I'm at dinner at a local neighborhood restaurant when my daughter helps herself to my plate of spaghetti and meatballs. She bites, chews and makes her disappointment clear with both her face and comments. "Not very good," she says. Although certainly not a compliment to the dining establishment, it was a great tribute to her mother --She loves my cooking.
As I retold the story to a friend later that evening, their response was: "Of course she liked yours better. Your cooking rocks. You need to put that on your Bucket List: Write a Cookbook. It'll be an insurance policy -- We'll all be sure to keep eating your awesome food...Even if you don't stick around the planet to cook it." How thoughtful -- I think.
For the record, I am no chef. It is true that I am the daughter of a culinarian and have spent my entire career working with great chefs from all over the world. I adore cooking -- and moreso, eating -- and I'll admit that cooking is one of the ways I express affection to those I love. But I don't pretend to be the next Julia Child. (impossible at my height, anyway...) And it is also true that I've never taken the time to write any of my recipes down. Mostly because I don't measure much -- if at all. And I live very much in the moment. Who has time to stop the creative process and record everything, right?
And besides -- What would the point be? Why should I? What difference would it make if I did? I am not so vain to think my edible creations could change the world. Or could they?
Food is around to nourish a human being -- plain and simple. Both body -- and if executed correctly -- as well as spirit, are fed with a good meal. But not everyone has that experience with food -- especially those who have it in scarce supply.
That got me thinking. While adults can take responsibility for their food choices and purchases, children are reliant on the decisions of grown-ups for their nourishment. And not all parents have the financial ability to give their child the nutrition their growing bodies deserve. That is when it becomes the responsibility of the community around these children to step in and help. Even though I may not act like it all the time, I am a grown-up. Which means there are children in my community counting on me to make good decisions on their behalf.
I went home and did a little research. Here are some startling facts regarding children in Arizona and their food supply:
- One in five children are living in food insecure households. They are either hungry or their household is close to running out of food.
- For children to have consistent access (government assisted) to a nutritionally adequate diet, families need to earn at least 185% of the federal poverty line. A family of four earning $44,400 is at 200% of poverty.
- 12% of children are living below the federal poverty line.
- A child is born into poverty in Arizona every 33 minutes.
Every 33 minutes. Sobering, isn't it? Well, that did it for me. Compared to the culinary expertise of my professional chef friends, my collection of recipes may not be very important. But what if I created a cookbook specifically with the intention of raising money to better feed the children of my community? Now that would be important -- Life-changingly important.
Thus, the creation of Operation: Area 33 -- The purposeful intention to battle against the hardship that occurs every 33 minutes -- A child born into the world who will be hungry. That is unacceptable. In my mind, if I can't cook for them all, then I can cook up something to change the odds.
I have registered Five-Foot Nothin' as an official partner of The Arizona Partnership to End Childhood Hunger and have committed to the fundraising project of creating a cookbook and having the proceeds go towards feeding the hungry children of Arizona. The project starts now and I expect a finished product for purchase by the end of July.
These days, I cook away in the kitchen as much as ever. But now, I'm more diligent about exactly what I'm doing -- Knowing there are children all over my community counting on me getting those recipes right. And somehow, by adding a dash of making a difference -- Knowing what those recipes will do -- Well, my culinary creations have never been so satisfying.
More on this project in future posts.
358 more adventures and stories to go in the quest. If you like what you've read, please feel free to post your comments, subscribe or pass it along. Thanks for reading.
- Dolores McKay
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