Description: This event is all about cooking in solidarity — and using the wisdom and experience of your young adults to inspire the youth in your community.
Get Ready
- Prep Time
In advance:
- Extend the invitation. This program is aimed at connecting youth in your parish/community with young adults. So the first step is deciding which group of young people you would like to invite. You might consider inviting members of the youth ministry, Confirmation class, those graduating from the parish school or some other group in your community. Sending an invitation to the group, as well as inserting an announcement in your parish bulletin and/or e-newsletter, is a great way to get the word out.
- Select a recipe. The program itself centers around the preparation of a simple meal from another country. CRS Rice Bowl offers several easy-to-make, inexpensive recipes from around the world, and many are accompanied by a how-to video featuring priest-chef Fr. Leo Patalinghug. Alternatively, you, one of your team, or the youth you invite may have a family recipe from another country to share. And don’t necessarily limit yourself to only one recipe!
- Purchase the ingredients. Cost and ingredients will vary depending on the meal you select, but be sure to buy enough for the entire group.
Day of:
- Final touches. Necessary supplies vary depending on the recipe. In addition to things like knives, pots, and tables, you’ll want to have a way to play and display YouTube videos. You might also want to print off information on the country from which the recipe originated or you can simply project that onto a screen. Finally, be sure you have enough plates, utensils, and drinks for all attendees.
- Set up the stations. Split each recipe you decide to prepare into stations. These can be as simple as “the onion chopping” station or the “oven prep” station — the idea is to give the youth hands-on food-prep experience, and to create a space to share conversation. Each station should be “staffed” by one-two young adults.
- Reserve the Space: A large parish hall with a fully functioning kitchen is ideal, but you might also consider hosting this event in someone’s home. Most recipes require a stove and oven, as well as space to chop vegetables. Finding a place where you can set up food prep stations is ideal. And of course, you’ll want space where you can share and enjoy the meal together. (Again, verify your “Safe Environment” policies before offering a youth event in someone’s home.)
- Volunteers Needed: Delegation is a good thing, and in this case, you can ask one person to purchase the ingredients, another to handle communication and others still to bring pots, pans, and other supplies as your selected recipe requires. Additionally, you’ll need one or two young adults to “staff” each food-prep station. (As you prepare to enlist young adult volunteers to work with youth, it is important to check with the rules of your parish or diocese “Safe Environment” policies. There may be some additional training your young adults need to complete before volunteering with the youth.)
- Supplies: Cost and ingredients will vary depending on the meal you select, but be sure to buy enough for the entire group. Gather all necessary cooking supplies (pots, pans, knives, etc.) and meal serving supplies (plates, utensils, drinks). Additionally, you will need a way to play and display YouTube videos. Nametags also help with community building as the group gets to know one another. Print recipe cards for reference and for everyone to take home to add to their recipe collection.
- Ideal Group Size: Six-10 young adults and 12-15 youth.
- Who is this for? Young adults and youth ministries.
- When is a good time for this? This program could be done in a 1.5-2 hours, so a weekend afternoon works just as well as a weeknight.
- Publicize the Program:
- Never underestimate the power of announcements! Make them after Mass, place them in the bulletin, and if you have an e-mail list, use it. Social media is another great place to advertise. And send a few of your young adults to talk the program up at the parish youth group, religious education classes, or from the pulpit.
Prayer for Program Planner: Christ who fed the multitudes, who continues to feed us with your very body and blood, inspire our gathering, touch our hearts and open our minds. May the meals we prepare together around our table connect us to the prayers said around your Eucharistic table. Amen.
Community Building: Connecting youth with young adults is a prime opportunity to show what it means to grow in faith, to carry faith throughout life and to provide living, breathing examples of men and women who care for others. At each food-prep station — as well as during the meal — young adults will have an opportunity to talk and share with those youth who are gathered. Be open, honest, and real!
Make It Happen
1. Introduction. When the group has arrived, facilitate introductions. An easy icebreaker is a good way to loosen up the youth and young adults alike. (Consider something simple: Go around the circle, inviting each person to say his/her name and an animal or adjective that begins with the same letter, e.g., Excited Eric. Everyone in the circles repeats that name, as well as those that came before.
2. Opening Prayer. As you will be preparing food, a “Prayer for the Hungry” might be appropriate.
3. The Recipe(s) & Country(ies). Introduce the selected recipe(s), where it/they come from and why it was chosen. (Perhaps someone is from that country and wants to share a personal story.) Give a little background on the country and the realities faced by the people who live there. (CRS has a ton of helpful country-specific information.) Transition out of your discussion by asking those gathered what they know about cooking (e.g., Do they do it at home, What do they like to cook, What would the like to learn?).
4. Get Cooking. If you choose, show the relevant CRS Rice Bowl Global Kitchen videos to demonstrate how the recipes are prepared. Then, get started! Young adults should go to their assigned stations. Depending on your preference and the size of your group, you can either walk the whole group to each station, or you can split them up so that they each can focus on one component of the food-prep.
5. Conversation. As the food is prepared — and especially as you wait for things to cook — is a good opportunity to facilitate a brief discussion about food, how lucky we are to have access to it, and how many people around the world do not. Alternatively, you might ask those gathered to share stories about other countries they have visited. The following questions might be helpful:
- What have you eaten today? Do you think everyone in the world/country/state/community was able to eat that?
- Why do you think so many people go hungry?
- Have you ever been hungry? How did it feel?
- What does it mean to you to be “one body in Christ?” What does that mean we should do? How should we care for one another?
- What does it mean to eat/live simply?
- (Take a look at this CRS FoodFast guide for some other questions, quizzes and information.)
6. Eat! When the meal is prepared, enjoy it together. This is a good time for more casual conversation, but it might also be appropriate to delve into some faith-based issues.
7. Cleanup and Dismissal. In the spirit of service, enlist all those gathered to help clean. Encourage the young people to prepare one of the recipes they learned at your event for their family. (It might be good to have the recipes printed.)
Ideas
- The Catholic Relief Services YouTube Channel offers many good, short videos on the realities faced by those around the world. It may be helpful to find and show one that relates to the country(ies) from which your selected recipes originates.
- Consider hanging a large map on the wall and asking all those gathered to place a pin or sticky note on those countries/states they’ve visited. Ask volunteers to explain some of the local cuisine from their trips.
Help
