Healthy
World Café aims to be 'accessible to all'
The
community-based kitchen debuted at First Moravian Church in a new partnership.
By
LEIGH ZALESKI
Daily
Record/Sunday News
York,
PA - Cindy Plunkert moved through the food line at Healthy World Café at the
Moravian Lunch Room with a wicker basket on one arm.
She
filled the basket with spinach quiche, soups and apple crisp for her and two
colleagues at Pressley Ridge in York. As she got ready to pay, volunteer Scott
Simonds suggested a total of $22. What she paid at the community-based kitchen,
was optional. Plunkert, 60, paid the suggested price and $5 more.
"I'm
expecting good food," she said. "We really like to support the
cause."
Healthy
World Café opened Wednesday as a result of a partnership with the First
Moravian Church in York. HWC aims to offer healthy meals made from local
ingredients and has a pay-what-you-can system. People may pay the suggested
price, more to support the nonprofit, or less by volunteering their time.
Chairman
Sean Arnold said the nonprofit, which was established about two and a half
years ago, had been looking for a location for the past year. The café won the
2011 YorIt Social Venture Challenge -- a $20,000 grant -- and had been
promoting itself at events to raise awareness, fundraise and gain volunteers.
Organizers wanted to start small, and they had difficulty finding a building
that fit the nonprofit's price range.
Earlier
this year, the Moravian Lunch Room at First Moravian Church -- which serves
inexpensive food once a month as a way to raise its profile and provide the
community with a meal -- knew it would lose some volunteers, making it
difficult to continue the monthly event.
So
the church and Healthy World Café teamed up.
"It
was a good marriage," said the Rev. Steve Nicholas, coordinator of the
Moravian Lunch Room. "We saw working with HWC as a way to continue
offering a lunch at our church."
Arnold
said 110 people attended lunch Wednesday. The menu offered spinach quiche with
tomato sauce, asparagus and spring minestrone with chicken soups, salads, and
apple crisp and dried fruit oatmeal cookies for dessert. Lime-and-arugula
infused water and iced tea were free.
The
café will open May 23 and every fourth Wednesday starting in September, with
the possibility of staying open this summer. He said HWC hopes to eventually
open twice a month. HWC's
menu will change each month based on the availability of local produce in York,
Lancaster and Adams counties.
Arnold
said HWC bought most of the main ingredients for this lunch from local farmers
and food vendors, including some from Central Market, Perrydell Farm Dairy and
Round Barn.
"As
we grow, we want to incorporate as many farms as possible," he said. Arnold
said the church has been wonderful throughout the transition and that he hopes
the community sees HWC as a viable nonprofit. "We want to sell and provide
healthy alternatives that are accessible to all," he said.
If
you go
What:
Healthy World Café at the Moravian Lunch Room
When:
11:30 to 1 p.m. May 23 and every fourth Wednesday starting in September
Where:
First Moravian Church, 39 N. Duke St. in York
The
concept
Healthy
World Café is a volunteer-based cafeteria-style kitchen that supports local
farmers and aims to offer nutritious meals to people of all incomes. Chairman
Sean Arnold said the nonprofit was established about two and a half years ago.
Organizers modeled the café after the Salt Lake City community kitchen, One
World Everybody Eats Café.
For
details, visit www.healthyworldcafe.org.
