When Rick Watson When planning the Thanksgiving menu for the Ottawa Mission this year, he had only one goal in mind: to provide a hearty and enjoyable holiday meal for individuals and families in need.
On a warm and sunny Sunday before the holiday, about a dozen volunteers worked in the downtown Ottawa Mission kitchen preparing for the big day.
Dozens of turkeys sat in the back of the kitchen, where a volunteer carved them up with bones before putting them in the oven to roast or into the pot to cook.
Cooks stood in front of large industrial kitchen ovens, stirring pots and pans. Others chopped vegetables, onions and aromatics or stirred food in pots and pans. One volunteer was peeling a pumpkin near the kitchen sink.
Meanwhile, Watson floated between stations, helping and instructing when needed.
By the end of the day Monday, Watson and his army of volunteers will have cooked about 700 turkeys, 3,500 pounds of mashed potatoes, 2,500 pounds of glazed carrots, 100 gallons of gravy and plenty of green beans and stuffing.
Executive Chef Rick Watson, director of food services at the Ottawa Mission and founder of its renowned food service training program, will begin work with more than 100 volunteers at 4 a.m. Monday before meals are served.
This amount of food is expected to feed about 2,500 people in the Ottawa Mission Centre. The food service will start at 11 a.m. and run until 5 p.m., but Watson said they won't turn people away if there's still a line after 5 p.m.
Watson and more than 100 volunteers will start at 4 a.m. Monday before food service, and everyone is ready to go.
“It's all day long. It doesn't stop,” Watson told the Ottawa Citizen.
Preparing for Ottawa Mission Thanksgiving Celebration However, it did not start in October or September. Watson said he and his team have been planning the menu since August.
Two Watson food trucks also delivered approximately 15,000 Thanksgiving meals during the week.
“It's like a factory where everything goes, goes, goes. But I'll tell you, the first food we cook and the last food we cook will taste the same. It will taste the same as your grandmother cooked,” Watson said with a smile.
Growing Clientele and Growing Food Security in Ottawa
Thanksgiving dinner comes as food prices and unemployment continue to rise across the country.
According to Statistics Canada, consumer price index in August rose 1.9% year on year, up from 1.7% in July. Meat prices rose about 7.2 percent year over year, driven by higher prices for beef and processed meats. Fruit prices fell just over one percent in August after rising 3.9 percent the month before.
Meanwhile, latest labor force survey reported that the national unemployment rate remained at 7.1 percent. Youth unemployment rose to 14.7% in September, the highest since September 2010.
In addition, for the third year in a row, the Ottawa Mission has distributed one million meals to individuals and families in need.
“People are hungry all year round. It's sad that people have to sleep on the streets in the summer, and especially in the winter. But it doesn't make it any better. It's always crowded here. … Right now we're serving 3,200 to 3,500 meals a day to people in need,” he said.
Watson has also noticed a change in his clientele.
“When I first started working at the Ottawa Mission 24 years ago, we were just feeding the homeless. That's not the case anymore. Our doors are open to all walks of life. People will come in for breakfast before they go to work. People will come right after work or right after school for a snack. It's the working poor and students who simply can't afford to survive. We're in a dire situation,” he said.
Watson said the most memorable customer he served was an elderly woman who walked down the street toward one of his food trucks on a walker. When she finally got to the food truck, she looked at it and said that it was the only food she would eat that day.
“It just brought tears to my eyes. Just the idea that we could help her. That really stuck with me,” he recalled.
Rising food prices have also hit Watson's business.
At the beginning of the year, he and his team announced the purchase of turkeys and other food products, but ran into difficulties when Canada Post workers go on strikehe said.
Despite this, they received donations from the community and organizations. For example, Loblaws donated about 60 frozen turkeys.
“Every time we cook Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, I just pray that we have donors who are kind enough to afford to give us turkeys so that we can provide those types of food. I'm always worried that won't happen. Turkey and beef and everything else are so expensive,” he said.
He encourages Ottawans to help if they can afford it. The Ottawa Mission always accepts food and monetary donations, he said.
He also encourages people to volunteer at the Mission if they can't afford to donate right now.
“If (Ottavans) can afford to help people in their community, please help. I don't mean helping people on the street corner who are asking for money, I mean coming and volunteering at the Mission, or giving monetary or even food donations, because we can't do this without our donors,” Watson said.
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