Celebrate and enjoy comfort foods created and cooked from the heart. Fifteen Canadian moms of various heritages will share their cuisines, stories and cultures at this community cooking event organized by (moms) Meeru Dhalwala of Vij’s and Mary MacKay of Terra Breads. This event is a fundraiser for the UBC Farm – Vancouver’s last working farm – and its children’s programs.

What is the Joy of Feeding?

We are fifteen Canadian moms of various heritages and professions, sharing our favourite family meals at this cooking event. The purpose of this event is to share our cultural foods and backgrounds and encourage people to cook from scratch using fresh, local ingredients to nourish their families.

Those of us participating in the Joy of Feeding identify our household cuisines as: Japanese-BC, Saskatoon-Turkish, Indian, Greek, Czech, Chinese, Italian, Iranian, Brazilian, Philippines, West Coast, Ukrainian, Zimbabwean, Cambodian, and First Nations. We shop at grocery stores and markets either at the end of the workday or on a Saturday or Sunday. We are moms who know that cooking is work, but work that brings an inherent satisfaction when we see our loved ones eat, enjoy, and thrive. We are always trying to learn more about both harmful and beneficial aspects of food, such as organic foods and pesticides. We want to know as moms – not as intellectuals or chefs – about how these things affect our families.

At its heart, cooking is the common language of love and nourishment throughout the world, for all families of all cultures. It’s the same whether you use a make-shift stove from sticks in Africa or a four-burner gas stove in downtown Vancouver. Cooking is neither a chore nor an unattainable virtue for which you need the perfect kitchen or appliances. Cooking is the doorway to caring about where our food comes from, taking care of our families, and taking care of our health. It connects our hands to our senses and to everyone’s hearts.