moss Park.