The Comox Valley Food Bank will host a cooking demonstration on Oct. 19 to mark International Chefs Day. Members of the North Vancouver Island Chefs Association (NVICA) will lead the demonstration.
On that Thursday morning, NVICA members will set up a tent and cooking demonstration in the food bank’s parking lot. NVICA is the professional network for chefs located north of Parksville on Vancouver Island.
“They wanted to do something to honour International Chefs Day and help others as well,” said Comox Valley Food Bank president Jeff Hampton “That’s always been a challenge, getting people to eat healthier foods. And that’s more than just food bank recipients, but the general public.”
NVICA president Lesley Stav says the demonstration is meant to be educational. She compares the event to the proverb, “give a man a fish and he eats for the day, but teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”
“We can go down there and volunteer like anyone else and give away food or canvass for food, but we felt our special gift is to teach people,” Stav said. “This is what we do in kitchens every day — give people the tools so they can do it themselves.”
Stav says the demonstration will focus on food that is underutilized or less commonly distributed among food bank users. She suggested that teaching how to prepare and cook meals heavy in proteins will be the main focus.
“If they’ve got food that is going beyond the expiry date, or is not being utilized because of a lack of knowledge, that’s something we can do something about,” she said.
While the event in Courtenay will be on Oct. 19, International Chefs Day is usually recognized on Oct. 20. The day is meant to say thank you to those who work in the food industry, such as chefs, cooks, apprentices and others.
The Comox Valley Food Bank is located at 1491 McPhee Ave. in Courtenay.