5 Ways to Create & Maintain Community through Food in a Time of Social Distancing
(Disclosure: I work for a Woodland Foods, a dry-goods, specialty ingredient company. The recipe links I’ve included all use Woodland Food ingredients. Our company goal in this uncertain time has been to meet the sudden demand for dried goods across all markets, supporting consumers everywhere. By creating these recipes and meal kits, we hope to better serve our individual customers’ needs while increasing the positive way we are interacting with food during this time.)
Small town or big city, we are all part of a community. And we love the bustling vibrancy of our communities: people go to work each day, friends and families gather at bars and restaurants to socialize, and coffee shops are spaces for the self-employed to gather in public work-spaces to meet and discuss creative ideas. People volunteer at local charities, food banks, humane societies; and grocery stores are calm, collective places where families and individuals go to pick up a few items for that night’s meal.
But suddenly, I now find myself at home alone with my cat. Trips to the grocery store are now stressful outings, and local coffee shops have been shuttered, only serving to-go orders for their most frequent customers. The best thing I can do to help is to stay inside and do nothing, reducing the risk of spreading COVID-19 and hopefully preventing hospitals from becoming overwhelmed with new cases. It’s weird, I want to help, but how can I when the best thing to do is to stay inside, work from home, and watch as our economy suffers, unemployment rises, and communities are compelled to become socially distant?
In spite of the struggles that we’re now facing, we have seen some incredible and heroic efforts from members of our communities to reach beyond the social distance to maintain that sense of connection we all seek. Teachers are stepping up and quickly pivoting to online school systems. Art and music are finding a space in this socially distant time. I’m inspired by the videos of musicians holding concerts with neighbors between balconies. Art museums are even creating online spaces for people to still be able to explore and experience works of art.
But what about food?
I’m not talking about the role of food for physical survival. Our food supply chains are still intact (despite what some of the Facebook doomsday-preppers may be saying). The grocery store shelves are still being stocked (huge shout-out to the store staff working tirelessly to deal with our panicked, hording behavior!). Food is still being produced, imports are still flowing in, exports being sent out. Despite the world feeling like it’s been turned upside down, our food system is still very much in place and functioning.
But food is about more than calories and nutrients needed to survive — food is integral to our social lives and our communities — and it always has been.
Food in our community has changed dramatically in the last two weeks. People are stocking up in order to meet calorie requirements, but they are forgetting that we need more than calories to survive. We need the heart and soul that food provides.
As I sit home alone, wishing I could do more to help than just socially distance, I think about what I can do to contribute to keeping my community going — not just keep it surviving, but vibrantly thriving. I have no musical talent, so while I encourage others to continue singing from their balconies, please let me excuse myself from that activity for everyone’s sake. But I do like to cook, so I’m turning to food — using it as a tool, as it has been used for ages, to bring people together even as we all socially distance ourselves.
Here goes, five ways I’m going to attempt to use food to create/maintain my community during times of social distancing:
1. Prepare a Slow-Cooker Meal for your Neighbors
Whether you live in an apartment building, condo, townhouse, or a house — the large majority of people have neighbors of some sort. I’ve been inspired by the number of notes and online posts I’m seeing from people offering to shop for those at higher risk or to cook a meal. Slow-cooker recipes are my favorite for weekends when I have plenty of time at home to cook. Suddenly, I find that’s the case every day, so it’s time to throw a few ingredients in, let the flavors meld together over several hours, and then set that slow cooker out in the hall for all to enjoy! Feeling social? Some people have started to host neighborhood pot-lucks where everyone eats their meals together, but at a distance. Either way you want to do it, these recipes are easy, delicious, and the ingredients can be bought all at once online.
Easy slow-cooker recipes with ingredients you can buy online!
Vegetarian Oaxacan Mole Negro Chili
Brown Rice, Black Lentil Umami Pilaf
Slow-Cooker French Lentil Bolognese
2. Build Your Own Meal-Kits to Send to High-Risk Populations
Stores have implemented senior-only shopping hours and people across the country are offering to go shopping for higher risk-populations. Whatever we can do to reduce the time spent in public for high-risk populations will help to reduce their risk of getting infected. I’ve always played around with the idea of signing up for a meal-kit service, but I never thought it was worth it for just me, myself, and I. However, suddenly I’m wishing my grandma could stay home for the next few weeks, while still getting healthy meals with servings of fruits and vegetables, that she would typically get from busy grocery store produce isles. Shopping online and having groceries delivered to my door may be easy as a somewhat technologically capable 30-year-old, but my grandma is pretty content in her “a computer is used for playing Solitaire” lifestyle. I’ve taken it upon myself to design my own meal-kits that will be delivered to her door. It’s actually been fun trying to figure out recipes that are both healthy, can be bought entirely online, and that meet my grandma’s cravings. She’s Czech, so here we go tailor made, just for my Babi, Czech themed meal kit!
If you know of someone who is higher risk and shouldn’t be out shopping, put together a shopping cart of items that can be used to create delicious meals at home. Or, if your grandma is all taken care of, order a make-your-own-meal-kits for your local food bank or for a family with kids at home who are no longer receiving meals at school. Families in our community are struggling and donations that create entire meals are always appreciated! Here is a collection of recipes with ingredients that can be mostly bought online!
Recipes with ingredients that can be bought online and mailed
Baharat Spiced Oats & Dried Fruits
Rye Berry & Barley Wild Mushroom Soup
Ancient Grain Salad with Chimichurri
Instapot Vegetarian Heirloom Bean Chili
3. Cancelled Trip? Create a Culinary Tour at Hom
This pandemic is causing the world to hunker down at “home” for a while. As a person who loves to travel and explore the world through food, I’m really bummed. I’ve always thought travel, food, and experiencing other cultures brings people together, but suddenly I find myself unable to go out and sit across the table from strangers and try a new dish and a new flavor I’ve never encountered.
If travel has taught me anything, it is how to be flexible and adjust as challenges crop up. An at-home culinary tour it is!
If you have kids and you are suddenly in charge of home-schooling, this could be a really cool idea to conquer dinner and a lesson plan at the same time. Order regionally inspired seasoning blends and sauce starters to help you cook up a delightful meal from abroad. Feature each flavor in a dish each meal. Watch a travel or food show episode that highlights that region and have your kids do research and a short presentation on the area that flavor comes from.
Manitou Trading Company — Globally inspired flavors in simple, easy to prepare formats! (Plus we’re offering 15% off right now!)
4. Host a Virtual Happy Hour!
Not everything has to focus on the challenges this pandemic is creating. Sometimes we all just need to relax and remember the good things in life. Have some fun in these crazy times! Host a happy hour with your friends and loved ones. Send out a recipe for a fancy cocktail that you would normally only get at that trendy bar in the city. Set a time and send out a link for a Google Hangout, FaceTime, Skype (whatever your video chat of choice is!). We have the time, might as well learn how to make those fancy drinks together and catch up on all the weird habits we’ve discovered now that we’re stranded in our houses.
Side note — happy hours don’t have to feature alcohol. For those cutting out or cutting down on alcohol this year, faux-cocktails are fun to make and delicious to drink as well!
Mix it up with these creative twists on classic cocktails!
Agave Margarita with Lime Fresco Salt
Agave Margaritas with Lime Fresco Salt
Faux-Cocktails
Butterfly Pea Flower Iced Tea
And finally…
5. Support Local! Order and/or Gift Delivery from your Favorite Local Restaurant
As I’ve mentioned, I love to cook and I love to eat. Suddenly I find myself at home with more time than every to attempt those long, complicated recipes I’ve been meaning to get around to cooking. But I do miss my favorite restaurants, and I’m scared they won’t be there when all of this is over. Small, locally owned businesses are struggling right now, and many won’t survive this dramatic, sudden loss of traffic. Owners are trying to figure out how to pay the bills despite restaurants being closed to the public. Serving staff who rely on tips are out of work.
So, my last item on the list of ways to create and maintain community through food is to support those in your community who make a living through food. Order delivery from your favorite local spot. Buy your neighbors a meal and have it delivered to them. Want to support your local restaurant and struggling families at the same time? Call your favorite place and purchase gift cards, then donate the gift cards to the local food bank, Ronald McDonald house, or to schools delivering food kids in your community. Remember, many of the families that are struggling the most right now might not have access to cooking supplies like a functional stove, pots, and pans. A fully prepared meal from a local restaurant provides a warm meal while simultaneously keeping your local spot in business and delivery persons employed. Most restaurants have implemented curb-side pick-up and delivery options to make up for their closed dine-in services. Take them up on these new options and remember to tip your delivery people well!
