Cultural Awareness Initiative

Purpose

The purpose of Tarrant Area Food Bank’s Cultural Awareness Initiative is to increase awareness of cultural preferences through a culturally responsive food policy. The policy aims to increase access to cultural food items and ensure the food that we source and distribute represents preferences of our local communities. The policy aligns with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, as cultural considerations will help to change attitudes towards healthful eating. It is our aim that through greater cultural awareness, we can empower our community to alleviate hunger and improve health.

Connecting & Supporting Cultures

In connecting with neighbors we serve and gaining their input, we aim to improve our services and programs that amplify the ability to provide service with dignity, reduce barriers, and build trust. We share our learnings in hopes that you will join us on this journey of building cultural awareness, knowledge and sensitivity.

A guide providing cultural awareness and sensitivity about specific culture groups.

We use PolicyMap to understand the demographic composition of our service area. This assists in growing our Cultural Awareness Initiative beyond the research phase.

A map displaying predominant country of birth among foreign born populations provides more insight into the different cultural groups in our service area than predominant racial or ethnic groups (over 50% of the population) alone.

Voices from our Community

Food is a multi-faceted concept. Sometimes, we wrestle with the physiological aspects of food or the physicality of not having it. Sometimes, food is just a means to sustain body systems as we work through life; for some, it is the center and reason for gathering and sharing fellowship. For others, it is a way to express their culture, heritage, and personal style. Empowering our community to alleviate hunger and improve health is our mission at TAFB, and we believe one way to empower a community is to amplify the voices of those living within.

This project was born out of a desire to highlight voices from our community who want to share their personal stories about food and living. Each Guest Chef featured courageously shares what food means to them, offers poignant life insight, and freely invites you to experience the joys of cooking with a traditional recipe. The artful and nuanced techniques used by these master chefs can hardly be distilled into a recipe. Nonetheless, we attempt to offer a backbone of ingredients, steps, and best practices for you to use as you make it your own, along with a glimpse of their stories.

Kim Loan Le

For Kim, cooking in Vietnamese culture is a happy occasion, allowing individual creativity and love to radiate through flavors and beautiful presentations. She advises home cooks to prepare meals with heart, guaranteeing that food prepared with genuine love will be well-received.

Maem Jenny Jaenghan Phongsavath

Jenny emphasizes the importance of using fresh ingredients that are organic whenever possible. Her mother instilled the value of consuming food grown with minimal chemicals and artificial additives, as that is how food was produced when she was a child growing up in Thailand

Sor Ploung

Sor shares her culinary wisdom that boils down to two principles that do not include knowing how to read a recipe; carefully think about each ingredient and what it will add to a dish, and use ingredients you like. “If you like more, put some more; if you like a little bit, then put a little bit.

James Williams

As we walked into the kitchen, James was eager to share a special recipe passed down from his mother—Navy Bean Soup, a dish filled with memories, warmth, and a lifetime of culinary passion. As we stepped into the kitchen, Chef James immediately transported us back to his childhood, telling us how this recipe was always reserved for the coldest days of winter.

Recipe Library

Eating well on a budget never tasted so good. Our Recipe Library is an extension of our nutrition awareness campaign, encouraging people to cook at home with tasty ingredients that are also affordable. Families that cook and eat at home can save money, eat better, and enjoy more quality time together.