Liliana Sanchez opens up the double doors of the freezer at the West Central Women’s Resource Centre (WCWRC) in Winnipeg and sees dozens of packages of beets.
“We received all of these beets from a donation yesterday,” Sanchez said.
But she knows exactly how to make the most of the vegetable.
Sanchez is the food security manager at the WCWRC and is the brainchild behind The Purple Kitchen, a free program in the centre that teaches participants how to transform common food bank items into affordable, nutritious meals.
It launched last February, stemming from a community need.
“We have fun with each other. We tease each other. We help each other. Then, we get to take what we cooked home and eat it,” said Carolynn Halmoy, a participant of The Purple Kitchen.
The Purple Kitchen also teaches the food handler certificate, which can open up job opportunities.
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Participants like Halmoy take full advantage of this opportunity.
“I still help out in kitchens at churches,” the 80-year-old said.
Located in Winnipeg’s ethnically diverse West End neighbourhood, The Purple Kitchen embraces culturally appropriate foods.
“We’ve learned different recipes from different countries. Different ideas from different people,” Halmoy said.
Participants work together to create the recipes that reflect the traditions of newcomers and Indigenous peoples.
“We have participants from 16 different countries and we can run the programs in at least two languages,” Sanchez, who is from South America, said.
The program is approaching its first anniversary and has had a total of 89 participants, with 67 of those obtaining food handler certificates.
“We’ve seen participants go from not being able to cook at all to cooking full meals for their families and being proud of that,” Meaghan Burton, who helps teach in the kitchen, said.
The Purple Kitchen helps to turn food donations into opportunities for empowerment, one cook at a time.
“We’ve kind of formed a group that’s sort of become a family,” Halmoy said with a smile.
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