Glassware and cutlery sparkled on crisp white linen, beneath the twinkling of hundreds of tiny white lights. Dining room staff stood at the ready, in their black and white. A company of chefs continued their preparations.
This, however, was not your usual dining out experience. The lights were twined around the posts and beams of an old barn, forty minutes outside London. The staff were students from the London Training Centre, and the chefs were not cooking in any state-of-the-art facility, but in a tent behind the barn, overlooking the farm fields, and trees whose leaves were turning red and gold in the cool of this October afternoon.
Food for Thought was a fundraising, and consciousness-raising, event. Since 1987, the London Training Centre has been preparing people for employment, primarily in the food service and hospitality industry. It delivers its services to both the public (education) and private sectors, and has focused mainly on food handling and service. The LTC is now preparing to operate a Food & Education Centre for London and the surrounding region. This initiative is “rooted in the idea that food – how we grow it, share it and eat it – can be a catalyst for change.”
It’s a concept for our times, as more consumers are becoming more aware that our food comes not from vague, uninteresting and unimportant sources, but that it is part of the tapestry of our communities and economy. The mission of the Food & Education Centre is “to evolve local and sustainable food choices in a modern lifestyle through increased awareness of the value of food to redirect consumer eating patterns and greater community connection with food production systems [...], which in turn increases consumer support for local foods and job opportunities for LTC clientele.”
Lofty goals indeed: to engage a population, to build a sustainable food system, and to encourage personal success. However, the LTC has not only experience, but the support of strong partners and a talented and devoted staff and board membership. Lots of them were present at the Food for Thought event. Steve James, who’s been very busy since the days of Café Bruges in London, is Program Manager at the LTC. He brought along some talented friends to share kitchen duties: Sean Cousins from Vancouver, John Fisher from Kitchener, and Londoners Jon Traut, Jason Anness and Ken Mickle. Powerhouse Meriel Cromarty is LTC’s Project Supervisor, and provided the venue. Training staff, members of the Board, and numerous supporters were on hand to offer information, or simply to enthuse about the present pleasures and future possibilities for everyone in our area who is interested in food.
And the main event? A feast prepared from area farm products, the output of regional food artisans like bread maker Penelope Holt, and cheese maker Ruth Klahsen, all prepared by a community of chefs.
“At the end of the day,” says LTC’s Executive Director David Corke, “we all eat.” And in the best of all possible worlds, we make some connections when we do: between farm and kitchen, between kitchen and plate, and between some of those people with whom we share the world.