About Diane Brown

I live and cook in Vancouver, Canada. Reflecting on my work in this city these past many years, I see food as a way by which I can learn about different cultures. Every culture has its unique and timeless comfort foods, as well as its basic combination of beans, salad, pasta and rice. I am aware of how the life of food carries meaning – from how it is grown and harvested, to the way it is shipped and processed, to how it is finally prepared and served (and by whom, to whom, and under what conditions). Fundamentally, I see food as an important way by which people show respect and care for each other. And in the case of a lack of these, injustice involving food is keenly felt indeed.

For the past 14 years I have worked as a cook in this city’s Downtown Eastside. While the area is notoriously known as being one of the poorest postal codes in the country, it is also a community that is amazingly engaged, both socially and politically, and is rich in history and cultural diversity. My interest in working in this community is passionately rooted in the belief that quality food is a human right and not a privilege.
Some of the recipes in this blog are from the One Pot Cookbook or fit into that format (cheap, easy to prepare,accessible ingredients, yield 1 portion and can be made with 1 pot and a hotplate).
They are easy and tasty recipes for anyone to make. The blog provides the space to give more information about ingredients, show illustrations and photos, and to answer questions that readers may have about cooking or food safety.
Aside from the onepot recipes designed for one portion, I also have started posting some of the scale recipes that I have contributed to nonprofit kitchens I have worked in in the downtown eastside and other information that has been useful to me and other cooks working in nonprofit kitchens in trying to work within a budget while creating healthy and interesting food.

The blog is also an opportunity to focus on some of the organisations and people in the Downtown Eastside who are involved in delivering food services, to convey food safe information, kitchen tips and to post artwork, photos, questions and feedback from people in the community.