By: Elyse Moore

The GrassRoots Garden is one of two gardens from Food for Lane County. Volunteers at the GrassRoots Garden can gain hands on experience with gardening and composting. The garden is open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 9:00 am-4:00 pm. Part of the perks of volunteering at the GrassRoots Garden is the complimentary meal after made with fresh foods from the garden and donations. Volunteer Kathleen has recently in the past years taken up responsibility for creating these meals every Thursdays. Here is an inside look into her day:

 

Establishing Shot:

 

Kathleen has been a volunteer at The GrassRoots Garden for three years now. Every Thursday she arrives at 9:00am to clean out the fridge. Kathleen uses everything that is about to go bad from the fridge along with fresh ingredients from the garden and donated food to create a free meal for volunteers that day. The GrassRoots Garden is known for its full outdoor kitchen serves 25-50 volunteers daily.

 

Close-Up Shot:

 

Kathleen tests the soup to see if it is ready to be served. Kathleen goes through several tester spoons for each dish to make sure it is up to her standards. She often asks volunteers to also taste the dish and give their opinions on what should be added if needed.

 

Action Shot:

Kathleen is seen here adding some cayenne pepper to a dish of fresh squash and zucchini from the garden. Kathleen discusses how most people don’t know this but seasonings also go bad over time. This is why she tends to use to oldest seasoning she has to spice up the dish to make sure no food, not even a spice or herb goes to waste.

 

Detail Shot:

Kathleen’s favorite dish to make is veggie burgers and tends to serve them every Thursday. Today, however, she only found enough ingredients to be able to make 25 burgers when there are 50 volunteers that need to be fed. To fix this after cooking the burgers she cut each burger in half to make sure everyone is able to get a veggie burger if they want. Everything made in The GrassRoots Garden is vegan and organic.

 

Interaction Shot:

Kathleen waits in line just like the rest of the volunteers to finally eat her full creation at 1:00pm. Volunteers line up outside the area awaiting their free meal. Today the menu is: Fresh from the garden; zucchini, salad, cooked squash, beets and apple sauce. Donations by Burke with steamed rattlesnake beans and bread donated by Metropol Bakery. Lastly, Veggie Burgers and soup both made from leftovers from the fridge from previous meals before.