THE LA SOUPE SCOUPE

January 2022

MESSAGE FROM SUZY

Does anyone else feel like the start of 2022 should be allowed a do-over? I brought in the New Year with a positive COVID test, then quarantined with the loss of taste and smell. I learned how to cook for texture, which kept me busy, as well as the start of a ridiculous 3,000-piece puzzle that may take me into 2023!

If I had a do-over, what would I do differently? In March of 2021 I joined a program called 0.0 Living, which challenges participants to go 30 days alcohol free. It was a small group of mostly local women who I would meet with online once a week. What started out as my way of “getting as healthy as possible” before my hip replacement, became a new normal for me. 

This year we were challenged with identifying a word — any word — that would capture your values and intentions for the next year. This is not a resolution but rather a word for you to focus on throughout the year. I thought for a long time but finally settled on — RIPPLE. I would like my actions as well as the actions of La Soupe to have a positive ripple effect in our community. I cannot help but believe that being good, generous and kind can be just as contagious as this pesky COVID virus that has had such a negative ripple effect on the world. If we focus on throwing a stone of goodness into the world, the ripple effect will continue onward for many years to come.

La Soupe has many different programs that have caused the ripple effect. Our Culinary Education Team continues to see the positive waves with a never-ending demand by various schools and after-school programs. You see the confidence these classes are instilling in the participants, their curiosity being peaked, and their enthusiasm contagious. If these participants take their knowledge home and create new fresh meals for their family, maybe their children will become curious cooks as well! The ripple effect may also impact their finances, health outcomes, new job opportunities, and overall well-being.

The core program of La Soupe has always been: Rescue.Transform.Share with our neighbors in need. With supply chain issues being challenged from all directions, our Transform Team has proven to go above and beyond. We all know that a day in the life of a Transform Chef is equivalent to a full day on the TV show CHOPPED. The creativity, the individual progress each chef has made over the last few years, inspires me. I feel like some of the most inspiring dishes come from days when it is “slim-pickens” and our team is forced to yet again think outside the box.

Our Dock Team continues to smile through every adversity thrown their way. Positivity goes a very long way and this team has the greatest of attitudes. Through the cold and rain they are loading cars and trucks, making last minute adjustments as clients needs continue to change because of COVID. The ripple of kindness and patience they create daily goes a very long way.

So, I would like all of us to think of tossing out a stone of goodness this year. God only knows our world could use some positive ripples — and if enough good ripples are created — could we create a tsunami of positivity, goodness and kindness?

Happy 2022!

— Suzy
PS: Email me at suzy@lasoupe.org if you are curious about the 0.0 Living challenge by Sarah Brown and Eisha Armstrong. It has been a very positive experience for me.

AN UPDATE FROM DENNIS

We’re halfway through the first month of January, and having wound down the end of 2021 aggressively, followed by a weeklong respite between Christmas and the new year, La Soupe has had a very productive start to 2022 — one of which we can be proud.

Kristen is off to the races, adding several contract teachers to her Culinary Education Team as well as her new Culinary Education Coordinator. These positions are long awaited, as she’s worked diligently on her strategy for growing La Soupe’s educational programming into an incredibly admirable part of our community.

Emmy is a force to be reckoned with, building a program and connecting herself in the larger community, learning quite an impressive amount of information to build a new program from the ground up in Food as Medicine. Although I only have known her for a short amount of time, her focus on something theoretical for so long is admirable.

Miranda and her team of amazingly talented chefs seem unstoppable. They remain creative under pressure (who knows what’s coming in on a daily basis?), coming up with wonderful meals that help feed our community.

Ali and her team of dedicated volunteers truly keep the wheels turning at La Soupe, providing hundreds of hours every week in labor preparing raw material, packaging meals, and "quarting" soupes to be released into the community via even more dedicated driver volunteers that deliver the finished product.

Daniel continues to be impressed with the number of people that are willing to help La Soupe achieve our mission of feeding people that are food insecure, and we’re so thankful for everyone that shows their support in this way.

If you’re impressed with all of this information, you’re paying close attention, as it only scratches the surface of the daily grind that La Soupe staff put into this place. 

And all of this is what is happening while we’re also affected by the current COVID surge. Coming out of the holiday season, I had to ask that everyone coming back into the building wear masks again. Thankfully we’re working through this with careful diligence even though it’s putting a mental and physical strain on many of our lives. Here’s to hoping that it remains a predictably short lived bump.

So as I’m entering my fourth month of work here at La Soupe, I’m feeling the learning curve start to give in, as my relationships here have grown into predictable knowledge — and I can see how I can add more and more value as we move forward through 2022. This feels right, as it’s familiar territory for me to work to strengthen systems, provide support and connect structural dots to add value to the lives of those inside our walls. All of this while our volunteers maneuver around the city to ultimately help nourish the Cincinnati community.

— Dennis

FROM OUR DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR… DANIEL

THANK YOU!    THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!

Our 2021 Winter Appeal raised more than $250,000 to support our mission!

We are beyond grateful to the more than 500 households who joined our 2021 Winter Appeal. With your generous support and a matching gift from Carolyn and Kevin Martin, we raised more than $250,000 to support our mission to Rescue. Transform. Share.

La Soupe uses the Winter Appeal funds to support every aspect of our mission. These dollars help us purchase supplies for our Transform Kitchen, buy cartons and labels for the soupes we send to our Share Partners, and provide equipment for students in our Culinary Education Program. This support also helps us cover general operating expenses, like our rent and utility bills. We could not continue our work without your generosity.

Thank you for making 2021 a year of organizational growth and expanding community impact. We will meet the unexpected challenges of the year ahead with confidence, knowing you are a meaningful partner on our mission.

— Daniel

WHAT’S SIMMERING?

CULINARY EDUCATION

What a busy year it has been! Although at points we were fearful we would need to stop programming due to COVID, we quickly figured out how to be virtual and eventually how to be with each other safely. 

We are proud to announce within just our Education Wing:

• Produced 8,378 servings

• Averaged three classes a week with a total of 717 individual students

• Engaged with 31 partners

Here are the incredible organizations/partners that went above and beyond working with us to provide cooking education in their community! We could not do this work without your drive, creativity and dedication. 

• Cincinnati Museum Center, Kent State University and COSI for the Food for Thought Project

• Cincinnati Public Schools

• Scholar House

• Found Village

• Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

• Christ Hospital 

• P&G

• Produce Perks

• Norwood Schools

• Beech Acres

• Covedale School

• Rockdale School

• Mt. Airy School

• Pleasant Ridge School

• Saturday Hoops

• Friday Food + Fun Market in Walnut Hills

• Artworks

• Hope Emergency

• Welcome House

• Aiken High School

• Milford Academy 

• Academy of World Languages 

• Civic Garden Center

• Mercy Montessori 

• CityLinks Center

• Connecting in the Garden with Walnut Hills Redevelopment Corporation 

• Gamble Montessori

• Clark Montessori

• Mariemont Jr High

— Kristen and Corinna

FROM OUR EXECUTIVE CHEF…. MIRANDA

La Soupe Immune Boosting Soupe

If you are a volunteer, you may have already received our end of year thank you gift, a sachet of herbs and spices that can be used to make a delicious broth or soupe!  Thank you to our own Alison Ulanski for putting the volunteer appreciation gifts together.  There are two steps to making this into a wonderful soupe. 

Step 1 Broth

Add the contents of the sachet to 8 cups of broth (preferably our homemade chicken or beef broth) and for even better results, sauté 3 cloves of minced garlic in a tablespoon of oil, add the ingredients of the sachet on low, and when it starts to get toasty and aromatic, add 8 cups of broth.  Simmer on low for 45 min-1 hour, strain before serving or reserving for future use. 

SACHET INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Tbsp Turmeric

• 1 Tbsp Ginger

• 1 Tbsp Oregano

• 1 Tbsp Thyme

• 1 Tbsp Parsley

• 1 tsp Peppercorns

• 1 Tbsp Juniper Berries or Carriage House Spicebush Berries

• 2 Bay Leaves

• 1 tsp Kombu/half sheet (optional)

Step 2: Immune Boosting Soupe

• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil

• 8 cups of the strained Immune Boosting Broth

• ¼ cup fresh Lemon Juice

• 1 Yellow Onion diced

• 1 large Sweet Potato cubed

• 1 Tbsp minced Garlic

• 1 Red Pepper, seeds removed, diced

• 1 cup Red Lentils, rinsed

• ½ cup Kale, remove stems and chopped

• 2 large Carrots, peeled and chopped

• 1 head Broccoli, chopped

In large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat for 1 minute, add the onion and carrots, cook over medium heat for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and continue to cook for 1 minute. Deglaze with the lemon juice, and add the strained immune boosting broth, sweet potato, red pepper, broccoli, and red lentils. Once soupe begins to boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the sweet potatoes are tender. Add kale and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes until softened and slightly wilted. Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!!

Share Partner Spotlight  

Crossroad Health Center

La Soupe donates frozen soupes and bread to three different Crossroad Health Centers every week. Crossroad Health Centers provide accessible, affordable, community based primary care services. La Soupe provides soupes to Crossroads so that clients can go home with something nutritious to eat, as well as resources that help them with their health. For more information about how to get involved and help them out, visit their website at http://www.crossroadhc.org

Thank you Crossroads! Together we can build a healthier Cincinnati!

—Katy

VOLUNTEER HIGHLIGHT- Stephanie Harty

I was eager to start a new volunteer interest in January of 2021, and knew that COVID restrictions limited opportunities with some organizations.

La Soupe was in need of Food Runner volunteers and this appeared to be a “safe” fit since vaccinations were not available to the general public. I knew of La Soupe since its beginnings on Newtown Road, and was also keenly aware of the food poverty in our city. Remote learning meant that many students were not getting meals through their school programs and that La Soupe was one of the organizations coordinating meal distribution for students.

The first delivery of meals I made to a school was such an eye opener. Understanding the magnitude of food deprivation and the generosity of individuals and organizations willing to help feed the hungry was astounding. Also comprehending the logistics of school staff managing the delivery of meals from various organizations and synchronizing their allocation to students’ families was mindboggling.

Between food rescues from grocery stores and delivering food and/or meals to other organizations, I got hooked on being a part of the La Soupe team. Observing the La Soupe staff “sandwiching” many aspects of our communities’ resources and shortages is inspiring. The day I rescued two twenty-pound bags of turnips, I knew the creative energies of the La Soupe Team was in for a challenge. The innovations at La Soupe from meals to growth, and now as a national food rescue model are extraordinary. These are inspiring people to be around!

My adopted weekly grocery run has given me greater understanding of the operations of a grocery store, and I have new friends in the bakery, dairy, deli, produce, and meat departments at the Mt. Washington Kroger. Sometimes I might be a little too perky for them on Monday morning!

My husband Jack and I are non-native Cincinnatians, and we love exploring this historic town together. I love to create and nurture things and raising five children in Cincinnati was an amazing place to see life thrive. Besides traveling to see family, I enjoying sewing, gardening, exercising, and baking.

Recipe for a Successful La Soupe Grocery Rescue

                                   — By Stephanie Harty

• Preheat your expectations on high.

• Fold your car seats down to maximize grocery packing.

• Whisk by the Service Desk and let them know you’re doing a La Soupe run. 

• Grab two grocery carts and head to the Meat Department. Pepper your chatter with the butchers, but don’t rib them too much. Cases of frozen protein are dense and require beefy muscles to herd them into the carts and then into your car.

• The Deli Department rescue entails the liberating of various salads, wraps, sandwiches, cheeses, and grab and go meals. Expect one to two crates of deli delights, but rarely with any pickles.   

• Use caution while navigating the produce shelves so vitamin rich items don’t get bruised and stay fresh. In the produce department items are usually packed in banana boxes, you will rescue various fruits and vegetables, but no bananas! 

• Combine trips to your car and walk carts in reverse if encountering any slopes as to avoid garnishing the parking lot. If you experience any fishy looks from customers, respond with a smile and explain that you are rescuing food for La Soupe. Repeat as needed.

• Return to sift through the carts of bakery goods and place bigger items on the bottom of boxes while trying to place like things together. Layer with care and gently fold the sweets together. If kneaded, use baguettes to stabilize plastic cartons, no loafing around.

• Be sure to thank every employee in each department for their help; finally proceed past check-out counter with your last food run and wish employees a great day.

• With your car stuffed, proceed with caution to La Soupe.

• Expect an enthusiast greeting at the back dock and watch groceries rise from your car to be transformed into meals to be shared.

• Optional, treat yourself to a chocolate chip cookie from La Soupe.