People are like Onions; we at times can stink and are strangely repulsive to a select few. Additionally, we have the capacity to make people, and ourselves cry. This workshop teaches four basic cutting styles: dicing, mincing, julienne, and chiffonade, while drawing social connections, and skills needed for self-care, beyond the traditional conversations around mental health. Crying and its connection to self-care and resilience will be explored in an unconventional manner, allowing participants to learn technical culinary skills that can be used within personal or professional settings. Deeper connections to cooking, mental health and self-care will be discussed further, as participants can talk and share concerns about accessing benefits such as the Special Diet Benefit for (Ontario Disability Support Program) ODSP users. This workshop aims to create a space that is liberating, cathartic, and memorable, while exploring aspects of, and reminding participants that crying is not always a sign of weakness.
Going back in time to the 80s and 90s to truly understand the HIV-AIDS crisis is next to impossible. Thankfully, food presents itself as a vehicle to practice empathy, critical thinking and capacity building. The use of fermentation supports the use of academic and community driven discourse, providing a visible metaphor for social change. By making social change visible and relocating the classroom into a kitchen, learning principles can be added to support methodical processes of empathy and add layers of social understanding to close divisions between strangers, thus building stronger and more resilient communities. This project was a collaborative effort between three social agencies and Ontario’s leading 2SLGBTQ+ hospital and youth program. While time travel remains impossible, utilizing food as a vehicle to rethink our current understanding of HIV is possible.
Copyright © Juan Saavedra 2024
