My essential questions: How can I make food more accessible to people in poverty? How can I work to improve my own baking and food understanding?

I have been exploring my first essential question by volunteering at the bowery mission 1-2 times a week. I learn about their mission, what the staff there does each day, and what I can do to help. I also have done interviews with a couple of people who have done a lot for people in poverty. I interviewed Ellen Cosgrove who has worked for many non-profits helping to find and make sustainable food for the homeless population, and has worked personally with communities in need around the world. I also interviewed Carol Adams who has done a lot for communities in need in Cameroon. She has worked to make sure that many resources including sustainable farming and food is available in Cameroon. She also worked with women to help them gain the proper skills they needed to earn money and live a healthy life. By conducting these interviews and volunteering I feel that I am answering my first essential question, it’s better than I expected because I feel like I am learning so much. I have been exploring my second essential question by baking new things that I ‘ve never made before, baking with a professional pastry chef, doing research by reading multiple blogs, and conducting interviews with people who give me very good advice on food. I feel like I am answering my second essential question by improving my baking skills and baking almost every week day, and getting advice from professionals.

In the beginning of my senior project it was really hard to create a steady schedule because I wanted to do so many things and I knew that I had to plan accordingly. But I overcame this challenge and updated my schedule everyday with the changes, I made a theme to each week for what I was going to bake so I could stay consistent. I also signed up for all my volunteer shifts in advanced so I could plan around them and have them set in my schedule. Another challenge I have is keeping up with my own personal blog. I am surprised on how much I am writing for my blog and how long it takes to write each post. In the future I will set a certain amount of time aside so I can get each post done as soon as possible so I don’t fall behind again.

So far I have learned that covid has made things a lot worse for the homeless population. But in order to help I learned that stepping up and giving a little bit of my time helps in a huge way. I also learned that food comes with a lot of labels, unhealthy, healthy, organic, lowfat, etc. But a lot of people don’t actually know what they mean or care for that matter. I learned that what’s important is accessibility to all foods for everyone. I also learned a ton of new baking skills and tricks for when I bake so I can make my baked goods taste and look better. I want to learn more about sustainable food and more tricks for baking.