A new partnership has sprung between the Food Bank of York Region (FBYR) and Youth Initiative’s and Excellence with Learning Disabilities (Y.I.E.L.D.), a program of Learning Disabilities Association of Toronto District (LDATD).
Y.I.E.L.D. has created this Feel-Good Cookbook project in the spirit of forging interconnectedness in the community and to open the conversation on food security and food literacy.
The Feel-Good Cookbook project involved collecting recipe submissions and pictures to add to the cookbook from multiple participants. The virtual reveal included Anouck Bessy as a guest speaker touching on the topic of Food Literacy & Insecurity within York Region.
“This project is wonderfully unique, and we hope it brings a lot of attention to hunger in York Region,” FBYR founders Alex Bilotta said. “We’re grateful for the opportunity to work with Y.I.E.L.D. by providing assistance to the creation of the Feel-Good Cookbook, and we hope it’s a genuine success.”
Participants were challenged to submit their own recipes using simple and accessible ingredients centered around childhood favourites and traditional dishes that reflected the community’s diversity, but they were welcome to experiment and get creative in the kitchen.
“The hope was to create this collaborative community cookbook with a unique sense of harmony and diversity,” explained Valentina Gnanapragasam, Y.I.E.L.D. Program Facilitator. “The finalized version contains budget-friendly recipes from all walks of life, tips and tricks in the kitchen for managing food budgets, and additional food resources and contacts.”
For more information on the Feel-Good Cookbook and Y.I.E.L.D. projects, visit https://www.ldatd.on.ca/programs/youth/y-i-e-l-d-youths-initiative-and-excellence-with-lds/. If you’re interested in Food Insecurity in York Region and donating to a good cause, visit www.fbyr.ca.
