A New Season

The seasons have changed. Summer turned into fall, and our Brainfood youth garden has produced the last of its summer crops. Other plants, however, are just beginning to yield in abundance. Kale, spinach, arugula, carrots, mustard greens, and beets—now in season—are ushered in with autumn.
                                                       
Students of all ages, parents, and teachers are settling into a new phase as well. Each school year brings about a plethora of changes, and that remains true at Brainfood too. New classes of our two yearlong programs, Kitchen All Stars and Community MVPs, met last week for the first time. After nearly two months of planning, student recruitment, and youth development training, I found myself standing quietly in the kitchen waiting for students to appear. My excitement and nervous jitters accompanied me in the industrial-sized kitchen filled with glistening stainless steel while I stared at the clock. The first day of Kitchen All Stars had finally arrived.

 “Hi. Am I in the right place? Is this Brainfood?” Much of what happened after that first student in the door and that highly anticipated question is a blur. I know there were smiling new faces, introductions, so many questions and answers, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
As the final student made her way out the door with a bundle of baked goods nearly three hours later, I took a deep breath and glanced around the kitchen. There were the same stainless steel counters and sinks, glistening without a trace of flour or smeared butter. It was surreal. Had anyone really been here? Did we truly just bake dozens of cookies? The subtle aroma in the air convinced me. 

After a few classes under their belts, students’ questions now sound more like, “What are we making today?!” and “When will we start to use chef’s knives?” The names on my roster are now familiar faces—teens with stories to share, emotions, and a desire to create. A kitchen once filled with strangers is now a space where we host shared experiences and work to build our community.

As a new Brainfood staffer and recent transplant to DC, I have experienced many changes as of late. I am happy to say, though, that it was Brainfood that brought me to DC from the Midwest, and I have yet to question that decision even once.  So much is already underway in the Brainfood kitchens, and I am eager to fully embrace this season.

  
 
 
 
 

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.