A Community Meal, Rain or Shine
As the Rainier Beach Youth Stewards arrived on the foggy farm to begin final preparations for their Community Kitchen Dinner, the look of apprehension was evident on their faces. The day’s forecast was “rain showers,” something rarely seen in Seattle, especially in August. The group had been planning for weeks leading up to this day, thoroughly planning the details of the menu and testing recipes to ensure the best quality for their guests. A palpable sense of worry was setting in as the rain increased.
A new tradition for the Community Kitchens program is to host an event each August to celebrate and support the amazing Rainier Beach Youth Stewards summer cohort. Our Rainier Beach Youth Steward program provides job experience for individuals aged 14-18 through wetland restoration and farm education. They dedicate their summer to growing, harvesting, and now cooking together at the farm.
Dinner featured dishes influenced by the seasonal farm harvest and the cultural backgrounds of our Youth Stewards. The Youth Stewards went through a collaborative planning process to build an event that highlighted their favorite cuisines and the skills they developed over the program. They focused on farm-grown produce, as well as sourcing from other small, local BIPOC farms practicing organic methods.
Despite the rain that continued throughout the afternoon, the Youth Stewards split into teams and worked hard to create the tasty dishes they were preparing for their guests. While cutting up two gigantic local watermelons, a few Youth Stewards discussed the unfortunate weather and expressed wonder over whether the 50 people who RSVP’d would still want to attend.
As the time for the event arrived, the farm’s parking lot and bike rack began to fill, and smiles began to appear on the faces of the Youth Stewards. The community was showing up for them, just as they had promised.
Guests were served a diverse menu, including produce grown right here at the farm such as garlic, oregano, blackberries, cucumbers, crabapples and tomatoes. Their offerings demonstrate how to adapt familiar recipes to the ingredients you have access to each season, like blackberry agua fresca and crabapple jam:
- Lumpia
- Cucumber Salad
- Pupusas – Chicken tinga and beans
- Curtido
- Salsa
- Agua fresca – watermelon, mango, and blackberry
- Churros & crabapple jam
After eating the meal, guests were invited to join the Youth Stewards on a tour of the farm. The rain had subsided just in time for a curated trek through a few key areas of the property. The Youth Stewards took groups through the two U-Pick areas, the milpa, the orchard, and the apiary, showing visitors the farm through their eyes.
One group finished their tour by circling up and having a group discussion about what they had observed. The milpa was a clear favorite for guests who expressed joy over learning the cultural connection to land stewardship and how much the youth have enjoyed working in the area. Many people emphasized wanting to come back and harvest from the U-Pick areas now that they had a chance to explore.
Guests also gave the Youth Stewards input through questions posted at the event:
The Youth Stewards wrapped up their event by holding a free farm stand pop-up so guests could continue to share in the farm’s abundance in their own kitchens. They distributed the bounty from their harvest as well as produce from local and organic farms. They included a few recipes too, which you can check out HERE.
Cleaning up, the Youth Stewards were all smiles. A little (or a lot) of rain hadn’t stopped them from achieving their goal of hosting a sustainable meal for their community.
This summer’s cohort was Adriana, Augusto, Bitania, Eva, Isabella, Isaic, Jerimiah, Kal, Kaz, Lina, Marcelino, Matthew, Rim, Sobrin, Solomon.
This material is funded through a Public Participation Grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology. Ecology reviewed the content for grant consistency but does not necessarily endorse it.
About Community Kitchens Meals
Tilth Alliance’s Community Kitchen Meals program is based at Rainier Beach Urban Farm & Wetlands in South Seattle and celebrates the diversity of food and food cultures in our neighborhood. Each month we partner with local home cooks and chefs to host an educational, cross-cultural event centered around a nutritious, delicious, and locally sourced meal.
