Thursday, August 30, 2012
Our Visionaries
I would be remiss if I blogged about our time together without a proper introduction to our partners at the Marian Anderson Rec Center. We have been encouraged, welcomed and supported by all of the staff and families at the Rec Center, none more than Maisha and Shawn. Maisha is the Director of Programming for the Summer Camp and Shawn is the Director of the Center. Over the summer I have witnessed their tireless dedication to the community, their overwhelming patience with the kids and their overall desire to bring well balanced programming into the center.
Throughout the center there are historical quotes from Marian Anderson on painted murals, posters and literature. She was a remarkable woman and in the midst of a great racial divide broke through color and culture lines with her amazing voice. She used her voice for more than just singing and although she was known for hating the spotlight she understood she was being called to do greater things.
My favorite quote is painted on the mural in our work room, "I have a greater belief in the future of my people and myself". Over the last few weeks I studied her life and her journey in order to gain insight. I have attached a link below with a short intensive history but it is a story of loss, perseverance and hope. I think many of us struggle when we think we have "arrived" only to lose everything once again. The instinct is to give up or to "make peace" with our current situation but if we believe there is a greater plan on our life it gives us the energy and drive to persevere. Although the timing of the quote is consistent with her unflagging struggle against racism I believe as a native Philadelphian from modest means and a hard family situation was speaking on all of our behalves. She believed better for her people and herself. My hope through this journey I will look for the greater future for myself and my community.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Anderson
Monday, August 20, 2012
Historical Referencing
Small Fry is an organization built on personal experiences and stories. It is more than a cooking class for urban kids and it is more than a nutritional "how to". While we use many of these resources to broaden the program the overall belief and goal is we find ways to nourish our bodies and souls no matter what age, what budget or what area.
In my family we love food or rather food = love. When explaining this to Mick one day he looked at me relatively confused or maybe horrified that we loved food that much! His horror softened as I began to explain the theory of food memory. For example, the way my parents house always smells like apples and cinnamon or the smell when my dad would make grilled cheese as a special treat after church on Sundays. Each kid in my family has their favorite birthday dinner, mine growing up was meatloaf, my sister's was lasagna and my brother's was cheese burgers on the grill.
Mick admitted that he too had food memories :). Maybe it was his Aunt Sylvia's noodle kugle or the fact his mom put hot dogs in everything brings back simpler, lovlier times. Like my family the next generation of Kayes/Levins/Aronows are savy. Just check out Dara Markind Aronow's blog (www.teachkids2eat.com). They have filled the site with recipes, shopping tips and top products which takes the guesswork out family meal preparation.
Over the years of meeting people from all different backgrounds I have found family dinners were not that common. In the McLaughlin house they were MANDATORY. It was the one time all day where our whole family settled in for a straight 30 -60 minutes with each other. After sports practices, lessons, work and all of the other competing activities. Don't get me wrong there were many, many nights where the fighting, teenage silence and group meal consensus drove my parents nuts but they were committed. This was love. At the end of the day my mom who worked 50+ hours for a large pharmacuetical company prepared a healthy dinner (usually grilled chicken, salad/vegetable and a starch). This time was non-negotiable and all of our friends and classmates knew we were not allowed out, we came home when we were called and made time for dinner every night. Most of our dinners were fun, watching my dad put an inch of butter on his bread and my mom telling him to knock it off, my sister impersonating foolish people around her or me dramatizing every moment of my school career.
So maybe my family has a love affair with food but every family could/should have a love affair with family meal time.
My parents are now further along in their careers and being financially savy allows them more freedom in how they are spending their money but in the early days we were a family of modest means. I am proud of that fact. I am proud my parents put our educational needsfirst, in being in one of the best school districts in the PA area, vacationing as a family and our opportunities to grow above their need for extended entertainment or dinners out. My mom and dad just figured out how to be gourmet on a budget and we were the biggest beneficiaries of it. I mean what 11 year old knows what calamari is...I did!
Over the years after I left for college I struggled to learn how to create the balance. I was incredibly intimidated in the kitchen and became a nervous wreck anytime I was slated to provide a dish for a family event. My relationship with food has always been a really tricky one. In the early 90s SUGARFREE was all the rage with the advent of Snackwells. Then they realized a package of cookies is still a package of cookies, in walks Adkins which I believe was responsible for a couple hazy "drunk on protein" nights. During all of this I was diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome). There is A LOT of medical language but the basic dietary conclusion is "I can't win".
As I struggled through making peace with my weight, food issues and overall anxiety I moved to the city after graduation. I love Philadelphia! I love the way the heat radiates off the black top, that parallel parking is a right of passage and you will always see a living breathing person within one city block even in the middle of the night on a Tuesday. What I don't love is the incredible divide between the "haves" and "have nots", that there are $1.5 million dollar houses in the same blocks where there are eviction notices posted. There also is a stigma within the city limits, the people who are of greater means can afford to eat healthy and prepare balanced meals. What is even worse is as I have done my research it is partly true affluence is a factor in healthy eating. I mean just the simple fact is produce is sometimes too expensive for people on fixed incomes. RIDICULOUS.
I put this in the back of my mind, hoping if I did not think about it too much I wouldn't "feel guilty" but over the years my guilt has turned into a burning desire to find answers. Not because I am better than anyone else or think this is an original thought. Honestly I just want for my neighborhood kids to experience the same safety, comfort and confidence family meal time and healthy prepartion gave me.
It is a common thought we want the generation after ours to be more successful, smarter and have more potential than we did. But how can we do that when we have short changed their tool box.
Radiant Matter, the meeting logistics company I own and operate was built through a no-debt principal where I amassed capital for each stage of business growth. I started by simple catering small events and meetings. If I can go from making Dorito Casserole (it is true just ask Meredith McGlinchey) to building a corporate meeting logistics company from catering ANYONE can cook! I promise! Any age, any financial bracket, any skill level.
This summer we set out to grow Small Fry. It is an intiative, a movement and a plan to get our kids in the kitchen, acclamated with ingredients, measurements and styles so they are able to teach those around them, maybe even their parents.
In my family we love food or rather food = love. When explaining this to Mick one day he looked at me relatively confused or maybe horrified that we loved food that much! His horror softened as I began to explain the theory of food memory. For example, the way my parents house always smells like apples and cinnamon or the smell when my dad would make grilled cheese as a special treat after church on Sundays. Each kid in my family has their favorite birthday dinner, mine growing up was meatloaf, my sister's was lasagna and my brother's was cheese burgers on the grill.
Mick admitted that he too had food memories :). Maybe it was his Aunt Sylvia's noodle kugle or the fact his mom put hot dogs in everything brings back simpler, lovlier times. Like my family the next generation of Kayes/Levins/Aronows are savy. Just check out Dara Markind Aronow's blog (www.teachkids2eat.com). They have filled the site with recipes, shopping tips and top products which takes the guesswork out family meal preparation.
Over the years of meeting people from all different backgrounds I have found family dinners were not that common. In the McLaughlin house they were MANDATORY. It was the one time all day where our whole family settled in for a straight 30 -60 minutes with each other. After sports practices, lessons, work and all of the other competing activities. Don't get me wrong there were many, many nights where the fighting, teenage silence and group meal consensus drove my parents nuts but they were committed. This was love. At the end of the day my mom who worked 50+ hours for a large pharmacuetical company prepared a healthy dinner (usually grilled chicken, salad/vegetable and a starch). This time was non-negotiable and all of our friends and classmates knew we were not allowed out, we came home when we were called and made time for dinner every night. Most of our dinners were fun, watching my dad put an inch of butter on his bread and my mom telling him to knock it off, my sister impersonating foolish people around her or me dramatizing every moment of my school career.
So maybe my family has a love affair with food but every family could/should have a love affair with family meal time.
My parents are now further along in their careers and being financially savy allows them more freedom in how they are spending their money but in the early days we were a family of modest means. I am proud of that fact. I am proud my parents put our educational needsfirst, in being in one of the best school districts in the PA area, vacationing as a family and our opportunities to grow above their need for extended entertainment or dinners out. My mom and dad just figured out how to be gourmet on a budget and we were the biggest beneficiaries of it. I mean what 11 year old knows what calamari is...I did!
Over the years after I left for college I struggled to learn how to create the balance. I was incredibly intimidated in the kitchen and became a nervous wreck anytime I was slated to provide a dish for a family event. My relationship with food has always been a really tricky one. In the early 90s SUGARFREE was all the rage with the advent of Snackwells. Then they realized a package of cookies is still a package of cookies, in walks Adkins which I believe was responsible for a couple hazy "drunk on protein" nights. During all of this I was diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome). There is A LOT of medical language but the basic dietary conclusion is "I can't win".
As I struggled through making peace with my weight, food issues and overall anxiety I moved to the city after graduation. I love Philadelphia! I love the way the heat radiates off the black top, that parallel parking is a right of passage and you will always see a living breathing person within one city block even in the middle of the night on a Tuesday. What I don't love is the incredible divide between the "haves" and "have nots", that there are $1.5 million dollar houses in the same blocks where there are eviction notices posted. There also is a stigma within the city limits, the people who are of greater means can afford to eat healthy and prepare balanced meals. What is even worse is as I have done my research it is partly true affluence is a factor in healthy eating. I mean just the simple fact is produce is sometimes too expensive for people on fixed incomes. RIDICULOUS.
I put this in the back of my mind, hoping if I did not think about it too much I wouldn't "feel guilty" but over the years my guilt has turned into a burning desire to find answers. Not because I am better than anyone else or think this is an original thought. Honestly I just want for my neighborhood kids to experience the same safety, comfort and confidence family meal time and healthy prepartion gave me.
It is a common thought we want the generation after ours to be more successful, smarter and have more potential than we did. But how can we do that when we have short changed their tool box.
Radiant Matter, the meeting logistics company I own and operate was built through a no-debt principal where I amassed capital for each stage of business growth. I started by simple catering small events and meetings. If I can go from making Dorito Casserole (it is true just ask Meredith McGlinchey) to building a corporate meeting logistics company from catering ANYONE can cook! I promise! Any age, any financial bracket, any skill level.
This summer we set out to grow Small Fry. It is an intiative, a movement and a plan to get our kids in the kitchen, acclamated with ingredients, measurements and styles so they are able to teach those around them, maybe even their parents.
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