Foodies in Asheville

Food is a very important part of the Asheville community. Just going downtown gives you a ton of variety when picking what you want to eat that day. So trying to find an image that accurately describes all the food that makes up the Asheville community is difficult. The image above is from a service learning trip I went on for my language 120 course this past Wednesday. At the Green Opportunities Kitchen they provided us with a delicious three course meal that they cooked in the kitchen right in front of us. This kitchen not only has their own garden, but they are completely non-profit and help feed the surrounding community solely working off of donations and the generosity of the surrounding area. I think this truly explains what Asheville is about because everyone here always works to better the community and they are always willing to lend a helping hand if you need it. The head chef asked an interesting question when the group first got there  along the lines of "how can non-profit organizations be successful without having to depend on anyone else?"   I don't think it's necessarily logical to think that non-profit organizations can run without the generosity of the surrounding community. I know with how the world is currently that we live in it can sometimes be difficult to see all the good in the world, but if you just look around good surrounds us. This kitchen for example is one great thing in this community. They help people get back on their feet and provide them life skills that they can later incorporate into other jobs although they are welcome to stay there and cook as long as they want. One woman in the kitchen has been working there for around 40 years I believe, and she was such a sweet woman that I had the honor of meeting. This dinner was such a great chance to not only escape the food from the caf, but to also have a meal that you can tell everyone in the kitchen worked hard to get out to the group. Food is such an amazing part of this town, but it's really the people that make this town the way it is. So it's not necessarily the food that depicts this amazing town it's the meaning behind the food, it's how hard everyone in the kitchen worked to make our food, and most importantly it's the experience of getting out into the community and meeting all of these amazing people that truly care about each other.