{"id":768,"date":"2025-01-02T19:53:33","date_gmt":"2025-01-02T19:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thanassiscambanis.com\/sipa\/?p=768"},"modified":"2025-01-02T19:53:33","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T19:53:33","slug":"theres-room-at-this-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thanassiscambanis.com\/sipa\/2025\/01\/theres-room-at-this-table\/","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s room at this table"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How a chef and a community fight food insecurity in Paterson\u2019s Little Lima<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Chef Edgardo prepares a meal in the Oasis kitchen. Photo: Marco Gutierrez Rosales<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Marco Gutierrez Rosales<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A little past 9 in the morning, the breakfast hustle at Oasis is over and head chef Edgardo Medina takes a moment to have a quick coffee before the day\u2019s biggest challenge: lunchtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had set out flapjacks and sausages buffet-style, like a hotel breakfast, attracting close to 100 people. Nothing was left. \u201cI have yet to receive a complaint about one of my meals,\u201d Edgardo said and shrugged his shoulders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He arrives at 7 am every day (except Sundays). First, he checks what\u2019s in stock. A shout to the back of the kitchen, and his team is in motion. He takes pride in his soups made with fresh vegetables. It\u2019s time-consuming but makes all the difference in flavor. \u201cOur soup is made from scratch\u2013 we cut the onions, toss in the salt, throw in the garlic, every day,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t just go downstairs and bring up 20 cans of chicken noodle soup.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After over 20 years of restaurant experience, he\u2019s learned how to run a kitchen. \u201cIn the kitchen, no matter how hurried you are, you have to keep calm,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you lose control, you\u2019ll ruin everything.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Oasis is not a restaurant, however; it\u2019s a non-profit soup kitchen in Paterson, New Jersey, that serves hot meals to women and children. Oasis also provides clothing and social support to families living in poverty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today more than 200 people are expected for lunch. Edgardo and his team of four are preparing today\u2019s menu: Mongolian beef with chicken noodle soup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOasis started off as a soup kitchen and that\u2019s because in the city of Paterson, there were none that would allow a mom to come with their child,\u201d said Jenny Vega, the social services manager at Oasis. The surrounding neighborhood, dubbed Little Lima because of its Peruvian population, is mostly Latino with a growing Palestinian populace. The meals here function as an invitation into the building, where people can then avail themselves of the additional services offered, if they so choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With its \u201cno questions asked\u201d policy, Oasis offers services to any women and children who enter, regardless of legal status. Jenny said that many of the women are also victims of domestic violence. Privately funded, Oasis isn\u2019t restricted by federal regulations, setting it apart from other organizations. Jenny explains that while statewide homelessness numbers may appear to be declining, the demand for their services is skyrocketing due to Paterson\u2019s housing crisis. The city council refers undocumented residents, who can\u2019t access public assistance like food stamps and housing, to Oasis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you go to one of our supermarkets here, what do you see? Cakes, chips, hot dogs, and soda,\u201d Jenny said. Paterson is listed as a food desert according to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority<\/a>. In Little Lima, there\u2019s an abundance of convenience stores which may have higher prices, low-quality foods, and limited amounts of fresh produce compared to grocery stores.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents of a neighborhood are at risk of food insecurity<\/a> if their access to healthy foods is affected by a lack of transportation, long travel distances, and fewer supermarkets. Although food assistance programs help address this, it doesn\u2019t address the interconnected issues related to income, employment, and housing. \u201cThe food in our community brings people to a table,\u201d Jenny said. \u201cThen they can say, \u2018I do need help.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

People gather at Oasis for lunchtime. Photo: Marco Gutierrez Rosales<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edgardo said the menu at Oasis wasn\u2019t as varied before his arrival almost three years ago. Though he\u2019s Peruvian, like many in Little Lima, he\u2019s adapted the menu to reflect the neighborhood\u2019s growing cultural diversity. Now, he prepares a range of dishes, like lamb gyros, jerk chicken, and chicken tikka masala, for the various communities that frequent his dining room. Some of his older Peruvian attendees, tasting these dishes for the first time, often praise his cooking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverything I know I\u2019ve learned from, as they say, the university of life,\u201d he said. \u201cI vary the menu to try to keep everyone happy.\u201d Working within a limited budget,  there\u2019s a lot of mental math with his planning, often relying on food bank donations. \u201cThe worst thing is to give food without flavor,\u201d he said. Edgardo and his team of \u201c3.5\u201d members\u2014since one helper only stays for three hours\u2014give their best with what they have. \u201cThere\u2019s a certain perception that soup kitchens have,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to give them the restaurant experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edgardo, with gray peppered in his hair and reading glasses drooped to the lower half of his nose like a librarian, spent many years at an Italian-American restaurant, where he became known for preparing lomo saltado<\/em>, a popular Peruvian dish that combines stir-fried strips of sirloin and marinated vegetables served with rice, for Peruvians who preferred it over Italian food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy goal was always to have a restaurant and I got that chance,\u201d Edgardo said. He opened and managed one for eight years. \u201cIt was working out until the pandemic happened. By the end of it, that\u2019s when I made the decision to shut it down.\u201d Edgardo looked down and spun around the pen in his hands as if he were stirring a bowl of soup. \u201cYou can\u2019t continue something that can\u2019t go on. There are chapters in life that need to close and one has to be realistic and say \u2018it can\u2019t go on and it can\u2019t go on\u2019 and leave it at that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By noon, the doors to the soup kitchen open again and hundreds of people are lined outside. The cafeteria, located in the heart of the three-story building, has three rows of tables with dozens of chairs. The maintenance staff help escort the attendees to sit at a table first. Many are elderly. Most speak Spanish. All are women. At this point, Edgardo has emerged from the kitchen, his shirt under his apron damp with sweat, and his team bring out trays of warm meals. Once the attendees are seated, volunteers from neighboring communities help serve plates of Mongolian beef and chicken noodle soup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cOur women that come, sometimes they need community\u2014for some of them, this is a dining experience. Not only do we get good food, but we have great conversations and build relationships with people,\u201d Jenny, the social services manager, said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aila Reynaga is from Peru and has been coming to Oasis for five years. At the age of 79, what she most needs, she said, is a job.  \u201cThere\u2019s no work but we do have food and clothing which is helpful, but what\u2019s necessary is work to pay rent,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A volunteer server handed Mrs. Reynaga a second plate of Mongolian beef which she refused with a gesture of her hand, indicating that she already ate. \u2018Are you sure?\u2019 the volunteer asked in English. \u201cSi,\u201d Mrs. Reynaga responded in Spanish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the beginning, when I first arrived, I suffered. But once you find out what services can be most helpful to you, we start to feel a bit more comfortable,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I go back to Peru, I\u2019m thinking of setting up my own soup kitchen, just like this, because I want to help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edgardo loves what he does, and appreciates he can run a kitchen with less stress than he experienced at his own restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he feels he has come full circle. In February 1989, Edgardo left Peru, crossing through Panama and into Mexico. He remembers a stranger\u2019s kindness in Yucat\u00e1n, where an older man sheltered, fed, and protected him from Mexican authorities. The man was poor, and what little he had, he offered it to us, Edgardo said. By the time he reached the United States, it was May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are going through tough problems and their problems are growing,\u201d Edgardo said. \u201cThis organization offers services and it creates an environment for people to find solutions to the various problems they have. I think that\u2019s what makes people come here.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After lunch, Edgardo often steps out to greet his guests. This is his favorite part of the day, hearing people say, \u201cChef, the food was so good,\u201d \u201cIt was delicious,\u201d and \u201cGod bless you.\u201d All Edgardo does in response is nod humbly and smile. \u201cThose are comments,\u201d Edgardo said, \u201cthat make you feel that what you\u2019re doing is something good, makes you want to keep doing what you\u2019re doing and do it better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How a chef and a community fight food insecurity in Paterson\u2019s Little Lima Chef Edgardo prepares a meal in the Oasis kitchen. Photo: Marco Gutierrez Rosales By Marco Gutierrez Rosales A little past 9 in the morning, the breakfast hustle…<\/p>\n

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