Tuesday, I went with her for her run to Target to pick up the produce, bread and grocery items that were removed from the shelves because they were no longer saleable. Target has high standards for what they want their customer's experience to be, so if an apple has a bruise, they remove it. If one strawberry in a package is moldy or one orange in the package is bad, the whole package gets removed.
Through a partnership that Target has with Second Harvest Heartland, the food removed doesn't go directly into a landfill--it goes to those organizations who work with food insecurity. Feed My People food bank is under the umbrella of Second Harvest Heartland and The Community Table is a partner hunger relief agency with Feed My People; so through those channels, they created a direct partnership between Target and The Community Table of Eau Claire to reclaim the non-saleable food.
While Tami was going through the reclaimed food to choose what she needed for upcoming menus she was answering all of my questions, but I could see that the whole time she had menu possibilities running through her mind. The bruised pineapples could have the bad parts cut off and be added to the good parts of the apples and strawberries...squeeze the juice of some of the limes and oranges on top, and it will be a tasty, nutritious fruit serving that is easy for the volunteers to make.
There are so many elements to planning a menu for The Community Table. Tami has to know what meat she is going to have available from Feed My People or has in the freezer. Then, she will do a recipe search to find a way to use that meat and multiply it out so it serves about 125 people. She may have to modify some of the spices a bit if she doesn't have one or two that are included in the recipe. She usually doubles the amount of vegetables in the recipe so the guests are getting the healthiest meal possible and adds grated carrots to a lot of the tomato dishes to increase nutrition and flavor.
She watches the store ads to see what produce is in season, because in about a week, that is what she will be getting a lot of, so she will be able to incorporate that into the meal planning. If the stores are running ads on broccoli and cauliflower, she can usually bet on getting some soon and can maybe make a soup or side dish to include them. Seasonal fruits like blueberries and strawberries will be added to the fruit salad to give the guests a summer treat.
Tami also makes sure the meal is healthy and the guests are getting the maximum nutrition. She is very strict about making sure that meal provided always offers at least 1/2 cup fruit, 1 cup of raw veggies, 1/2 cup cooked veggies, 3-4 ounces of protein and one or more grains.
When meal planning, Tami has to take into consideration if there is a serving team signed up to help and what the experience level is for that team. If there is a team that is new or is all individual volunteers, she will do a menu that can mostly be prepped ahead so they aren't intimidated by the recipes and the experience. If it happens that the team works well together and ends up with extra time, they clean salad and fruit or wash potatoes and tomatoes for upcoming menus. The whole process reminds me of working in a restaurant kitchen and doing the prep work and light cleaning in between the orders; it is very efficient.
I do want to add, though that she does not do it alone. She plans the meals and regulates the inventory, but without great on-site coordinators and staff members, the plans would all fall apart. The on-site coordinators work with the volunteer teams, watching over them and guiding them in the process of making and serving the menu that Tami has planned.
Tami works really hard to make sure that the guests and the servers all have a great experience and will want to come back; and as someone who has now been on both sides of the serving counter there, I can say she has succeeded.
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