THE LA SOUPE SCOUPE

February 2020

MESSAGE FROM SALLY

My name is Sally Sheehan and I am delighted to join the La Soupe team. I have worked for years as an experiential educator and it has fulfilled my love of teaching and has also allowed me to travel and work with organizations all over the country. My wanderings include working in Colorado, Texas, Michigan, New Hampshire, California and at home in Ohio.  I feel the most fulfilled when I am facilitating programs that allow groups and individuals to build confidence and connections. I am beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to connect my skills and passion with La Soupe and join them as they continue to grow their community. 

Sally

BUILDING A FOUNDATION OF SUPPORT The 915 update

It’s starting to feel real! The walls are up, the floor tile is down, kitchen hoods are in, and the kitchen equipment starts to go in next week.

While the pictures in this newsletter and on our Facebook page show progress with our physical facility, we are pleased to update you on the capital campaign, too.  So many of you have given a gift to the campaign which has allowed us to build out the space at 915 E. McMillan and get ready for our move at the end of March.  We continue to reach out to our friends, local foundations and the business community in an effort to raise the remaining Operating support we will need to stabilize over the next 3 years.

Because of the generosity of so many, we have raised $3.5 MILLION TOWARD OUR $5 MILLION GOAL!

We thank all those who have made an investment in the future of La Soupe and we look forward to sharing all the good works we will be accomplishing in our new home. Questions? Reach out to Suzy Dorward at sldorward@lasoupe.org

SoapBox just put out an article that highlights everything going on in Walnut Hills regarding food access. It is a comprehensive article and La Soupe is featured. Check it out by clicking HERE

NEW INITIATIVES OUT OF 915 E. McMillan

Culinary Education

As a Food Rescue nonprofit, we are dedicated to utilizing food items that would otherwise go to waste so naturally our teaching kitchen will emphasize creative routes to use what is on hand and to prevent further waste. We have listened to Walnut Hills and gathered ideas, interests and hopes for how the community would like to interact with us. 

Here is how we will begin this journey:

Cooking Improv with Rescued Food

Looking to give back and learn?

Cooking Improv encourages people to look at what ingredients are on hand and to create a healthy meal with those items. It is a food literacy experience that in the end will provide chopped veggies for our production kitchen (an ongoing and very needed task) and an interactive cooking experience with samples. By building knowledge of cooking methods and how to use the whole product one can utilize a limited selection of food without sacrificing their health. We hope this experience will encourage participants to enjoy the act of cooking,  starting their journey to form new habits in the kitchen. This flexible education is a vital element to make cooking sustainable and realistic for our neighbors.

We will be booking group Cooking Improv experiences as well as hosting open experiences for individual signup.

The Confident Cook- Culinary Youth Club

The Confident Cook, Youth Culinary Club will be a tier two to the Cincinnati Gives a Crock (GAC) Program. This will be an ongoing mentorship youth club geared towards the graduates of the GAC program. The club will test and design new recipes, refine their understanding of cooking methods, timing, flavor combination, plating and most importantly pilot concepts to address food insecurity and food waste. Starting in Fall 2020.

And there will be many more programs piloted to gauge interest!

Please stay in touch and if you have ideas for our teaching kitchen please email Kristen@lasoupe.org.

Food as Medicine

We are excited to announce the launch of a new program this April: a Food as Medicine Pilot with the Christ Hospital NEST Program.  The NEST program is designed to address the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) of Christ's low wage employees. La Soupe's contribution is to tackle the issue of food insecurity through a unique approach that provides employees and their families with culinary education, healthy meals, and cooking ingredients. We hope this partnership grows into a study and implementation of medically tailored meals for specific nutritional needs with a quantifiable impact to participants health!

FOR THE LOVE OF LA SOUPE

Sharing the love. Carolyn & Kevin Martin and Amy Diamond & Eddie Wolf have thrown out the challenge!

These wonderful supporters of La Soupe have pledged a total of $20,000 to purchase a new refrigerated truck for La Soupe IF WE CAN RAISE THE ADDITIONAL $20,000. With the new space comes new opportunities to rescue and share more food and, with that, the need for a new refrigerated truck!

This is a community challenge and EVERY GIFT will add up!  Please consider DOUBLING YOUR DONATION by making a gift for the LOVE OF LA SOUPE.   Click HERE to make your gift OR  reach out to Suzy Dorward at sldorward@lasoupe.org

WASTEd and the CITY

Your calendar may read February, but our WASTEd and the City Committee is starting to make plans for La Soupe’s ONE BIG FUNDRAISER. 

Last year nearly 400 people enjoyed visiting 28 restaurants throughout downtown Cincinnati, OTR and Pendleton. Patrons were treated to creative small plate dishes made from rescued food and “whatever the restaurant had available.” The food was delicious, the atmosphere was upbeat, the restaurants were happy and we raised over $135,000 for LaSoupe!

SPONSORS WITH BENEFITS…

To make this event even more successful, we are seeking sponsors to help underwrite the costs of throwing this party!   Sponsorship benefits include: Free tickets, recognition on all pre and post marketing/advertising, recognition on materials at the restaurants and a few surprises we are still working on.  Sponsorships start at $2,500. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please contact Suzy Dorward (sldorward@lasoupe.org) for more details.

SAVE THE DATE – We will need volunteers, so save October 6, 2020!

FROM CHEF MIRANDA

Golden Beet Soupe

Ingredients:

• 4–6 medium golden beets (about 2 pounds)

• 4-6 fresh thyme sprigs

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more serving

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper plus more serving

• shallots, minced

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 3-4 cups water

• 2 lemons, zest and juiced

• Yogurt, chives, pomegranate seeds & sunflower seeds for serving

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Wash the beets and place each one with a thyme sprig on individual sheets of aluminum foil. Drizzle the beets with 1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Fold into loose packets and transfer to a sheet pan. Roast the beets for 50-60 minutes until they are easily pierced with a knife. Once the beets have cooled slightly, peel and cube them. Discard the thyme sprigs.

   
   

3. In a large saucepan over medium high heat, sauté the shallots in the remaining olive oil until they are soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute until fragrant. Stir in the beets, water, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

   
   

4. Carefully transfer the soup to a blender and puree in batches. Return the soup the saucepan to reheat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle with yogurt and to with chives, pomegranate seeds and sunflower seeds before serving.

   Options:  Substitute creamy goat cheese for the yogurt.  Or add some heat by adding ginger or jerk seasoning!!

RESCUE PARTNER PROFILE

Food Rescue US

We discovered Food Rescue US (formerly Community Plates) on Facebook in 2015. After phone conversations, they took us on as a partner so we could use their app to schedule our growing number of rescue and share runs. The team at Food Rescue US has helped us tweek the app to allow us to use the app efficiently since we have the La Soupe location between each Rescue and Share.

Recently, Food Rescue US successfully pulled off a 30,000 pound rescue from the Super Bowl stadium in Miami, Florida. The effort started Monday morning following the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Volunteers took to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami to collect, pack and ship massive amounts of food that remained from concession stands, VIP catered sections, suites and other areas.

Beef tenderloins, barbecue chicken, wings, ribs and charcuterie plates are just some of the food that were rescued, ESPN reported.The rescued food was donated to the Broward Outreach Center, Broward Partnership for the Homeless, Camillus House, Lotus House Shelter and the Miami Rescue Mission. There was enough food collected to feed around 20,000 people in need.

Many thanks to all of the help this fantastic organization has provided to La Soupe. We could not do what we do without the use of this app!

VOLUNTEER PROFILE

Margy Drennon

Margy is a retired CPS intervention specialist and La Soupe food runner extraordinaire! Working in the school system, Margy experienced first hand the desperate need for good food. She later saw an article highlighting La Soupe in the Cincinnati Enquirer and knew she needed to get involved. She began volunteering in March of 2017 and has been a faithful partner ever since. When not rescuing from Kroger Mariemont, Margy enjoys reading, water aerobics, and training her West Highland Terrier, Maisie. Maisie is on her way to becoming a therapy dog at Children's Hospital!