INUVIK
The Inuvik Food Bank wants to whet your appetite with a little imagination.
Tracy Davison, a volunteer with the Inuvik Food Bank, spoons up a sampling of the recipes the organization is making available to its clients, last week. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo
|
The organization has begun experimenting with a project aiming to put a new twist on old eating habits with a back-to-basics approach.
Food bank chair Heather Wheating explained a new pilot project the organization is using to help out its clients. For at least two weeks, volunteers will be spooning out samples of different dishes that can conveniently be put together from the ingredients available in every box that goes out the door.
On May 8, the dishes were a blend of beans, rice and tomatoes along with a mix of macaroni and cheese spiced up with tuna. Both were easy-to-fix dishes that put a new spin on what some might consider tired ingredients. Board member Tracy Davison prepared both using a simple slow cooker.
Strangely though, few of the people coming in to use the food bank were in any hurry to try it. One couple refused, saying they had just "cooked hamburgers" while a teenage boy turned his nose up as well.
Wheating said the board and volunteers had been consulting with a nutritionist for ways to "increase the nutritional value" of its offerings without much extra work or effort.
"We're trying to use the food we have here and prepare them in ways people might not expect or think of, and hopefully make it more nutritious," she said.
That includes sneaking in vegetables where possible, she said.
"We want to promote foods that aren't utilized as much," Wheating added.
One of the best foods when it comes to nutritional bang for a buck, she said, is canned beans. That's something that is all too frequently passed over by food bank patrons.
The program coincided with Hunger Awareness Week, which ran from May 6 to 10.
The Inuvik Food Bank distributes food to registered participants on Wednesdays from 6 to 8 p.m. Participants can receive groceries every two weeks, receiving $52 worth of food.
In January, the food bank was averaging 69 bags of food given out a week. That's dropped somewhat as the year has worn on. In April, an average of 52 bags of week was distributed.
"The Inuvik Food Bank operates only by volunteer labour," Wheating said. "The businesses and community members of Inuvik generously contribute to the food bank."
The single biggest donation likely comes from ConocoPhillips, which donates $5,000 in December to provide extras for the Christmas season.
