The chef and activist Joshna Maharaj discusses her new book Take Back the Tray: Revolutionizing Food in Hospitals, Schools, and Other Institutions (ECW Press, 2020), with Joseph Planta.

Take Back the Tray: Revolutionizing Food in Hospitals, Schools, and Other Institutions by Joshna Maharaj (ECW Press, 2020). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Take Back the Tray

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

We never think of institutional food unless we’re a guest of the medical system or a correctional facility. It is something that chef Joshna Maharaj has been thinking about, and not just recently when she was in the hospital for a short stay and wanted a sandwich. Ms. Maharaj who joins me now has been looking at food and how it’s meant to sustain and nourish us as well as nurture us. Yet as she found in hospitals it’s usually the last thing considered thanks to declining budgets, or governments making efficiencies. In prisons, the food she contends should have a rehabilitative quality to it. In schools, the food should sustain learning minds. In her new book, Joshna takes all this on and offers experiences that have worked, as well as a prescription for how better food can be served up, that won’t break the bank. The book is called Take Back the Tray: Revolutionizing Food in Hospitals, Schools, and Other Institutions. It’s an engaging book with lots of Ms. Maharaj’s experiences at community food stops, hospitals, and schools. Joshna Maharaj is a chef, two-time TEDx speaker, and activist. She is a regular guest on CBC Radio, and co-hosts The Hot Plate, a food and drink podcast. In 2018, she was the recipient of Restaurants Canada’s Culinary Excellence Award. The website for more is at www.joshnamaharaj.com, and the Twitter handle is @joshnamaharaj. This new book is published by ECW Press. She joined from Toronto last week. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Joshna Maharaj; Ms. Maharaj, good morning.

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