“Investing in women and girls is good for our communities and the economy. We work to address the needs of women in Vermont to earn a livable wage and to succeed despite numerous personal, educational, and economic barriers to employment.”
This is the mission of Vermont Works For Women, an organization that has worked to support FRESH Food. FRESH Food is a program that gives women experience and training in kitchens in order to bring healthy meals to childcare centers in the Burlington, Vermont area. This program works with women of all races, ethnicities, and economic backgrounds and in order to build confidence, teach skills, and change lives.
This program focuses on the success of women in order to fight back against the barriers of education, economic, and employment issues. Unable to gain employment, the FRESH Food program teaches women how to cook healthy food, gives them the opportunity to eat locally sourced food, and provides them with the kitchen skills that are necessary to find work in professional kitchens. These skills and knowledge improve the livelihood of the individual women, but also the lives of their family and community as a whole.
Many women who come into this program are unable to make anything other than food that comes out of packages and goes into a microwave. These women have often been job-less for many years and must find ways to provide for their children. Not only do the barriers of food knowledge and employment challenge women in our local community, but their sense of identity and success is stripped away. As one woman states, “It’s helping me do me”. This program is helping these women find themselves again. Through food, they are able to gain the skills and knowledge that make it possible for them to succeed in the workplace and in the home. Another woman states, “I want my kids to know they can do anything”. The program helps women find who they truly are so that they can teach their friends, family and children how to do the same.
Through this program, woman are able to create a vision and make it possible. Not only are they succeeding individually, but they are also bringing and producing meals for pre-school children. Children in the Burlington area are given access to nutritious and locally sourced food because of the FRESH Food program.
Programs such as this one are crucial in all areas of the world. Sometimes it is hard to see the need for programs like this, especially in areas like Burlington. As a college student, I can acknowledge that I am unaware of some of these issues going on around me. Women, although not always seen as it, are equally as important in the workplace and especially in the involvement of raising children. Giving women the ability to not only succeed but find what they do best helps an entire community prosper.
Sources:
- "Home." FRESH Food. Web. 21 Oct. 2015. <http://freshfoodvt.org>.
- "About Us." Vermont Works for Women RSS. Web. 21 Oct. 2015. <http://vtworksforwomen.org/about-us/>.
I thought this was a very enlightening read. The idea that the FRESH Food program can simultaneously teach women new skills and restore a sense of pride/identity is inspiring. It shows how women who may not have access to healthy, locally sourced food can both express themselves through the new dishes they learn to cook as well as provide for their children in a new way.
ReplyDeleteThe video brings to life exactly what you touch on in your post, exemplifying that many women lose a sense of self and identity when unable to find external success in employment or lack sufficient food knowledge. Overall, the program aligns well with the original mission that you cite from Vermont Works for Women.
The general sense of community that is also fostered through the program again aids in increased agency for often disadvantaged women. With a kind of duality, the women seem to be able to find a commonality through which they can become part of a strongly-knit community, and also can define their own skills through food preparation and cooking. All in all, I think this post is interesting as well as informative, and provides a great example of how people define themselves through food.