Lunch People - Fighting for Food Equity

As we move into a new year it is easy to focus on what is coming next but It is still essential to look behind us and see what we have made it through. During the McKenzie river wildfires, after Shelley and Dan were evacuated, they were able to salvage a huge quantity of produce from the farm. Much of that produce was donated to Lunch People.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Miranda McKeever and Corey Prunier were both furloughed from their food industry jobs. With the money from unemployment and their stimulus checks, they decided to use whatever was left after they paid their rent to make food and distribute it to people in need. The 4J School district had organized parents and PTA members to pass out free lunches at Acorn Park every weekday. Corey and Miranda decided to fill the gaps and pass out free lunch at Acorn Park on Saturday and Sunday, and Lunch People was born. 

Once Corey and Miranda started consistently providing nourishing meals at Acorn Park, they began to receive donations. “We spent the first donation on insulated containers to keep the food warm. Then a neighbor donated a canopy and brought us freshly made waffles to eat after we passed out the food. We have had so much support from the Acorn Park neighbors!” says McKeever, who has been blown away by the amount of community engagement they have witnessed. 

The greater the demand for the free lunches became, the more they realized they needed their own commercial kitchen space. “We were renting kitchen space from a caterer but after the catering business suffered the effects of the pandemic, they went out of business. We noticed that our fellow non-profits like C.O.R.E. and Burrito Brigade were also looking for a good space to cook food in. Our community needs a convenient resource hub,” stated McKeever.

After searching for weeks, Miranda saw an ad to lease what is now the Mandala Cafe on Monroe and Blair. It is in this space that they hope to create a cafe that has a donation based offering, with kitchen space that will be accessible to other local nonprofits seeking to provide free meals to those in need. They intend to provide job training for homeless youth and offer cooking classes.  

Growing up, Corey depended on the free lunches provided by his public school, and the thought that the pandemic was affecting that resource deeply upset him. Food scarcity was not unfamiliar for Miranda, either. In the early years of her career as a waitress, Miranda was on food stamps and without her own home. 

“The keystone of our philosophy is that food should be dignified. We both know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of charity and it can be humiliating. We want to treat people like people, celebrate health and help people feel proud,” Prunier says about the Cafe. “The ‘teach a man to fish’ bit is cliche but it’s true. We don’t want to just give handouts—we want to employ people, train people to cook and help them get jobs in local restaurants.We want to help people find employment where they will be valued and treated with respect.”  

Corey and Miranda eat a plant-based diet. After being raised on processed foods and having no access to fresh vegetables and fruits, Corey does not view his dietary choice as a restriction, but as a celebration of the incredible ingredients that are available here in the Willamette Valley. “Our goal is to make plant based foods as satisfying as any filet mignon.” The Cafe will have a wholesome and genuine menu that celebrates the produce of this area.

Neighbors have not been the only ones to show their love and support for Lunch People. Organic Redneck Farm has donated their locally grown, organic produce, Hummingbird Wholesale has donated pantry goods and Party Downtown and Party on Friendly have hosted two fundraisers for Lunch People. Lunch People plan to work with local advocacy groups like Transponder to form an advisory board that will help them meet the unique needs of our community. 

Lunch People is not a non-profit. “We are not a charity, and we don’t want to compete for donations with the other amazing nonprofits in this town who need them. We want to generate our own funds so that we can help distribute those funds in our community. We want to make our community stronger and increase food security for everyone living here,” says McKeever. They came to the decision to form a Benefit Company LLC which will allow them to accept donations from the community while also generating funds of their own. Right now they need our support to get up and running. To pay the lease on the Mandala Cafe and open their doors for business by February 2021, Lunch People need to raise $1,500 in the next month. 

They have started a GoFundMe and will be hosting a number of pop-up fundraisers to generate these funds. You can follow them on instagram at @lunchpeople donate to them here: GoFundme