Sue Cohen, SKETCH Program Coordinator and our indefatigable food and environment advocate, reflects on the crucial role of food at SKETCH over the years.
Twenty years ago–SKETCH’s Year One–we were at our very first location at 1087 Queen Street West, in The Great Hall’s storefront. We really wanted to impress the community and we were excited that folks wanted to come and make art with us! So we bought food that was accessible and easy to serve such as cheese sandwiches, crackers, veggies, hummus, tea and coffee…lots of coffee
SKETCH’s first location, at The Great Hall
At the time, we had a microwave, a toaster oven, fridge and a counter that Phyllis (SKETCH Artistic Director) had put together. In hindsight, it was quite artshow-esque. It was also at this first location where we held our first community Feast that fed youth and friends with two tables worth of donated food.
Our own brand of frozen juice!
Then we moved to 580 King Street West, where we conceived our first kitchen team. Our programming and community were growing and it was clear that folks saw SKETCH as a part of their food-security system. People were coming and getting not only artistic nourishment, but full meals that were healthy and nutritious.
We were providing between 80-100 meals per day by 2001. Opinions and ideas were being conceived on what food at SKETCH could look like. The kitchen was a place of collaboration and art projects.
One of our many community dinners over the years
In 2007, the Community Garden program started. Food was a focused conversation in the kitchen with youth wanting to know how to have access to organic fruits and vegetables and community farming. It was a political movement for the youth at the time.
Sprout workshop back at 580 King Street
We had just developed partnerships with Evergreen and with Greenest City who managed the Hope Garden at Masaryk-Cowan Community Centre. These partnerships allowed us to launch our own programming, first with Hope, and another at Fort York Community garden. We were able to provide education on food procurement and food security and we had seasonal monthly potlucks.
Making lasagna for our end-of-season feast in 2013
Because of the food and neighbourhood we were in, SKETCH was a social hub. Food at SKETCH has busted a lot of misconceptions adults have: that youth only like junk food like pop, chips, and pizza. At SKETCH, salad is always the first to go. Access to proper proteins are a concern for youth and our team tries hard to accommodate that.
The thing is, people like meeting each other over food, many of them are into food education and love sharing the knowledge they have. It’s a wonderful way to meet and get to know each other, providing space for personal choices, sharing of histories and the sheer joy of good food!
Program Coordinator Sue with Garden Volunteer eating in Hope Garden
Food has created community, healing opportunities and transformative experiences. Watch our new food video showing a day in the life of our bustling community kitchen!
-By Sue Cohen, Program Coordinator and Jonsaba Jabbi, Communications