The Longer Table rises to battle food insecurity in Arnprior

In the spacious but un-air-conditioned kitchen at the Christian Education Centre in Arnprior, Ont., no fewer than four soup pots were simmering on Sunday. 

There was minestrone, potato and leek, coconut curry and a broth that would eventually become a "stone soup." That's an old tradition where the soup is concocted by friends and neighbours who contribute whatever ingredients they can spare to the broth.

Sunday's stone soup served as the launch for a newly registered non-profit called The Longer Table. Chef and board member Paul Helm said the history of the dish captures what the group is trying to achieve.

"Canadians have generations of helping each other get through the rough times, and that's where these stone soups come from," he said. 

The Longer Table brings together chefs and volunteers with the shared goal of reducing food insecurity in Arnprior, a problem which locals tell CBC has become worse in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

'Getting a lot worse'

The Longer Table started back in 2023, when Helm and other chefs made around 400 meals for the local food bank. But they couldn't secure a dedicated kitchen space.

Jennifer McGuire, who said she was motivated by worsening food insecurity, spent a year-and-a-half hunting for a new kitchen space, building the board and registering the group as a non-profit.

"I've calculated ... if our organization could produce 6,000 meals a day, we would start scratching the surface of what's needed in this area," said McGuire, who is now the board chair.

At the Arnprior & District Food Bank, manager Pat Tait says demand has more than doubled in the last five years.

In 2020, the food bank served 1,022 families, or about 2,800 people. In 2024, it served 2,261 families, or nearly 5,900 people. She noted those numbers don't include other local initiatives that feed the community, including one that delivers meals to seniors in their homes.

"Five years ago, of course, we were going into this horrible time when everybody had to stay home or wear a mask," Tait said. "And now we're free of all of that, but things aren't getting any better. They're getting a lot worse."

On Monday, the food bank received the leftovers from The Longer Table's launch dinner: specifically, 117 litres of soup. It will all be gone by the end of the day, Tait said, noting the food bank had already seen 55 families before noon on Monday. 

"The Longer Table is going to just grow," she said. "There will be a need everywhere, not just the food bank. We will be crying for their help, I'm sure, as soon as other people know that The Longer Table is making food."

Cooking and teaching

The Longer Table will continue to cook meals for the food bank using community donations and leftover produce from farmers' markets. In April, the non-profit donated around 200 meals.

But The Longer Table would also like to teach people the skills they need to feed themselves, like growing vegetables and cooking. 

"The less people cook themselves, the more expensive it is to go out and buy pre-made products ... and if you go to fast food, which unfortunately a lot of people do, then it's really expensive," Helm said. 

"Eventually, we would love to have a kitchen enterprise where we could provide food full-time for all sorts of needy people."

On their way toward that dream, Helm and McGuire hope to work with Arnprior's town council and other local charities.

McGuire believes the council should declare a state of emergency due to food insecurity, as Brockville and Smiths Falls have done. 

"The more municipalities do, the more pressure that puts on the provincial and federal governments to help us all with the problem," she said.