16 October 2019 | parkcitiespeople.com
Community FOUR DAYS OF MEALS ON WHEELS
Columnist celebrates way nonprofit nourishes those in need
B
etween Pinterest boards filled with edible works of art to “Instagram-worthy” meals to “food porn,” thanks to technology, food has been objectified to the point in which many of us have practically forgotten its value. I get it – my “phone eats first, ” and I can spend 10 minutes trying to get KERSTEN RET TIG the perfect Instapic of shards of Maldon Sea Salt artfully arranged on a juicy red tomato. I have a healthy preoccupation with food and feel lucky to be able to write about it for this paper. This month, instead of writing about a new restaurant, I’m featuring an old one: Meals on Wheels Dallas County is about 40 years old. Meals on Wheels is the original Door Dash with employees and volunteers canvassing the Dallas area Monday through Friday to deliver meals to 4,500 clients for whom their daily delivery of food,
a friendly face, and a kind word is a lifeline. Many MOW clients have health issues, so providing nutritious, balanced meals on such a large scale and tight budget is challenging. If you’re reading this in a newspaper delivered to your home, chances are you live in an affluent area and are unlikely to be food insecure. But have you ever wondered about what kind of food is prepared and delivered on such a large scale five days a week? Maybe not, but I hope you do if just this once.
Meals on Wheels to homebound seniors. It was an eye-opening experience, not because the food was exceptionally good or especially bad, but because it allowed me to appreciate food in a way I haven’t in years. I’m so fortunate, most of us are, to afford high-quality food and spend time and money dining out with our f riends. We can order what we want; throw out what we don’t. We have so many choices, too many sometimes, on what and where to eat. We can celebrate food with photos and hashtags and beautiful creations made from watermelon and a paring knife – and we should. I hope, too, that we will be aware of those who are food insecure, lonely, and rely on that daily delivery of Meals on Wheels as one of their few remaining connections to socialization, sensorial pleasure, and nourishment for their bodies.
It was an eye-opening experience, not because the food was especially good or especially bad, but because it allowed me to appreciate food in a way I haven’t in years. Kersten Rettig With the help of Dr. Ashley Lind, the vice president of Meals on Wheels and population health, I ate four meals to gain insight into the value of
COURTESY PHOTOS
Every route delivered by a volunteer saves VNA enough money to feed a senior for a week. Volunteers also help in other ways such as creating cards for clients, donating and assembling healthy snack bags, and holding collection drives throughout the year. I say I’m not a critic, I’m a storyteller, but I’ll summarize the meals this way: They’re better than airplane food, WAY better than the Frank Crowley Courts Building Cafeteria you’re stuck with for jury duty, and better than starving, which is the alternative
THE MENU
HOW TO HELP
MONDAY
WEDNESDAY
Swiss Steak with Whipped Potatoes and Italian Green Beans
Turkey Tetrazzini with Brussels Sprouts and Vegetable Medley
I approached the first meal as a novelty. The ground beef patty was juicy and flavored well with a hint of sautéed onion. All meals must be low sodium, so the whipped potatoes and green beans tasted like not much until I added salt. Everything had a good texture.
My favorite meal so far, the pasta with chunks of tender turkey meat was full of flavor with a hint of spice. I wondered how they could make 4,500 plates of pasta and have it not become mush. Honestly, I didn’t eat the Brussels Sprouts. I’m sorry, mom, I never liked them.
TUESDAY
THURSDAY
King Ranch Chicken with Steamed Broccoli and Carrots
Homestyle Meatloaf with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Herbed Green Beans
The King Ranch Chicken was tasty. It was a little spicy, in fact, and had big chunks of white-meat chicken in a cheesy sauce. The broccoli and carrots were cooked but not mushy and needed salt. Without realizing it, I ate the entire meal in four minutes. As I walked out of the VNA Haggarty Center, it occurred to me that I inhaled that meal as if I was checking a box and not feeding my body and soul.
to Meals on Wheels delivery. Kersten Rettig, a Park Cities-based writer with more than 30 years’ experience in food and beverage marketing and PR, is a member of Les Dames d ’Escoff ier and the VNA Board of Trustees. Follow her on Instagram @KickshawPapers.
I found the meatloaf about the same as the Swiss Steak but with more tomato and seasoning. The green beans were just right with a little snap left in them and more flavorful than other vegetable offerings. The mashed potatoes only had a hint of garlic, and when I finished, I realized I hadn’t eaten mashed potatoes since last Thanksgiving, and I’d eaten them twice this week. “How ironic, I thought.”
The nonprofit Visiting Nurse Association of Texas (VNA) offers the Meals on Wheels service in the Dallas area with the help of thousands of volunteers. Individuals, as well as community and corporate groups, help VNA operate half its roughly 300 weekday delivery routes. Drivers rely on a user-friendly mobile app. Go to volunteer.vnatexas.org to complete an online application, online training, and sign up for a route. FROM A CALLER: “I just want to let you know that my mother really enjoyed her meal Friday. It was the honeyglazed turkey with au gratin potatoes and Brussels sprouts, and she told me over and over how delicious it was and to be sure and tell the chef how much she appreciated it. Though we didn’t know it at the time, that was mom’s last Meals on Wheels delivery. She succumbed to cancer two days later. I wanted to be sure to pass along her ‘compliments to the chef’ and to say thanks to Meals on Wheels for being my mom’s lifeline for so long.”