For World Food Day 2017, Long Island Cares invited Bhavani Jaroff to our kitchen to demonstrate delicious meal prep and discuss clean eating. The talented chef, food educator, and radio host has been eating vegetarian since she was sixteen and working as a chef since college. While attending art school, Bhavani found her artistry in the kitchen. As one of the few vegetarians on campus, she found her meal plan was limited and took action to promote more flavorful choices for vegetarians on campus.
By the time she graduated, Bhavani had changed the vegetarian meal plan on campus and increased those 75 vegetarian students to 125. From there, she propelled herself into a vegetarian catering business and has had a successful career in cooking, catering, and advocacy work.
Long Island Cares was thrilled to invite this talented and accomplished chef to our own kitchen yesterday. We also asked administrators from our member agencies to join us for a cooking demonstration and discuss how to use fresh produce to best serve Long Island communities.
At Long Island Cares, we don’t just distribute fresh food, we also serve fresh ideas, innovations, and community. The freshest foods come from a farm and our partnerships with local farmers enable us to distribute produce to local food pantries and soup kitchens. From there, the talented and dedicated chefs who volunteer and work at these kitchens prepare healthy meals for their own clients.
We are grateful Bhavani took the time to join our cause, collaborate, and cultivate both community and curry. We also ask fellow food activists to join our community and take part in the change.