IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY - Cooking is not always easy for Cambridge Bay cancer survivor Eva Otokiak, so she looks forward to the hot lunches she receives three times a week from the Meals on Wheels for elders program Nunavut Arctic College students started mid-January.

Cambridge Bay elder Mary Mingilgak, left, receives a hot lunch from Doris Kingnektak. Culinary arts program students at the Nunavut Arctic College started a meals on wheels for elders program this past January. - photo courtesy of Nunavut Arctic College

The 61-year-old, whose favourite meal is a hot soupy broth with crackers, said the program is great for the elderly, the disabled and those who cannot cook at home, and should be expanded territory-wide.

"When I came home from the hospital, I'm seeing these meals of wheels on my table and I'm going 'oh, somebody is going to feed me now.' And I said 'Well thank you, Jesus,'" she said. "That was my answer to what I was seeing. It's very very welcomed all the time."

The college's culinary arts program usually runs a paid hot lunch buffet at the Community Learning Centre but with only six students, Chef Andy Poisson was looking for an alternate way to teach volume cooking.

So they started serving meals on wheels for elders, preparing 80 supper-type meals for lunch every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The meals contain foods from the vegetable, starch and protein groups and include, for instance, roast chicken, pork or beef. Volunteers deliver the meals to the elders.

"To us, as a class, it's very important because we felt it was our time now to give back to the elders, which are the foundation of the community," he said. "What we're trying to do is show the elders what this course does and what type of food we produce with this course and the different methods of cooking and how it can be applied to the food of the land."

The program is going "excellent" so far and everyone is enjoying it, he added. Poisson said as the meals on wheels is part of a course, not a proper program per se, the college will consider keeping it in future years as it is very successful. The volume cooking portion of the course allows students to work on "their teamwork, responsibility, reliability, self-esteem by doing stuff like this as well as giving back to the community, being visible in the community," he said.

Student Dale Klengenberg said the experience has been positive.

"I just think it's helpful and it gives us more experience on how to cook large volumes of food," he said.

"We love it and the elders love it," said Taloyoak resident and culinary arts student Cloe Totalik. "It's really important for me to do that. It makes me happy when people comment on their food, makes you proud that you were a part of it."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.