People’s Pantry providing food for all
Toronto-based project connects volunteer cooks with those in need
Scroll through the @peoplespantryto Instagram, and you’ll see everything from freshbaked challah bread to bulgogi chicken taco fixings to veggie biryani — but this isn’t another Toronto food pop-up. Instead, the People’s Pantry is a grassroots mutual-aid project that addresses an increasingly urgent issue in the city: food insecurity, exacerbated by the pandemic, precarious housing and job losses.
It was created in March 2020 when the six co-founders — Andrea Roman Alfaro, Jade Crimson Rose Da Costa, Yann Garcia, Michelle Huang, Ellie Ade Kur and Paul Pritchard — connected in a Facebook group called CareMongering-TO. The queer-, trans- and BIPOC-led project wanted to ensure their community did not go hungry.
The premise is simple: a volunteer network of organizers, home chefs and drivers/cyclists work together to deliver prepared meals or groceries, all free, to those who need food in and around the Greater Toronto Area. People can submit requests for meals or groceries on thepeoplespantryto.com; volunteers can sign up on the website, too.
The group has a no-questions-asked policy, giving food to anyone who requests it. “People aren’t food-insecure because of their own failings,” says cofounder Da Costa. “When someone asks for food, then they need (it), and they should automatically have a right to that food. It shouldn’t be policed in any way.”
Da Costa underscores that The People’s Pantry is not an individual effort but the result of a dedicated team of more than 500 volunteers. “One of the innovations of The People’s Pantry is the network of (home) chefs,” echoes Roman Alfaro, another co-founder. “We connect people to people.”
Also unique is the quality and diversity of the home cooking. Requesters can ask for specific types of meals, such as halal, kosher, gluten free, diabeticfriendly, or appropriate for other food restrictions, allergies or cultural preferences. Meal requests are then paired with home chefs who prepare them.
The volunteers are as diverse as the requesters, and The People’s Pantry is working on a community cookbook, with the goal of publishing it this fall. Expect recipes and stories, as well as commissioned writing that highlights migrant workers, who are integral in Canada’s food system.
Since March 2020, The People’s Pantry and their sister initiative, which extends into cities near Toronto (including Mississauga, Waterloo, Hamilton and others), have provided more than 15,000 home-cooked meals and 2,000-plus grocery bundles.
Many groceries are donated by FoodShare, one of their partner organizations.
The People’s Pantry also partners with the Bike Brigade, whose members assist with deliveries. “One of the Brigade’s sayings is ‘Solidarity, not charity.’ This means every person who lives in your community is a part of it,” says Shahnaz Stri, a Bike Brigade delivery volunteer. “It doesn’t matter if they’re living in a tent, on a bench, in a house or a condominium — they’re all members of your community.”
The project depends on the volunteers and organizers, as well as community donations, which make up their only continual source of income. “The general impetus we all share is (an understanding) that food insecurity isn’t tied to COVID but the violent society in which we live,” says Roman Alfaro. “Our goal is to keep doing this as long as it’s a need and as long as we’re able to.”