Pathways | Cowichan Community Kitchens

Cowichan Community Kitchens

Food, Indigenous Services, and Social / Recreational

Provided by Hiiye'yu Lelum Society House of Friendship

A safe, empowering environment where diverse groups of people can come together to share skills of budgeting, planning, shopping and cooking healthy meals to take home to their families.

The Hiiye'yu Lelum-House of Friendship facilitates kitchen groups throughout the Cowichan Valley, with participants from each group getting together twice a month to: plan, budget, shop and cook nutritious meals to take home to their families. Community Kitchens are a collaboration between local and provincial governments, the Health Authority, social service organizations, service groups, private donors and by the agricultural community.

How it Works

Most groups have 7-10 people in them
The first meeting is 2 hours long and is where participants decide as a group what 4 meals they will prepare, create a budget and split the shopping duties
The second meeting is about 5-6 hours long and is when the cooking happens
Each person then goes home with containers of prepared meals that can be frozen and eaten throughout the month. The food subsidy is based on the participant's need. It usually costs each person between $2.00 - $3.50 (for 4 meals) or 50 - 88 cents per meal

Outcomes of Community Kitchens