On Food and Community

I recently was part of a inner city mission project, that was hosted by my church. The project lasted 11 days, and brought together youth and leaders from all over the country. It is something I will never forget, it was an amazing experience. A wonderful community was formed.

I think one of the reasons why such a wonderful community was formed, was because of the food that we cooked and shared together. We didn’t have a cook, or anyone to cook our meals for us, so we did a lot of cooking (and conversely, a lot of eating.) I think there is something about cooking, that just brings people together and creates community. One of the ways that I think cooking creates community, is the co-operation that occurs when you cook a meal with someone else. Cooking brings people together, and causes them to share something.

One of our main mission sites was First United, which is located right in the heart of Vancouver’s Downside Eastside. First United works hard to create a community for Vancouver’s less fortunate. It is a home for hundreds of people who don’t have any-other place to call home. If you want to learn more about them, and what they do you can check out their website here: http://firstunited.ca/ .

By spending time at First, I really came to understand that sitting down with someone to share a meal, can create something profound. Part of our mission was serving meals at First.  However, we were lucky enough to also sit down and eat a meal with the people who we had served for many days before. Let me tell you, it was a experience. Sitting down to eat a meal with someone who you have never before met, can be a little bit intimidating. However, after a few minutes of conversation I relaxed, started to enjoy myself, and I became genuinely interested in what the others had to say. It is something that I won’t forget.

Another thing amazing about First, is that it helps people build and maintain friendships. First serves three meals a day, seven days a week. This allows people to get the food and nutrition that they need, but it also allows people to spend time with their friends. The meals almost have a feeling of a whole bunch of good friends meeting together in a restaurant, the community is that strong. It is an amazing thing.

Another way I found community through food, was through a community BBQ that we hosted. The BBQ was part of our mission. We spend a day preparing for it. We made fresh bread, and hamburger buns. We also went to a market and picked out fresh local produce to make salads. Then as a whole group we made a meal together. It was so much fun! A lot of different people came to the BBQ, and it was so wonderful to see how we brought so many people together. It was most definitely a success!

Ultimately, food and community go hand in hand. Food is something that is meant to be shared. By sharing food with other human beings, you are able to form a connection. Life is all about millions of little formed connections. So, I think it is important make these connections mean something. By sharing meals, you will most definitely have some meaningful connections in your life.

**Disclaimer: I was not asked by First United to write this blog post. All opinions are my own.**