We are excited to announce that 14 women have joined the Peterborough Culinary Collaborative training. Thanks to the generous support of the United Way Peterborough & District’s Innovation Fund, we are piloting this new Collaborative by supporting women with barriers to employment in gaining access to meaningful and stable jobs in the food industry.
This month, participants met for the first time in the kitchen of Peterborough Public Health. The room was filled with laughter and enthusiasm as we created a meal together. Everyone present is looking forward to learning, sharing and growing together in the course of the next 6 months. We know that the food industry generates precarious jobs. With all of the partners in the project, we plan to equip participants with the tools and knowledge they will need to secure employment in areas of the food industry that pay higher and living wages.
To help them in this journey, our training curriculum has integrated extensive knowledge and skills-building activities to help participants gain familiarity and ease in preparing plant-based meals. Along with these specialized culinary skills, the training also includes critical soft skills development such as communicating for success, professional workplace expectations, employment rights, as well as health and safety in the workplace.
This project grew out of our partnership with the New Canadians Centre around the Peterborough Newcomer Kitchen. We learned then that we were able to accomplish so much more together than separately. Based on those learnings, we anchored this new project in an even larger collaborative framework by bringing together agencies, employment resources, and members of the private sector.
Collaborators include:
YWCA Peterborough Haliburton – Nourish Program
New Canadians Centre
Elizabeth Fry Society of Peterborough
Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre
Employment Planning and Counselling
Peterborough Public Health
Are you interested in mentoring a member of our Collaborative?
Another critical feature of the project is its commitment to grow connections with women entrepreneurs, particularly women leaders in the food industry.
Are you at the stage now where you would like to share your experience with others? Are you a woman who has succeeded in her field, but faced barriers to employment due to migration, poverty, criminal records, or discrimination? We are particularly interested in hearing from women from the food industry, but are open to mentors from other sectors as well.
