At the height of the Second World War, in 1943, the Germans were launching V-2 rockets from bases in France into Britain at the rate of 350 missiles per week, leaving thousands of people dead or homeless.
The war forced food distribution to change. More mobility was required to get meals to people.
This was the start of a program called Meals on Wheels, which aims to deliver ready-cooked meals for people who are unable to feed themselves.
Seventy years later, the war is long gone, but the tradition still continues in Canada.
Colton Poirier is a culinary management grad at Algonquin who is currently employed by his former professor, Ric Lee, to work in collaboration with Meals on Wheels.
Poirier comes back to Algonquin five days a week. He is doing the job he’s hired for, but with the kind of enthusiasm rarely seen in people who already work 40 hours in a downtown restaurant.
“School open or not, Meals on Wheels always runs,” said Poirier.
Under Lee’s supervision − and with the help of two other culinary students – Poirier prepares the meal for 50 people at the same time.
When it is done, the food will be packed into heat-preserving bags, ready to be carried by a volunteer to the homes of elderly people around town, who would enjoy the meal and “enjoy talking to perhaps the only human being they would see in the entire day,” according to Lee.
“It’s all fresh food, it’s all student made. Nothing out of the box,” said Lee.
Poirier and Lee are two main figures behind the School of Tourism and Hospitality’s collaboration with Meals on Wheels, which has become a prominent act of charity between Algonquin College and surrounding communities.
The mission came to Lee formally as a decision from the head office, but he saw it as an opportunity for students as well as the faculty.
“It is important for students to be community-involved,” said Lee.
Starting out in October 2014 with only a few clients, Algonquin’s Meals on Wheels has been steadily growing. The number climbed up from 25 to 55 clients, who would receive hot nutritious meals at least once a week.
But Meals on Wheels would not have been so successful without the help of volunteers. One of them is Mark Farrell, a business professor at Algonquin, who has been donating his expenses to bring food and joy to elderly people for nearly two and a half years.
Thanks to him and other dedicated members, an estimated 12,000 meals were served last year.
But the job is not just making food and delivering it to people.
“We have to consider the taste of our clients,” said Lee.
“People get fixed with their diet when they pass their middle age. Back then, the condition was different. The preservation method was also different.”
It means that the fussy, sophisticated dishes we enjoy nowadays may not be the best choice for Meals on Wheels’ clients. In addition, among 55 current clients, 12 people are diagnosed with diabetes, so their meals must be prepared separately.
Outsiders may see it as a burden, but Lee and the students who are directly involved in the program know that it’s an opportunity.
“With Meals on Wheels we could get more experience of what it’s really like in real world,” said Marnie Watson, a first-year culinary management student. “We have to take many things into account like nutrient, taste and allergies.”
“I love cooking for a reason, for people who actually enjoy it,” said Watson.