Some hearty soup is headed to hungry bellies in the Guelph and Wellington area, thanks to a new collaboration.
Guelph's Community FEWD (food equity with dignity) is cooking up soup for the Sanguen outreach van. The first delivery was made this week, with over 65 containers of split pea soup.
Over the Christmas holidays, Sanguen reached out to FEWD about possibly doing a soup program.
"(Sanguen) wanted something easy, nothing too spicy, just like a soup and something that they can have in containers and hand out to their community that they're serving," said Yasi Zorlutuna, community chef with FEWD. "What made the most sense was for me to make a soup for them to pass along."
"We thought soup would be a good hearty and healthy meal that was easily transportable for people who were housed and for those who are not," added Jamie MacBeth, social support coordinator for the Guelph Sanguen office.
She said if they hand out snacks, they might fill a hungry belly, but they're usually not healthy.
"There's just something very loving about a good bowl of soup," MacBeth said.
Sanguen's outreach happens Thursdays in Guelph, as well as Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Wellington County.
MacBeth said the van usually makes between three and four stops to distribute supplies including harm reduction gear, clothing, snacks, as well as social services.
As for the soup? Some of it will go out Thursday night, while the rest will be saved for next week for the county.
"We're starting small," she said. "We're doing it twice a month for this month, and then we're going to hopefully increase it to once a week and go from there."
"Right now, we're aiming for around 50 portions every other week, and then we're going to sort of see how it goes," added Zorlutuna.
"Ideally, we'd love to be able to do it more frequently, or to give them larger volumes if they want it. It's just mostly, my restrictions are around (the) kitchen space that I'm using."
FEWD – a branch of the Guelph Neighbourhood Support Coalition – works with surplus high quality food that's otherwise destined for landfills to create gourmet hot takeout meals to serve. They also work with community groups, such as Your Downtown Friends Guelph.
"I think it's a fantastic program," MacBeth said of FEWD. "From our side with Sanguen, we're noticing that more and more people are accessing the van. We noticed that there's a higher need all the time, and the food is in demand."
"I'm so happy to provide food to Sanguen because I think the work they're doing is amazing," Zorlutuna added. "It's very much aligned with our work, just in terms of meeting people where they're at, and going out into the community physically, to physically go somewhere and bring services to people.
"It feels like a really good fit."
So excited about this sweet collaboration with Guelph’s @communityfewd program! Community FEWD(Food Equity with Dignity) is a mobile food security initiative that centers dignity, quality and accessibility - while diverting high quality foodstuffs from landfill. pic.twitter.com/aeNsUMV3jj
— Sanguen Outreach (@SanguenOutreach) January 18, 2023
