JASA calls attention to senior food insecurity with diverse cookbook

A New York City nonprofit serving Queens’ older residents launched its second cookbook, featuring daily recipes and influencer originals. Photo courtesy of JASA

New York City nonprofit organization JASA launched a recipe book earlier this month to fundraise and foster community during the new year. 

“JASA Eats” features nearly 100 pages of recipes with dishes across cultures submitted by  chefs, dietitians, influencers and community members. 

“JASA Eats is absolutely created to raise awareness about food insecurity and funds critical to provide meals, bolstering meals,“ said Tania Collazo, JASA’s Queens home delivered meals program director. “I think the food and recipe book serve to [bring people together] — something we all have in common and can come together over is food.”

“We realized this is part of their health,” Collazo added. “Yes, food insecurity is paramount but more important in some ways is for them to have a way to reach out and talk, and for them to feel like they're engaged with the outside world.”

The agency uses additional funding from grants and fundraisers like the cookbook to expand their deliveries from one hot meal a day to snacks like soup, produce and fruit.

For older adults who might have smaller appetites, Collazo said those snacks often become a second meal and provide additional nutrition.

Though JASA has been serving Queens’ community for decades — 355 clients per day — the pandemic laid bare the depth and breadth of their clients' needs, especially as COVID-19 spurred isolation, the organization said.

“The heart of our program is making sure that not only people who need meals receive the meals… but is also providing a place for our seniors to have a way to reach out and communicate,” Collazo said.

As many had more limited contact with loved ones than usual during lockdown, in addition to the added health risk, the organization worked to meet the needs outside of food service — to nourish minds and souls as well as the body.

Many clients would call the offices just to talk and share news, or engage the delivery drivers trained to watch for any concerns along their routes in conversation.

Collazo, a chef, said her inboxes have always been full of messages from clients looking to share their family recipes or tips they’ve come across. The value of recipe sharing not only provides a sense of community for both parties, but also as “a bridge to the past.”

Collazo says she’s tried some recipes and saved others to try later and expand her own culinary horizons — part of what she hopes the cookbook can do for the population they serve.

“Raising awareness about what's happening to seniors in our community [is integral]; let's not forget the people who built the road were walking on, let's take care of them,” she added

She said that while food security is always unacceptable, it’s particularly concerning to see those who have helped others be left in the lurch.

“It’s not just a problem during the holidays, the problem isn't limited to amount — it's an ongoing thing,” she said of JASA’s collective efforts. “We’re always trying to figure out what we can do to spotlight our clients…This is what we wake up thinking about, what we go to bed with at night – what are we not doing, what avenues can be explored to create meaningful change here?”