What's it's really like to volunteer at Brainfood

I was thrilled when I discovered Brainfood on VolunteerMatch.org.  I had recently moved to DC and was working from home full-time writing my dissertation and looking to get out of the house and get to know my community.  I’m a serious foodie and pretty accomplished home cook, so a youth development program built around cooking seemed perfect.  I envisioned myself skillfully demonstrating dicing an onion or explaining why it was so important to let a roux cook until nice and brown.  Well, there was one problem with that vision, I started at Brainfood in late November, and on my first day I realized, “These kids have already learned how to cook.”  I expected more hand holding would be needed, maybe even a full recipe demonstration, but not for these students.  After our friendly class opening and a very brief introduction to the day’s meal, they split off into groups, started gathering ingredients and tools, and got right to work.  As they started measuring ingredients into small glass prep bowls, I felt like I was watching a cooking show on TV.  So, what was I supposed to do with these capable young cooks that had already, in the first months of the program, learned to work through a recipe and acquired the knife skills to tackle any dish. 

It took a couple weeks to get a feel for my role as a volunteer at Brainfood.  After all, if these students didn’t need me to teach them a recipe, then what was I supposed to do for two hours while they cooked?  I soon realized that the job of Brainfood volunteer is mostly just to be fully present in the moment.  That means being available when a question or need arises, to join in a conversation, to encourage students as they worry about AP exams and college applications, to embrace their energy, enjoy their food, and sometimes to encourage them to help more actively with clean up.  And as I worked on just being present, on stepping back and letting the students take charge of and handle their own dishes, the small teaching moments did arise giving me the opportunity to share the little tricks one picks up from spending lots of time in the kitchen: how to peel fresh ginger with a spoon, how to seed a jalapeno to reduce its heat, and how to butterfly a chicken breast so that it cooks quicker and more evenly.  As I look forward to Brainfood graduation and the big iron chef competition, I am so excited to see these cooks in action.  It will be great to watch as they join a team, tackle a challenge, and follow through to a finished product.  That is, after all, much more important than how one peels ginger.

- Lauren Janes, weekly volunteer at the Chinatown location